It may come as a surprise that there are people out there, monied adult people, who enjoy college athletics so much, and enjoy being in the presence of athletes so much, that they are willing to offer discount tattoos and the like in order to feel that they are somehow part of the game. That a coddled teenaged athlete would succumb to the temptation to accept $100 handshakes and loaner cars and anything else is no surprise. Those arrangements are as old as college athletics. The only thing that surprises me now is the outrage over the whole thing.
Are college football fans so deluded that they think it can't possibly happen at their school? That since the Tressels of the world claim to 'mold young men into adults' while wearing a sweater vest and at the same time winning football games that they couldn't possibly be bald-faced liars and cheats? Have the Jim Bakkers and Jimmy Swaggarts, not to mention the John Caliparis and Bobby Bowdens of the world taught us nothing? Surely we're aware by now that the men who most loudly preach such platitudes are the ones most likely to lie.
Or perhaps the ones most likely to lie are each and every college athletics fan, to themselves. We have bought the myth of intercollegiate athletics so willingly, so completely that we must elevate these people to heroic stature no matter what evidence we see to the contrary. No matter how many times one of them is caught we must instantly believe that the next one will be the one that will never cheat. To do otherwise would render the whole thing nothing more than a bloated, tawdry display of money and hubris wrapped in the thin veneer of education.
Or maybe we all just show up to see the marching band.
I just hope that Ohio State Football team can find another coach as soon as possible. Even though they lost a long time coach they have, they should move on and focus on the teams goal.
ReplyDeleteYet another game of Wack a Mole involving college football. Corrupt coaches, corrupt administrations, and, mostly corrupt alumni. And, don’t forget the bowl game systems. There is SO much money involved; I find it amazing these kind of stories are not a daily feature. At some point, the NCAA should simply admit the College Football in NFL lite, and just pay a nominal fee to the players. Consider it the Minor League of the NFL. The kids get exposure. and MAYBE an education, the schools get the big bucks from TV and tickets, and the NFL gets a good look at future players.
ReplyDeleteThe NCAA doesn't need to admit anything. They have their cake and they're gladly eating it. College football IS the minor leagues of the NFL. The only difference between the current arrangement and other minor league systems is that NFL players cannot be sent back down. And even that is of no concern to the NFL because they don't have guaranteed contracts. They simply release a player that doesn't perform at the desired level and find another one that will.
ReplyDeleteAs for the NCAA paying players: Why would they? The current system is working just fine, thank you. Besides, paying players would open the Pandora's box of inter-state commerce law which the NCAA is currently trying desperately to keep shut concerning the BCS. Much better to continue to prop up the well worn facade of amateurism to hide the gigantic piles of cash that they rake in.