What Sports Would You Like to see Michigan Add?
With Stanford about to pass Michigan in the Directors' Cup because of Women's Water Polo, it made me think of a topic I frequently think about. What sports would you like Michigan to add? As of current Michigan has 26 varsity sports (27 with Women's Lacrosse), all of which participate in the NCAA. They are:
Men's Sports:
Baseball
Basketball
Cross Country
Football
Gymnastics
Golf
Ice Hockey
Lacrosse
Soccer
Swimming and Diving
Tennis
Track & Field
Wrestling
Women's Sports:
Basketball
Cross Country
Field Hockey
Golf
Gymnastics
Lacrosse (2013–14)
Rowing
Soccer
Softball
Swimming and Diving
Tennis
Track & Field
Volleyball
Water Polo
The NCAA sports that are sponsored that Michigan does not have are:
Men's Sports:
Water Polo
Volleyball
Women's Sports:
Bowling
Ice Hockey
CoEd:
Fencing
Skiing
Rifle
And a few non-NCAA Sports:
Pistol
Men's Rowing
Rugby
I am going to ignore the non-NCAA sports, as they do not seem practical and the expense could not potentially help Michigan in the Directors' Cup. I personally would love Michigan to add all of these sports, partially because Ohio State has nearly all of them, which bothers me greatly. However, realistically all of the sports could be added, but skiing may be dificult. If I had to choose a few, I would say add Women's Ice Hockey, Men's Volleyball, Bowling, and Fencing. However, that is just one man's opinion. So, MGoBloggers, what do you think Michigan should add next?
Also, why is there no men's bowling?
Sorry, I'm not of age.
Are you by chance Danish? Kiwi? Filipino?
Drinking... and bare knuckle boxing
foosball
KY jelly wrestling
We have a winner!
Jokin' dawg
Michigan could be extremely succesful in Bowling recruiting, however, Bowling is only one division, so many of the teams are very small. If Michigan added a team, its prescence would be felt immediately and could provide easy Directors' Cup points.
played by Freshmen and sophomores, 6 games all in the Big Ten.
Schpuple
The art of fighting, without fighting.
I heard that we were adding womens hockey.
There are various rumors circulating about that, but they have never been confirmed. Women's hockey would be the next most logical sport. Michigan, and the midwest, is rich with hockey talent, and Michigan fans would support a womens team. Michigan women's hockey would have Big Ten Rivals in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Penn State. Supposedly, and please note I am saying supposedly, Red is opposed to the idea, but that has never been confirmed. The real indication will be in Women's Hockey is added shortly after Red leaves.
I'd be against it as the mens head coach as well. Red would go from having Yost at his disposal to sharing it, which is a big deal without another sheet of ice on campus.
I completely understand why Red would not share. What I have read is a big obstacle with Women's Hockey is that they would likely build or buy another ice rink for the women, since sharing an ice rink would be a logistical nightmare. Ohio State, North Dakota, Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, and Wisconsin, to name a few, all have smaller, yet separate, rinks for their womens teams.
or put something down State Street with a sheet of ice with just enough seats to allow the women to play there occasionally and maybe even get rented out hosting some other games in addition to being a practice facility. Is there any room on the athletic campus to add another full blown (albeit small) stadium? Attendance would be absolutely awful if they had to play out by tennis/the new track facility.
Unfortunately, there is not much space. Michigan would have to build a stadium away from the other athletic facilities, or they might consider renting out someplace when there is a conflict with the Men's team. Here is a link to a thread with much more knowledgeable people on USCHO. http://board.uscho.com/showthread.php?102034-More-about-expansion-for-w…
Beer Pong!
All of them.
Here are the conferences they'd most likely join if they added any of the NCAA sports mentioned-
Men's & Women's Fencing-
Midwest Fencing Conference (conference has club and NCAA teams in it. * indicates club)- Bowling Green*, Case Western Reserve*, Chicago*, Cleveland State, Detroit, Illinois*, Indiana*, Iowa*, Lawrence, Michigan*, Michigan State*, Minnesota*, Northwestern*, Notre Dame, Oakland*, Ohio, Purdue*, Wayne State (MI), Wisconsin*, Xavier*
Women's Hockey-
Western Collegiate Hockey Association- Bemidji State, Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State, North Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin
Men's & Women's Rifle
Western Intercollegiate Rifle Conference (conference has club and NCAA teams in it. * indicates club)- Akron, Grand Valley State*, Michigan*, Michigan State*, Michigan Tech, Morehead State, Ohio, Purdue*, Rose-Hulman
Men's & Women's Skiing
Central Collegiate Ski Association- Alaska-Fairbanks, Gogebic C.C., Gustavus Adolphus, Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, St. Cloud State, St. Olaf, UW-Green Bay
Men's Volleyball
Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association- Ball State, Grand Canyon, IPFW, Lewis, Lindenwood, Loyola-Chicago, Ohio, Quincy
Men's Water Polo
Collegiate Water Polo Association- Brown, Bucknell, Connecticut College, Fordham, Gannon, George Washington, Harvard, Iona, Johns Hopkins, Mercyhurst, MIT, Navy, Penn State-Behrend, Princeton, Queens, St. Francis, Salem International, Washington & Jefferson
That would be a solid voleyball conference. I believe Lewis is consistently a power, Loyola-Chicago made the final four this year.
