Time to be Heard... UPDATE: Harris Responds

Robin Harris needs to hear from us!

UPDATE:

I got a voice mail from Ms. Harris just now. She insisted that the Harvard Crimson misrepresented the meaning of her quotes and she would not say that Ivy fans do not want to see our football champs participate in the FCS playoffs.

Harris says she is going to ask the Crimson to consider re-writing the story or clarifying it. I will leave that to them.

Of course, the points are all still mostly the same. Because the following quotes are NOT disputed at all by Harris:

“I think our fans care about Ivy League football,” she said. “Rivalry games are going to draw the most fans [to] a given game, and whether or not a team is going on to the FCS playoffs, I don’t think is going to [have an] impact.”

And

“The Ivy League presidents are not interested in allowing participation in the playoffs because they value Ivy football as it currently exists,” Harris said. “The focus for our teams is on the regular season and the value of Ivy League play. The tradition and history of Ivy League football is paramount.”

So, if we just look at quote #1, Harris is very clearly saying more fans wouldn't come to games if we allowed the League champ to go the FCS playoffs. I really don't agree with that, but even if she's right, I can tell you the opposite IS true: FEWER fans are going to come to games going forward if we continue to marginalize football. 

Quote #2 is almost as tough to swallow. We're supposed to believe that the Ivy presidents care most for Ivy "tradition." 

Sorry, but Ivy tradition was trashed a long time ago for D-IAA status. That "tradition" is less than 40 years old in a league with teams who have all been playing more than 100 years. 

What the Ivy presidents want is football phased out. The sport embarrasses them and everyone knows it. The one decent supporter of football, Dartmouth's Jim Yong Kim, has left that post now and I KNEW that his departure would bring in a new assault on the sport in general by his ex-peers.

While we may be able to erase the charge against Harris that she drastically misrepresented the will of the fans, (again, "may" being the key word. I want to hear what the reporters have to say), the issue is that the League is still blocking what the overwhelming majority of the fans want for no good reason.

So I still urge everyone to email Harris and POLITELY let your feelings about FCS playoffs be known.

The next step is to publicize the truth about what the fans want in a way that the Ivy presidents can't pretend to ignore.


Original post is below:

Sometimes, people in power are just asking for it…

All the long-time readers of this blog know very well that the overwhelming majority of Ivy football fans strongly want our teams to be made eligible for the FCS postseason playoff tournament.

And yet, in this new piece in the Harvard Crimson, Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris says she doesn’t think the fans really want entry into the FCS playoffs.

I’m sorry Ms. Harris, but your email inbox is about to explode and I will be partly responsible.

Friends, we can’t sit back any longer on this. It’s not just about getting into the FCS playoffs. It’s about making sure Ivy football is not marginalized more than it already is. Our sport is in jeopardy of becoming D-III, like Amherst or Williams with eight game seasons at best. The slide from the glory days of the past is enough, time to turn the tide.

Please write a strong but POLITE email to Harris at robinharris@ivyleaguesports.com and CC her deputy Carolyn Campbell-McGovern carolyn@ivyleaguesports.com to make sure our voices are heard.

We may not get a policy change right away, but at least Harris will be disabused of the notion that Ivy football fans, even Harvard and Yale fans, don’t want FCS playoff eligibility.

Because we DO want our champions to show what they can do in the playoffs and we DO want HS football recruits around the country to see it too.

The time for sitting back and letting people none of us elected to speak for us is over.

I just sent my email and here it is below:

Dear Ms. Harris:

I must say I was alarmed to read your quotes in the recent Harvard Crimson piece where you spoke for fans like me and grossly misrepresented what we indeed want.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion about this policy, and if you were misquoted in any way I apologize. But you're grossly mistaken about what fans want for Ivy League football.

I am willing to put my money where my mouth is on this one. If the league would commission a scientific poll on this question to fans, players and coaches, I would be willing to mount a campaign for everyone to chip in some money to help defray the cost. 

I know you have a tough job, and I admire you for the more public persona you've cultivated compared to your predecessor. Please take all this a step further and endeavor to find out and publicize what the fans and teams really want.

I also know that you are under extreme pressure, primarily from the administrations at Harvard and Yale, to keep the status quo. But this is your chance to break out and make a real stand for Ivy athletics. You can be a hero here. I believe in you. 

The thousands of loyal alumni and fans at all eight schools are depending on you now. We want you to represent US, and not the administrators and presidents of the schools who already have enough power and representation as it is. 

Please help get this done.

Sincerely, 

Jake Novak