Wisconsin Chancellor: Harbaugh, Meyer overpaid
Jim Harbaugh is making $7 million at Michigan this season, including a $2 million one-time signing bonus, and Urban Meyer is making $5.86 million for defending national champion Ohio State. USA TODAY Sports asked Wisconsin chancellor Rebecca Blank what she makes of Big Ten peers who are paying their coaches so much.
“Those are the choices they make,” she said in an interview for a story about coaching salaries. “That really begins to threaten the whole sense that we are not professional athletic teams. I’m not terribly happy about the fact that they made those choices. That’s my opinion.”
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Blank understands market forces. She was acting secretary of commerce in the Obama administration and holds a doctorate in economics from MIT.
Nevermind that Harbaugh has likely, through ticket sales and merchandising, already generated revenue in excess of his total contract. Also ignore the fact that paying Harbaugh his market value has ZERO impact on the Unversity's academic side of the coin.
If you can forget those two factors, she has a fantastic point.
October 8th, 2015 at 10:06 PM ^
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October 9th, 2015 at 6:57 AM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 10:39 PM ^
That's exactly right. He's not overpaid if you think he's worth 3 million. If it's a public company with a Board of directors, they may want to have a word with you, but otherwise it's up to you. There's no such thing as inherent value. There's only people with money and what they're willing to pay.
October 8th, 2015 at 11:37 PM ^
I don't know how to respond to this other than to point out that as a matter of economics this is completely, 100% incorrect. The notion that worth is determined by the individual purchaser would get you laughed out of a first-year econ course.
October 9th, 2015 at 12:30 AM ^
he slept in the day the prof delivered the guns and butter lecture in econ 101
October 8th, 2015 at 11:59 PM ^
Hail Harbo your mind is twisted into terrible knots. You are a lost soul bereft of understanding. Your mind was a terrible thing to waste.
October 8th, 2015 at 10:39 PM ^
I'm sorry, but "everything is right the way it is, because that's the way it is", is childish logic. "Freely entered" in no way means entered with complete and sufficient understanding, enabling both parties to accurately judge the value of the agreement.
October 9th, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^
Exactly. One of the reasons people have contracts is because both sides in the contract fear that they have misvalued the costs and benefits of the ongoing transactions, and want to protect against the misjudgement going against them. If everyone was paid their value each pay period, pay would likely go up or down each time.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:17 PM ^
I live in Wisconsin, and any time the legislature or any else even raises some reform that might make sense, like, for example, not raising tuition by double digit percentages when UW is sitting on a $648 million hidden slush fund, or having professors work more than 18 hours a week, she bitches to high heaven.
Plus, has anyone ever seen a picture of her. She looks like she missed out on a role in the Hobbit for being "too trolly."
October 8th, 2015 at 8:22 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 8:37 PM ^
These are actual, objective facts. See here:
and here:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/02/scott_walker_to_uw_work_more_than_14_hours_a_week_.html
The fact that she looks like a troll does not make me wrong.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:40 PM ^
No, but it does make you a jackass.
October 9th, 2015 at 12:08 AM ^
October 9th, 2015 at 6:54 AM ^
October 9th, 2015 at 12:03 AM ^
AssholeGuy, not too many people ought to be hit by cars, but since people are hit by cars and somebody has to be the victim, it should certainly always be people like you that are hit when it has to happen. No offense or anything.
October 9th, 2015 at 9:50 AM ^
it's people like "AtmoGuy" who are the problem, not Blank. Yeah, you're right: The UW is actually flush with money, and professors work 18 hours a week. Where do you come up with this crap?
BTW, the University actually did a study of how much professors work (on average) per week. It's around 60 hours. As someone who has some knowledge in this space, I can tell you that the number is pretty accurate.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:17 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 8:27 PM ^
You don't win this argument by citing the fact that Harbaugh and Meyer are bringing in more money than they make. Yeah, that's what every employee in the world does. The question is one of ratio, and I don't know that there's a clear answer as to what constitutes over or under paid. But it is fairly obvious that both coaches earn their salary.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:31 PM ^
So she's saying that's a lot of cheddar?
October 8th, 2015 at 10:01 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 8:41 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 10:32 PM ^
Actually, in response to a comparison if his salary to Herbert Hoover's, Ruth said "I had a better year."
