Does Buzz Bissinger score a touchdown with you, or do you find him personally foul?
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (author of the 1988 bestseller and cautionary tale “Friday Night Lights”) has stirred up quite a firestorm with a recent Wall Street Journal article declaring “Why College Football Should Be Banned.”
Yes, he advocates a “scorched earth, cold turkey” approach, rather than attempts to rein in abuses and nudge athletics into the proper perspective. He finds college football to be “antithetical to the primary purpose of higher education,” bringing with it high costs, low benefits (for the average student), a high price for academics and (he’s still researching this) probably a bunch of polar bears floating haplessly on ice chunks.
(And in case you didn’t notice, not a single overpaid coach had the guts to order the hit on bin Laden!)
I don’t follow any college football programs, but I don’t like raining on anyone else’s parade, either; so I’ve enjoyed just sitting back and watching the arguments unfold.
College football supporters have a vague notion that the sport is a revenue cash cow, but Bissinger cites NCAA studies showing that maybe 20 schools earn money from football; two-thirds lose money. Supporters of the status quo are quick to point out the INTANGIBLE benefits of football. (“Football has a certain je ne sais...je ne sais...Dude! Now I wish they hadn’t cut the Foreign Language Department budget to buy the coach’s new Ferrari!”)
Bissinger fails to factor in the value of having a favorite team as a rallying point, as something for students and alumni to IDENTIFY with in this crazy world. (“Yes, sir, bolstered by tuition increases and nefarious recruiting violations, my alma mater has boasted a 2-and-11 season every year for the past...Hey, could somebody please STEAL my identity?”)
Bissinger decries the brutal exploitation of players who have little chance of graduation, even with watered-down requirements. He has no problem with bone-crushing NFL encounters but is protective of the health of college students. Perhaps the schools should do more to enhance retention, with a “Come For The Head Trauma, Stay For The Quadratic Equations” ad campaign.
Bissinger is relentless in hammering home the point that football takes away from the “core mission” of colleges and universities. I wonder how this “purity of purpose” mantra works in other aspects of life? (“Come on, honestly, what does the windshield really contribute to the core mission of the car’s getting you from one place to another? I think we should...bugs between the teeth...mmmmm...”)
At first I dismissed Bissinger as an ineffectual voice crying in the wilderness, demanding unrealistic cultural changes; but we’ve seen smokers become pariahs and the definition of marriage change, so maybe it’s time for everyone to take this seriously.
Football has a proud tradition of giving students a respite from the daily grind; but Bissinger thinks there is too much emphasis on fun in college, anyway. He feels students need to focus on studies so they can “compete in the brutal realities of the global economy.” For his sake, I hope the brutal realities leave room for paying a curmudgeonly journalist who sounds like your cranky neighbor on STEROIDS. (“Hey, you kids get off’a my 20-yard line! But leave the mascot. Them’s good eatin’!”)
• Copyright 2012 Danny Tyree. Danny welcomes reader e-mail responses at tyreetyrades@aol.com and visits to his Facebook fan page “Tyree’s Tyrades.” Danny’s’ weekly column is distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons Inc. newspaper syndicate.
Arizona Willie posted at 10:49 pm on Tue, May 15, 2012.
He doesn't go far enough.
All athletic programs in grade and middle and high school should be terminated as well.
100% of taxpayers pay for these programs which benefit only a small percentage of students.
Less than 2% of students even try out for the teams and very few make it.
Every kid dreams of being a pro athlete but they have a better chance of being hit by lightening twice and then winning the Powerball than they do of making a career as a pro athlete.
And for that, 100% of taxpayers shell out year after year after year.
If parents want to push their kids to be athletes they should pay 100% of the costs themselves in after school programs on private property.
If all athletic programs were terminated and the fields sold for housing / business ( and fire half the administrators too ) they could afford to pay top notch people to teach.
People complain about the education their kids get in public schools.
What do you expect when you only pay them $30 - $35 K / year?
Especially when they see coaches being paid more than they get and even more than the principal in many cases.
For that they get to put up with classes of 40+ kids whose parents think their kids can do no wrong and even pay for some classroom supplies out of their own pocket because the school doesn't have any money.
Really? Really?
sockratties posted at 1:02 pm on Fri, May 18, 2012.
The author has written an article that is not as clever as he thinks it is, but he does have a point.
Yes college sports are a big part of some college reputations and some place more emphasis on these programs than they deserve, but colleges cater to their clientele. If there was no demand, there would be no college sports programs. Colleges compete for dollars just as other institutions do, be they hospitals, police departments or corporations. Proving success is part of that competition. Colleges are only providing what the public has demonstrated that it wants.
Athletic programs do play a major part in education, especially at the middle and high school levels. Participation in competition is a good way for a young person to learn that effort and discipline bring results relative to effort put forth. Team sports develop skills in working with others, leadership and camaraderie. Physical development, achieved through constructive programs, enhances strength and coordination. Attempts to achieve such benefits with electronic toys and computer programs is a farce.
Kids who are seriously involved with sports are less likely to be involved with gangs and often encouraged to keep their grades up to remain eligible. These facts are true with other programs such as music, shop classes and science clubs, all areas that become venerable when dollars become scarce.
Football, at all levels, can probably be made safer. Just how safe do we want our kids to be? We could place them in sterile glass balls at birth and release them when they graduate. Or we can prepare them so they will survive in the real world by providing resources and reasonable protection.