Rutgers Olympic Sports: The saga continues with Part 2 of our series

Last week, we talked about a sport looking to become a Division 1 sport at Rutgers, hockey. Tomorrow, we continue the series with a look at a sport that has a longer history than any sport On the Banks, crew.  Like five other sports, crew was eliminated as a varsity sport at Rutgers after the 2006-07 season.  So, what has happened - and what is happening - in the ensuing eight years?

Can you bring back a sport that brings in no revenue - especially considering Rutgers' financial issues - and one that has been off the radar, at least as far as the Athletic Department goes, for eight years?  Bob Mulcahy, the AD who made the cuts, said in regard to the elimination of the sports, that Rutgers just couldn't be all things to all people.  But can it?  And should it?

Read the words of a student - a student who doesn't row - on what crew is and means:

Rutgers crew was always a walk-on team. Its identity mirrors that of our state: blue-collar and hard-working. These young men hose and scrub muck and grime from the industrial river they row on. They show up at daybreak, when most of their classmates are still in bed. They compete not for scholarships or fame or fanfare. They do it for the love of the sport, and the pride of their university.

This is what college athletics used to be about. The Rutgers athletic department should honor this tradition. It will cost them virtually nothing to give a small nod to the age when college sports weren't about TV exposure, naming rights and branding.

Powerful words.  And there are more to read on the topic tomorrow....right here.

Schedule of stories in our series:

June 7 Ice Hockey: petitioning the gods

June 14 Crew: the oldest of RU's sports

June 21 Men's tennis and swimming: game, set, match

June 28  Title IX and the money