October 9th, 2015 at 6:52 AM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 8:42 PM ^
Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer are CEO's of programs with revenues in the hundreds of Million$$ Annually..... Large enough to be listed on the NASDAQ.
They should be compensated as such, and they are.
October 9th, 2015 at 12:07 AM ^
Well cover zero, you could also say so and so is the head of a large slave plantation and it makes a lot of money and he should be "compensated" as such, and he is.
Same exact logic, same great point....
October 9th, 2015 at 6:51 AM ^
October 9th, 2015 at 9:34 AM ^
To some degree it does equate, and certainly the legacy of slavery is directly related to many of the problems inherent in the whole mess of college football. That's over your head I know, I mean it would hurt your head to simply think through the causes and effects and figure out how things relate to the various issues.
But the point of the analogy wasn't to say that college football is the same exact thing as slavery, though the free labor in an endeavor that makes the "owners" wealthy part is the same, it was to point out the absurdity of his argument that because a situation exists and is known that makes it ok and it shouldn't be questioned and it should just be accepted because it's been done, or is being done elsewhere.
He asserted that because you run an operation that is large and has a lot of money flowing through that you somehow therefore deserve, or as you types like to put it, are "entitled" to a giant salary. After all, CEO's get giant salaries, therefore so should a major football coach. That's what he said!
Don't question the validity of the giant salary of the CEO, just accept that it's done that way and figure it's ok and should then translate to other situations too without regard to whether it's the right thing to do or not.
Ask yourself some questions. Is it possible that Harbaugh could coach at a greatness level of 100 on a scale of 1 to 100 but still have a bad season if his players weren't good enough, or if they weren't smart enough or good enough learners or if they had bad attitudes and simply wouldn't cooperate? Yes, of course it is.
That means he can't do it alone. Would the stadium fill up if Harbaugh were coaching but there were no players to coach? If he were just standing there calling plays and clapping with nobody else on the field? Would the stadium keep filling up if the players were no good, not fun to watch, couldn't do anything exciting, couldn't win, but Harbaugh was coaching?
Are all the assistants and volunteers and staffers working serious hours? Are they needed to make things run or run at their best or are they just there for the hell of it? If they suck or don't work hard and don't do important things that need to be done will that affect the team?
What about the hundred plus players? Do they put in a ton of time practicing, lifting, studying football? Do they work hard? Are they risking their minds, bodies and life by playing? If they're no good, or don't work hard or don't try does that affect the team? If they're not talented and doing great and amazing things does that affect fan interest? Ticket sales? Merch sales? TV ratings?
Doesn't it take all the work and all the hours and all the efforts and all the risks from all the people in the program, 200 people at least, to make a good team, to make an entertaining team, to make a team that makes money?
Out of all the work, all the hours and all brains and all the effort of 200 or more people, what percentage of all that needed work can actually be done by one person?
What if one man is so great and hard working that he puts in 3 times the hours and effort that any other one man on the team or staff puts in, (not actually possible in this case given the hours in a day and the hours the players and staff actually put in) what percentage of the work would he be doing?
Is there any money to be made in football without the existence of the players?
Would Michigan football rake in the big bucks if it were the 10 to 13 year old Junior Wolverines that were playing, even with Harbaugh as coach?
If you can answer some of those correctly, you might become aware of how closely tied the over a hundred million bux a year the football program brings in is to the players and their skills and their performance.
I think you'll find the players are the product. I think you'll find that the fans come to watch the players, the money comes in because of the players.
You'll find that the head coach only does a small percentage of the work no matter how hard he works and that he can't do shit by himself, or without the great contributions of a shitload of other people.
The coach does not deserve all the money! The players deserve the bulk of the money. The money doesn't exist without the players. The players do the bulk of the work. They take all the health risks and injuries that cripple them now or later and shorten their lives.
The players are the attraction that bring in all the money. Pay the players or get the money out of the sport.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:47 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 9:08 PM ^
This is so incredibly stupid. Whether you like it or not, irrational actors exist in the world.
October 9th, 2015 at 12:46 AM ^
Let me ask you some questions UM fan down under.
