© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
The day the NMSU Aggie football program sends its student athletes into harm’s way not to win the game, but rather to get money for a loss, is the day the NMSU Aggies announce to the world they are losers. Shuckins, it is already too late. NMSU has been doing this for 30 years and looks forward to doing it this year and in years to come.
A recent news release touts how much money NMSU will make selling losses, like there is no urgency for win-loss records in college football or in NMSU’s football program. With 30 years of data on this approach, how well does it work? For NMSU it has been a complete disaster that has chewed up many fine coaches and programs.
NMSU has not had a truly successful season while selling losses. It would have been a complete shutout except for a fluke win against a paying team that had a terrible season. That was the only win in more than 60 loss-for-sale games. Two sold losses each year ensured that NMSU did not have winning seasons many times.
I always thought someone in the leadership would at some point in 30 years say, “Been there, done that, let us try something different.” Alas, NMSU says, “It has not worked for 30 years so we will try it some more.” They justify it with, “We will get even more money for getting our lesser-sized team banged up and suffering another blotch on our win-loss record.”
NMSU knows it cannot win these games and is selling losses. When officials puff up and say they might win the game they are either lying or delusional. I would bet on lying.
Selling out, but not the stadium
College football is a sport where teams are judged by two criteria: win-loss record and home attendance. For 30 years NMSU has sold out the win-loss record and not sold out the stadium. The fans have stayed away. Yes, there are hard-core fans, myself included, who have come faithfully despite “rain or dust or gloom of defeat.”
So this approach to program building in football has not worked. What did NMSU do each year when officials realized it was not working? NMSU’s leadership did not look to themselves as the problem. They have blamed the fans for not being true to them over the years.
So we come to 2009. Every year NMSU plays better-financed and prepared programs, and the win-loss record reflects this. That is bad enough, but then there are the sold losses that beat up the team and make sure NMSU does not have winning seasons.
Is there really the resolve to fill the stadium? That would be nice, they seem to think, but is not essential. How would I fill the stadium? As the saying goes, “Nothing breeds success like success.” You cannot run with the big dogs if you play like a puppy. The fans vote with their feet when you play programs that are significantly better. Once in a while a good team is interesting, but when NMSU goes 0-12 for a season, its approach to college football is wrong.
Try being a bit smarter
Do I think NMSU can become a respectable football university? Yes. Can it do so selling losses? No. I agree with former NMSU President Mike Martin that major college sports are the front porch of an institution, and therefore important.
NMSU must be financed as well as its competition. If NMSU lacks the money, it should not routinely play significantly better-financed football teams.
The Aggie football team must play equal competition until it develops a winning tradition. Then it can step up a bit. Further, NMSU must price tickets to fill the stadium, and not raise prices until the stadium is full.
As an Aggie fan for decades, my advice is this: Try being a bit smarter, eh?
Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.