Aug. 1, 2001

By Dave Lohse

Associate Director of Athletic Communications

Twenty-three years and 11 months ago to the day I worked my first day in the athletic department at the University of North Carolina. Coming to Carolina was a shocking experience for me because for the first time in my life I was associating myself with an entity that produced consistent winners. Growing up as a fan of the Chicago Cubs, attending Purdue University and being politically active as a youth (like from age nine) as a staunch Democrat, I was used to rooting for entities, which often didn't bring me the greatest joy in the world.

But on September 1, 1977, I started the first of what will soon be my 24 full years in the sports information office at North Carolina. And I liked what I saw. My God, we were good in a lot of things. The Tar Heel basketball team had been to the national championship game the season before and Bill Dooley's football team would go on and win the ACC championship my first fall in town. And that's not to even mention how good Carolina was in all those minor sports, as we called them then. Soon I would discover how adept Carolina was at vanquishing conference foes in those sports as well.

But as I assess the beginning of my 25th year at the University of North Carolina on September 1, 2001, I am not so optimistic about the future success of the athletic program at this school. And that is where you come in. I refer to anyone who is reading this column. This October the University will officially kick off its largest fund-raising campaign since the Bicentennial Campaign of the early 1990s. For the first time the athletic program at the University will be included in the fund-raising drive. And to be honest we need your help.

The Carolina athletic department operates on a shoestring budget. Most of the schools we compete with nationally and even some schools in the ACC have operating budgets much larger than Carolina's. In some cases the amount schools spend on athletics in a single year is more than double the $32 million dollars we expend at UNC. And in many instances those schools sponsor far fewer sports than the 28 that Carolina does.

So it should come as no surprise to anyone that Carolina's standing in the Sears Directors' Cup has begun to slip in recent years. Carolina's early success in the all-sports competition probably gave all of us a false sense of security. In the first five years of the award the Tar Heels won once, finished second three times and in the dire year of 1996 was sixth.

But the last three years have not been so pleasant. Carolina finished 17th in 1999, rebounded to fifth in 2000, but slipped back to 15th in 2001. Trust me, no one around here is happy with those numbers. Part of the problem has been that the three revenue sports of football, men's basketball and women's basketball have not fared as well in terms of producing Sears Cup points the past three years as they did when all three sports were on major rolls from 1994-98. But that is just part of the problem of diminishing returns in the Cup standings. Other Carolina sports have shown some slippage in national competitiveness as well.

Now there is no blame to be passed around in this area. When your budget is only $32 million a year you can only do so much particularly when other schools are outspending you by big margins on an annual basis. And whether we like it or not that money does transform itself into success on the playing field.

Now at North Carolina we have always prided ourselves on doing things right. Coaches are evaluated on the academic performance of their student athletes, on their abilities to stay within their given budgets and on their ability to never violate any NCAA rules. There is virtually no pressure put on Tar Heel head coaches to win. Staying competitive is mentioned but not outright winning. And Carolina has always run its program without the support of corporate sponsorships or corporate venue signing, both of which are huge cash cows for the schools Carolina competes with on a regular basis. Carolina does the noble thing in this regard and chooses not to be beholden to such things.

Now we can argue whether it is right to do that until we are blue in the face but the argument is moot. Carolina doesn't do it and probably never will. Regardless there are consequences for our sports teams. And whether we like it or not most people view the success of a school's athletic program on the issues of wins and losses. This is true of fans. It is true of the media. It is true of the youngster sitting in front of his TV set in Kokomo, Ind., who may one day dream of attending a school like UNC. While it is expected that Carolina people achieve all the goals explained in the previous paragraph, there is also the ever-haunting reality that most people don't know how well Carolina succeeds in areas like academics, budgeting, NCAA compliance and keeping its venue clean of corporate influences. But they do know whether Carolina teams win or not. And there is no one out there who loves Carolina who would say that winning isn't important. Of course it is.

Which is why I come back to speaking to you. When the Carolina First fund-raising campaign begins this fall please think about being generous. Forget about the fact the economy is struggling. Or forget about that for at least a while. This is your opportunity as a Carolina fan to really make a difference. The great thing about this fund-raising campaign is the fact that in addition to the opportunities to give to athletic scholarship funds and capital improvements for the department, loyal fans will also be able to earmark funds to endow the operating budgets of all 28 of Carolina's varsity sports. And the importance of that effort cannot in anyway be underestimated. It may be the key issue in keeping Carolina's athletic program competitive on a national basis well into this century.

The task is daunting indeed. UNC cannot afford to rest on its laurels. But a golden opportunity to make a difference is waiting for all of us this fall. I beseech you to think long and hard about this chance to do the right thing. I'm sure most of you taking the time to read this column will do just that.