Yeahhhh, there's very little about Miami athletics or Miami athletics culture that has me jealous. I'll give them they probably have better locker rooms, IPF, and weight room, but Yager is whatever and Millett blows (though at least it has a practice gym).
Good for them they have a nationally ranked softball program, but I don't think that's doing more for them than we had a nationally ranked volleyball program. They used to have a great hockey program, but that diverts fan attention from basketball where a school like Miami can make more of a name for itself.
Would I have liked a few MAC football championships? Sure. But which football program and culture would I rather have over the last 20 years? It's no comparison. What have their championships gotten them? A trip to the CFP? No. A trip to the Orange Bowl? No. Near-capacity crowds every other Saturday? Trololololol. Hell I'd argue us beating Iowa State at home on a beautiful September Saturday weighs more on our fans than a MAC championship did for their fans. They had 9,000 fans at their Homecoming. A bigger crowd at a Miami basketball game is an average crowd for an Ohio exhibition.
Wonderful no one gave you the business in Oxford. How many of those porch parties packed it up and headed to the game? I know not everyone at Ohio is into MAC sports, but at least when I come to town, the campus area is usually buzzing about there being a home football game, and I haven't even been to a homecoming in 15 years.
Has anyone ever actually witnessed our student fans excessively hostile to visiting fans? I've never seen anything that crossed a line. Have we turned into Marshall fans behind my back?
I'd rather have had a couple of league titles, thank you very much.
If you want to discount the value of modern facilities, that's your right. But I urge you to ask our coaches if they consistently lose recruits to Miami because of our perceived lack of investment.
Tell you what, pick up the phone and make a donation to Ohio Athletics for the planned/much needed facelift of our football locker room. Miami's got amenities that are light years beyond ours. Our locker room by comparison is dark, dank and worn out. Right or not, players (and their parents) care about this.
If you're not willing to give back - and only care about what the department and university give to you - then STFU.
As for the comparison of cities, my criticism stands: Athens has done a pathetic job of policing the slumlords who own property surrounding our campus. Students and their parents care about this as well.