Couple of points here. Could be different now, but when I was on the faculty (left in 2005) the Faculty Council and the Union were made up of pretty much the same group of people. Most faculty don't want to be bothered with either group. They typically more strongly identify with their professional organisations than with intra-university issues (they see themselves as "biologists" more than "RU faculty"). This usually leaves people who aren't all that professionally active in charge of the Union and the Council, and frequently these are people who are politically active and like to feel like they're oppressed in some fashion.
Your typical faculty member couldn't find the Hale Center on a bet, and doesn't really care one way or the other. A decent minority really likes sports and supports the teams. (The number of faculty who played the game in the day can be counted on one hand.) Another minority hates sports and would eliminate everything except co-ed frisbee with falling leaves for the annual promotional flyer--and they would mandate soft plastic on the frisbee.
What the garden variety faculty member sees here is that they haven't gotten much in the way of raises lately, Flood makes a million a year and his assistants make way more than they do, and the whole operation sucks money away from the University. Add this to the fact that those athletes probably made fun of most of them when they were in high school, and it's a pretty toxic mix. (BTW, factor in cost of living and RU salaries are run of the mill.)
The University's ranking is pretty decent in some of the systems (less so in others), and they are all pretty iffy in terms of reliability after the top 25 or so. The faculty is strong in a lot of areas, and pretty strong across the board.
In terms of supporting faculty who say things that most of us would think are dumb, they do that because in part, that's what universities are for: to be critic and conscience of society. So we tolerate folks who push the envelope.
My faculty friends at the University who are supportive of sports are basically shaking their heads at Flood. He's provided fodder for those who want to attack sports in general. Unless we stage a real second half of the season comeback, or decide the piggy bank is still not full enough, I think he's probably gone. No inside info there, just tea leaf reading of an old jock and former RU prof. Go the All Blacks!