THE REAL COLLEGE SPORTS SCANDAL

College sports are out so control. Greed has turned a good thing into a nightmare. Ask yourself, “What is the purpose of an institution of higher education?” I have written and complained about industrialization of our universities and colleges by industry—turning professors, away from teaching, and to research: turning universities and college into research institutions. It is easy to criticize me for my position if you do not understand what university research is all about. Patent-able research is done to develop products, drugs, or instruments to sell and make money verses basic research, which is done to push back the “frontiers of science”.  Industries have bought and paid for the privilege of controlling university administration: Federal and State legislature as well as college and university administrations. The practice is pervasive and has corrupted our institutions of higher learning.  An important point is that the professors involved not only accept the idea but they endorse the demise of their own profession—teaching.

The other day I saw a map of the United States depicting the states in which the highest paid state employee was the football coach. The color used overwhelmed the map. Remember, we are talking about state employees and football coaches and there is only one conclusion possible, we are talking about universities and colleges; so call teaching institutions. We not only have industrial CEO’s clamoring to use higher education to make money from but also we have CEO’s of the institutions of higher education using sports to make money. It seems a travesty to use the acronym “CEO” for the head of a university but in this context, it somehow seems appropriate. For example, the president of the University of Minnesota is a chemical engineer who thinks tenure question should include contributions to entrepreneurism.

It is nearly impossible to dig into the bookkeeping but we can surmise that huge chunks of university budget are devoted to football, hockey, and basketball when they should be devoted to education. In addition, we know that state funding of universities is plummeting and tuition is increasing at a rapid rate. We know university administrations are asking professors to write grants to fund their own salaries. We know that over 60 colleges and universities have endowments of over one billion dollars. We know that industries are urging state taxpayers to build huge stadiums and parking lots named after the sponsor and not the city that paid to build them. We know that industries, universities, and alumni organization spend huge sums of money on promoting games and encouraging students to party; tailgate before and binge drink after. We also know they make much more than they spend. 

Scandals of all kinds associated with sports on the rise: social and medical. The college athlete is a professional but universities do not pay them to play; the modern day equivalent of a slave. Sports promoters tell us this is how a ghetto kid can make if big; if he survive traumatic brain injury.  Everyone knows that these young people are not students and most are playing on a scholarship; it is charade.  Of course, university associated people will pick one or two outstanding player who excels as an athlete and hold him up as the example.

The solution is easy; drop the farce; college football teams are professional teams.  Allow universities to identify with a professional sports team coached by a professional coach. Restrict football to intramural games played only by in-state students. In the sense of paying the best football coach for what they do, we should pay the best professors for being great teachers. Will this happen; of course not. Stadiums are filled and people from all walks of life or setting in front of TV sets with a cold six pack; if not that they are watching cars drive counter clockwise in circles; or maybe they are watching some one skillfully hitting a little white ball around field.  Maybe society has been “dumbed” down to the point where it is too late: global warming, terrorism, financial collapse, and pollution we have set aside all of this for something that does not really matter to anyone: a first down attempt and a cold brew. Scandalous!

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