No wonder they did what they did. Would you play in the conditions listed below. Truly a sad state of affairs there and I am certain at numerous other small universities.
State funding for the school has been cut 57 percent since 2007-08, according to the school's fundraising literature. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and the state legislature have cut $269 million from higher education since 2009, the year Jindal turned down federal stimulus funds. Grambling lost $6 million, causing the school's Office of Finance and Administration to say the school has gone from "state 'funded'" to "state 'assisted.'"
Former coach Doug Williams, a school legend whose firing earlier this season is a big part of what prompted this, found himself caught in a bureaucratic vortex when he got new flooring donated for the team's dilapidated weight room only to have it locked away, unused, because he failed to follow protocol, Sports Illustrated reported. The team has been forced to bus to games in Kansas City and Indianapolis, the latter 15 hours each way and evidently the catalyst for the players' decision to boycott practice Wednesday and Thursday, and ultimately refuse to play against Jackson State.
They have only six full-time coaches, which means some of them have to coach more than one position. Smith told Sports Illustrated the team doesn't receive enough protein drinks for everyone to share. They ration it out, lifeboat-style, to guys who are deemed to need it most. Sophomore defensive back Dwight Amphy told SI the players aren't expecting 40 different uniform combinations and an iPad in every locker. "We knew we weren't going to LSU," he said.
Consider for a moment the logistics of the Tigers' trip to Indianapolis: The bus left Grambling at 6 p.m. Thursday and arrived at 9 a.m. Friday. Is this – 15 hours in a bus between Thursday and Friday, 15 more between Saturday and Sunday – the student-athlete model the NCAA wants to promote? Is this the embodiment of the mission statement that calls for the NCAA "to integrate intercollegiate athletics into higher education so that the educational experience of the student athlete is paramount"?
The school's administration, facing worse cuts next year after already raising tuition, could shrug its shoulders and close down the entire program. Football doesn't make money for Grambling; it ran a deficit of more than $1 million last year. Without the appearance of a huge T. Boone Pickens-type donor, it's fair to ask whether a school like Grambling -- despite its rich history -- can continue to sustain not just football but all athletics under the current constraints.
So that's the fear: no more football. Then again: 30 hours in a bus to lose 48-0; mildewed facilities; borderline dangerous weight-room flooring while new flooring remains locked behind bureaucratic stubbornness.