Facing "intense scrutiny" from his faculty, UAB President Ray Watts on Friday announced an "independent re-examination of financial figures from a study used to justify the elimination of the football, bowling and rifling programs," according to Jon Solomon of CBSSPORTS.com. There were "several discrepancies in the full report produced by consultant Bill Carr." Watts at a news conference said that he "still believes the initial study's data is as accurate as when he eliminated the football program last month." Watts faces a "no-confidence vote from UAB's faculty senate next week." UAB "paid Carr's company, CarrSports, $79,536 for its work over the course of a year" (CBSSPORTS.com, 1/9). Watts said that the review of the report "would be completed within months, thereby opening the door for the return of football to UAB in the future" (AL.com, 1/9). Watts noted that UAB would "hire an accounting firm to scrutinize" the Carr report. In Birmingham, Kyle Whitmire wrote another "question remains a mystery -- who at UAB directed CarrSports to change the focus of its analysis?" When asked that question at the press conference, Watts "did not answer" (BIRMINGHAM NEWS, 1/10). Also in Birmingham, Kelsey Stein noted UAB officials "recently hired a communications firm and an attorney to create a plan to foster more open discussions of future decisions affecting the campus" (BIRMINGHAM NEWS, 1/8).
WAIT JUST A MINUTE: A BOSTON GLOBE editorial noted UMass football losses "are nearing" $10M per year, an "alarming note in an otherwise laudatory period" for the school. Before football costs "climb even higher, the Minutemen should consider dropping to a lower division of the NCAA or killing the sport altogether" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/11).
