“Football has never been easy at Eastern Washington University. But it has seldom, if ever, been this difficult
From huge budget shortfalls to periods of administrative indifference to fan apathy, Eastern’s football program has struggled to stay competitive – at any level. For the most part, with the exception of an ugly three-year stretch in the early 1960s when the Eagles went 2-24-1, it has.
But now comes another towering wave of financial woes, churned up by a tanking economy and expected to crash down directly on top of a further-restrictive set of sanctions handed down by the NCAA following a mid-February investigation that uncovered numerous minor rules violations.
Among those sanctions were three years of probation, the loss of a full-time assistant coaching position and the reduction of two scholarships a year through 2010.
The piling on has been enough to prompt some faculty and staff members at the university to revisit the question of whether it is worth the cost and effort to keep the football program afloat, especially at its current NCAA Football Championship Subdivision level.
University president Rodolpho Arévalo admits he has heard such rumblings around campus.”

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