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One of the top stories coming out of the University of Maine sports department recently is the two-year contract extension of athletic director Blake James. While many students hearing about this probably couldn’t care less, I find myself scratching my head and asking the question why. Why did James get a contract extension? While I obviously do not work for the university, or even know how decisions are made, I know contract extensions and job offerings are normally based on job performance, something that James has failed at during his time at UMaine.
Attendance in most sporting events on campus is down. My freshman year, people camped out overnight waiting to get seats for hockey games. I saw people go to Friday night’s game and then wait in line again overnight for the best seats in the house at Alfond Arena. This past weekend, the Black Bears hosted Boston University, the reigning national champions in hockey, and people didn’t start lining up until two hours before the game started. On top of that, the arena was not even sold out.
Attendance is not lacking only in hockey. Every sport on campus has taken an attendance hit. People are losing interest in sports, and fewer people care about what is happening. We go to a Division I school and still have issues gaining the interest of students and the community. Why is this? I feel this is a result of disconnect and lack of advertisement in the community.
An athletic director is responsible for many things, and one of those things is getting the community to connect with the teams. One of the simplest ways of doing this is by getting people to come to games. Advertisement and the interaction of teams with the community is something UMaine fails at greatly. How many of you knew we have a player on the women’s hockey team from Switzerland who has a good chance of playing in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver? It’s not something heavily advertised, and while in many places this would make big news, James and the university overlook this opportunity to talk to people in the community about women’s hockey and the talent we have.
Field hockey is the same story. We went to the semifinals this year, and unfortunately lost to BU, but the fact of the matter remains, they had an amazing season. How often was that promoted? I never once heard about any upcoming field hockey games.
The same goes for our volleyball team, which was recently cut. I’m sure close to none of you knew the women’s volleyball team had the best record of all the fall sports last year, and yet there was little to no advertising or promoting the team on behalf of James, or the university.
Now, James and the department may argue that these teams do not bring in the same amount of revenue that a big time sport such as football or men’s hockey would bring in. This is true, but at the same time, if you don’t advertise your product or sport, you’re not going to make any money. People don’t know what you offer unless you tell them about it. The athletic department is missing a huge business opportunity for sports in Orono, which could lead to economic development in the area. If I had to give James, our trusted AD a grade, I’d give him an F.
Let’s not forget about last year’s fiasco with the cutting of the men’s soccer team and the women’s volleyball team. I understand that budget cuts are necessary, especially in these times of economic decline, but the timing and the way the situation was handled was, without a doubt, one of the most unprofessional interactions I have seen.
Meetings were not held to inform the players that they no longer had a program. For the men’s soccer team, the coach was taken aside during a practice and was told about the cut. Most of the players on the volleyball team were informed via text messages from their coach and other teammates.
On top of that, the day the teams found out, James refused to meet with the teams and met only with the media in his office to talk about what happened. James also attempted to find a new job as the athletic director at Florida Gulf Coast University. James said it had nothing to do with the situation, and everything to do with being closer to his family. But it also seemed to be an easy way out of a messy situation.
Since James has been here, attendance has gone down, a lack of advertising has caused good teams to go unnoticed in the community, teams have been cut, and he tried to find another job outside of Maine. What did we reward him for in return? Oh yeah, a two-year contract extension. Does that make any sense to you?
Bangor Daily News