2008 Woodie Awards
Mansfield gives football death penalty
Matt Lombardo
Issue date: 11/6/06 Section: Sports
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The Mansfield Mountaineer football program has been on life support for close to three years. Last week the administration pulled the plug. On Wednesday Mansfield Head Coach Jim Shiffer held a closed door meeting with his players informing them that the administration had plans in place to eliminate the sport of football following this season after 117 consecutive years of competition. This move not only impacts the players and coaches in the Mountaineer program, but the entire university as a whole.
At face value this move has little impact on anyone not residing near the intersections of routes nine and 256. But, when you delve into the issue it becomes apparent that this move will have a trickle down effect not only on the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, prospective Mansfield students but college football fans as well. Not only does the sport of football serve as a unifying force within a community but the economic gains in said community are immense as well.
Mansfield has been less then competitive in the past 40 years, compiling a meager .456 winning percentage and are currently the owners of a 0-9 record in 2006. From a competitive standpoint the administration should have made this move years ago. However a decision such as the one handed down from the powers that be at Mansfield University represents one of the most damaging to the psyche of a student body both now and in the future.
One effect on the most fundamental level of a school without football is the events surrounding homecoming weekend. Picture if you will a crisp early October day in West Chester as hoards of Alumni and students pack the streets for the annual homecoming parade and gazing on as floats, marching bands and campus organizations go marching by. Then scattering back to their lives just hours after returning to their alma mater for what should be a day or weekend long reunion. For without football, there would be nothing to capture and retain the attention of the masses, because lets face it there are only so many renditions of John Phillip Souza's march one can tolerate before insanity begins to set in.
At face value this move has little impact on anyone not residing near the intersections of routes nine and 256. But, when you delve into the issue it becomes apparent that this move will have a trickle down effect not only on the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, prospective Mansfield students but college football fans as well. Not only does the sport of football serve as a unifying force within a community but the economic gains in said community are immense as well.
Mansfield has been less then competitive in the past 40 years, compiling a meager .456 winning percentage and are currently the owners of a 0-9 record in 2006. From a competitive standpoint the administration should have made this move years ago. However a decision such as the one handed down from the powers that be at Mansfield University represents one of the most damaging to the psyche of a student body both now and in the future.
One effect on the most fundamental level of a school without football is the events surrounding homecoming weekend. Picture if you will a crisp early October day in West Chester as hoards of Alumni and students pack the streets for the annual homecoming parade and gazing on as floats, marching bands and campus organizations go marching by. Then scattering back to their lives just hours after returning to their alma mater for what should be a day or weekend long reunion. For without football, there would be nothing to capture and retain the attention of the masses, because lets face it there are only so many renditions of John Phillip Souza's march one can tolerate before insanity begins to set in.
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