WolverineDevotee mentioned that this was happening per his athletic department contact, but this did not happen
Who is going to pay for additional sports within Michigan's self-supporting athletic department? Do you think that we can, uh, raise the prices and PSD levels for football and basketball?
For everybody who supplied non-serious answers: Nice job.
You can kinda be an arrogant douche (which is saying a lot on a board full of M alums). Nobody is saying we should add a team. People are conjecturing/proposing wishes for what a hypothetical next team would be.
Look at my post. I said I'd like to see Men's volleyball. One sentence later I said it would never happen. I thought the reason was obvious, but I'll spell it out. It'll never happen because it's too expensive and we all realize that, believe it or not.
I have no idea what point you're trying to make. But thanks anyway?
If you don't like paying your bajillion dollars for your precious section 1 seat, then don't. It's a free country. I agree that the costs are getting ridiculous, but nobody is forcing you to contribute to the demand.
Also, while I'm not recommending adding more sports, I would argue that pointing the finger at ridiculous coaching salaries should be the focus of cost cutting. Not eliminating scholarship opportunities for student-athletes.
Title IX is the biggest bugaboo driving Athletic Department costs. Football and basketball make tons of money. Then the federal government tells us how much we have to spend on womens sports. And thereby add to the pressure for football and basketball to make more money.
If you have a proposal on how to cap coaching salaries, I am ready to listen. Wouldn't bother me in the slightest. We cap the number of coaches. Why not salaries? But generally, the marketplace works better to regulate such things. Are there any salary caps at the Business School?
Also, while I'm not recommending adding more sports,
Good. I'm not either. We agree.
We're getting off-topic, but getting somewhere.
Title IX is the reason Michigan will not add another sport, likely for a very, very long time, if ever. I didn't really want to bring it up but you're right, it is the reason. And there are legitimate arguments that Title IX has served its purpose and is outdated.
I have no coaching salary proposals other than putting pressure on institutions that winning at all costs is not what the we, as consumers, want. We put pressure on them by voicing our concerns and donating our time and money elsewhere.
Once I get to a point when I can afford to donate money to UM on a regular basis, it will be to the general scholarship fund. And while it is laudable that the UM AD is self-sufficient, perhaps we need to consider that the cost of self-sufficiency is ridiculous ticket prices for football. Is it worth it? That's an individual decision. The market right now says people will pay. And with people like DB in charge - for better or worse he will take advantage of that situation.
We should add underwater basketweaving. The sport is just heating up and all the talent over the past 5 years has come from the midwest!
about a Michigan fishing team.
I like the following official sports:
- Men's Volleyball
- Men's & Women's Fencing
- Women's Ice Hockey
I agree with the following other suggestions:
- Curling. (sure to be a fan fav.)
- Dodgeball.
Here are a few more possibilities
- Roller Derby (go rent a great Ellen Page movie: Whip It.)
- Cricket (there actually are several leagues near my home.)
- Badminton (this is offered at our local high school.)
Air Hockey
Starcraft
Any new sports. But I would have the most interest in Mens Volleyball and Womens Ice Hockey. Mens volleyball is so intense, and I love me some hockey. Also, Curling would be so awesome. One of my favorites to watch in the Winter Olympics.
I would favor Men's Water Polo and Volleyball, regular, but with a beach option when available. For Women, let give them a chance at Ice Hockey and I would love to see both men women get a chance to have skiing and fencing as varsity sports. I would also like Men's Crew (Rowing) be added as a varsity sport. They have the boathouse, shells, but they will never attract real talent without being a varsity sport. The men's crew rows Princeton every year, and if they ever want a real chance at winning, they need to be varsity. If you look at the Big Ten, Crew has been growing markedly over the last fifteen years, and it will solidify a connection to the east coast sports. I will take all the jeering you guys want to give. Just line and just try a Concept2 ergometer, and see what aerobic workouts can give you.
There will be a natural tendency for people to try to the Boston Marathon, especially after this year's tragedy. We cannot give into terrorism. However, there is a hidden beauty of the Charles River in the fall at the Head of the Charles. Maybe white man can't jump, but he can row!
Men's Volleyball
Men's Water Polo
Fencing
Blernsball.
