Forgive me for casting aside studied indifference and blog-standard irony. And forgive me also for seeing in tragedy a potential opportunity. But I think the horrifying situation at Penn State suggests that it’s time to acknowledge that big-time college football is a net loser for universities.
Forget that most programs hemorrhage money. Forget that the players are typically African-American, typically don’t graduate, and are typically put in harm’s way for the entertainment of wealthy donors who are typically white. Forget that academic standards are rejiggered or ignored so that these young men can be admitted to play football. Forget that the BCS isn’t a meritocracy that rewards excellence so much as an oligopoly that protects its most important members. Forget that college football has always oozed corruption. Forget that football coaches wield extraordinary, even frightening, power on campuses. Forget that it’s insane that universities provide — free of charge! — the NFL with a minor league system.
And just remember that at a time of real peril for higher education, with budgets being slashed and classrooms crumbling, we are told, again and again, that we must focus on the core mission of the university. Then ask, “Is big-time college football part of the core mission of the university? Should it be?”
13 comments
November 8, 2011 at 1:06 pm
politicalfootball
My opinion is that it should not be.
I had reasons for holding that opinion, but I forgot them.
November 8, 2011 at 1:07 pm
ari
I should note that, yes, I’m a football fan.
November 8, 2011 at 1:07 pm
ari
You’re allowed to remember all that other stuff after you ask the core question, pf.
November 8, 2011 at 1:19 pm
ben
Ari, did you get a chance to check out that Atlantic article from not too long ago?
November 8, 2011 at 1:23 pm
ari
I had forgotten about it until now, ben. But I note that it’s available online. Thanks for the reminder. I’ll look at it tonight.
November 8, 2011 at 1:33 pm
JP Stormcrow
You guys are back! Someone should have said something.
November 8, 2011 at 1:56 pm
eric
Ari, the Knight Commission is your friend.
November 8, 2011 at 2:57 pm
kathy a.
you’ve got my vote. what’s happening to higher education — spiraling tuition, budget cuts — is appalling.
i’m a football fan only in the sense that college football is where you get to see marching bands. the band members work incredibly hard, and in my opinion, the musicians are producing something of value — and also learning or increasing skills that they can use once the football season is over. these talented students do not get the perks; they are — rightfully so — doing music because they love it, while they get their college educations. band programs do not get a fraction of the financial support of athletics. heck, most athletic programs are starving for money — there was a big outcry at cal recently, when the baseball team was demoted to some less official status and other programs cut — while the football programs generally continue to eat giant wads of bucks and strut around like they own the place.
for reasons i will never understand, college football has a lot of insanely devoted fans, and it has gotten spoiled. it’s like the britney spears of the academic world. (ok, someone can improve on that analogy.) it is, relatively speaking, rolling in the bucks. it does not pay close attention to the rules that apply to other students. it is “special.” it’s on TV news!
i guess the schools with major football teams think this brings alumni and fans back, and assumes those alums will give money to the school. in my opinion, those alums mostly spend their money traveling back to the mothership, buying gear in the school colors, and celebrating around the games. i trust ari is correct when he says these programs “bleed money.”
here is my favorite football photo — of “the play” in 1982, during the big game between cal and stanford, in which the cal footballers took out the stanford band. i know the saxophonist immediately to the left of #26, shown running for his life. he is still a wonderful musician, and a great music teacher.
November 8, 2011 at 6:14 pm
JWL
The phrase that college football is the “Britney Spears of the academic world” can never be improved upon. Not in a million NFL draft days.
November 8, 2011 at 8:40 pm
grackle
I note that I grew up in the town of Ben’s in-state rival, which is notable for having built a freeway solely to channel alumni to football games. Also, one of the alums is T. Boone Pickens, who also likes football, like Ari.
Having spent six years of my youth in marching bands, I’m surprised to read that they have even a tenuous relationship to music. I hadn’t noticed that.
November 8, 2011 at 8:49 pm
ari
I believe, grackle, that you’re thinking of a different Ben. And for what it’s worth, I sort of like football. I just don’t want major revenue sports anywhere near my campus. The Niners and Raiders are just up the road, thanks.
November 10, 2011 at 5:12 pm
nicomachus
Hal Crowther’s rant-disguised-as-reportage re: college football, from the most recent Oxford American, is an interesting read. http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2011/sep/16/crowther-edu/
November 12, 2011 at 5:39 pm
grackle
Days after this is active, but still, better late etc… I was afraid I’d mis-IDed which Ben and almost clarified. The rest was mostly in response to Kath A. Okla State did all right in at the one alum/ football gift dept.($265 million to athletic programs, not that that is what the university really needs) I’m not averse to football either, but I do that it is to the good when Cal has a losing season. I suppose I would support something along the lines of the way the Ivies have structured their programs; you know, the anomaly of having student athletes. So I’m pretty much in agreement with you.