I was amused by sports writer Greg Hansen's comment in his Sept. 15 column that "The UA doesn't spend excessively on sports travel". His prior paragraph said a Tucson catering firm was hired to meet the UA football team's bus en route to El Paso Thursday in Lordsburg, New Mexico to serve lunch because "there is no place that can hustle up lunch for a traveling party of close to 150 people." Less than an hour down the road, the city of Deming has several restaurants.
An even more mind-boggling travel expense was the UA basketball team's recent summer training trip to Barcelona, Spain for "exhibition games." Video on Tucson TV showed games in a tiny, dark gymnasium with no spectators in the meager stands. The trip and games were arranged by a sports travel agency. I'd like to know, how many UA scholarships could have been given to financially struggling students with the money spent on that trip?
Barbara Tidyman
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