When was the last time you saw a gang of cops smash the head of a CEO or sick an attack dog on them or take him to jail for giving himself a raise or for refusing to give his workers a raise or giving them a pay cut or simply asking them to take a pay cut???
I'll answer that for you, it's never happened, not once!
But how many times have you seen cops smash the heads of striking workers or shoot them to death, or seen the companies own goons or hired goons do it?
Maybe you haven't seen it, but it's not even possible to count the number of times it happens! It's the always available last resort and companies use it on a regular basis over time.
Did you know that in our great "democracy" here in the US that organizing or participating in a boycott of a business can be considered "economic terrorism" and punishable under terrorism laws? That's in the "Patriot" act and Pat. act II, signed by "liberal" Obama.
Did you know that once you are labeled as a "terrorist" (by the president on his say so alone) that the president can legally kill you or detain you for life without a trail, without having to make it public, without any congressional or judicial oversight, without having to notify your family, your lawyer, your priest, your employer or anyone else, and that you get no chance to face your accuser, know what the charges are or to defend yourself?
Yup, that was in the NDAA, voted for by 98 out of 100 Senators and signed by da prez in this great, great, great democracy of ours! Obama pretended to complain about that clause but signed it anyway. However our very own Sen. Levin said, no, Obama told him to put that clause in, so he did!
But you, and certainly barely any Americans,know anything about that because, and thanks for giving us Murdock by the way, the great free market of the for profit/corporate owned "free press" doesn't think it's important for you to know that! What a great system, right? That's some serious freedom and democracy and a free market right there ya'll!
But I mean it's certainly a level playing field, right? We all have equal rights and opportunity to be the landowner, the "job creator," the resource owner/allocater, the salary structure creator, the laws and rules of business writer, right?
The positions everyone is in are not ultimately derived from genocide and land theft & other theft and slavery and fraud and force and threat and might making right and the criminals having the right to divide things up and make and enforce their rules, right?
Doesn't any & every Aborigine have the absolute right to slit your throat and take everything you have without objection? Everything he takes will be exactly what he was worth and has a right to and it isn't being over paid and it isn't a crime according to your own logic?
Or does might makes right only apply when you have the might or the protection of the might?
October 8th, 2015 at 8:48 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 8:55 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 8:56 PM ^
Damn it, it pains me to post this because a political debate it not what I want but this Chancellors view is most likely rooted in an anti-free market mentality.
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October 8th, 2015 at 8:59 PM ^
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October 9th, 2015 at 12:50 AM ^
There. Is. No. Such. Thing. As. A. Free. Market. You stooge of capitalist killers & Robber Barons!
October 8th, 2015 at 9:07 PM ^
And yet, Wisconsin keeps collecting hefty checks from tv revenue sharing, bowl games, merchandise sales, etc. with ever-crappier coaches. Nobody questions that college coaches make $7M is a lot of money, but it's not like Wiscy is the poor underdog who can't compete; they don't on salary because they don't see the need to, and it lets them retain more money.
Also, Bo Ryan makes around $3M a year, which is more than 4 coaches in the conference. So it's not like they are always so bargain-basement.
October 8th, 2015 at 9:30 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 9:09 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 9:37 PM ^
Considering that she is making nearly 10x the Wisconsin median household income, maybe she should just mind her own damn business.
October 9th, 2015 at 7:20 AM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 9:37 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 9:51 PM ^
She acted as Secretary of Commerce for the most inept Administration in our history. There's one for the resume.
October 9th, 2015 at 7:07 AM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 10:02 PM ^
She thinks that everyone should make the same amount of money, regardless of skills and ability. Someone needs to ask her why she doesn't make the same amount of money as the janitor cleaning her office. If she says because she got an education, then she is an elitist cunt.
October 8th, 2015 at 10:09 PM ^
Send this guy/gal straight to Bolivia, never to be seen again. 30 points in over two years and he/she/it pokes up its head up out a hole to make this kind of trash, misogynistic comment?
October 8th, 2015 at 10:19 PM ^
Like I said...go fuck yourself you fucking twat
October 8th, 2015 at 10:30 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 10:40 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 11:50 PM ^
It's probably not a gal.
October 9th, 2015 at 5:11 AM ^
You can like totally send him to Bolivia it will be so cool, Like totally serious.