The fate of the men’s gymnastics program might be sealed in a body bag, but people need to open up and look inside the athletic department’s sack.

Sure, there were many reasons behind the decision to drop men’s gymnastics. But one has to wonder about some of the criteria Athletic Director Gerald O’Dell has used.

The one that causes the greatest confusion is the decline of boys’ gymnastics in Illinois high schools.

O’Dell said it is his job to know trends in NCAA sports. That’s fine. Gymnastics might not have as great a future as baseball, but do some of the other antiquated sports in the NIU program belong?

O’Dell said men’s gymnastics know longer recruits in northern parts of Illinois. That’s true.

But, there are many other sports that branch out to other parts of the United States and foreign countries to obtain quality athletes. Concerning foreign recruiting, NIU is recruiting athletes from Holland, Canada, South Africa, West Germany and Sweden, to name a few.

One team is recruiting 65 percent of its athletes from out of state. That doesn’t sound like the northern Illinois region. Not even close.

One NIU sport isn’t even recognized by the Illinois High School Association anymore. But NIU continues to fund this sport and recruit its athletes from the east coast and foreign countries.

It’s faulty criteria.