Big Time Athletics Is Hurting Academics
The May 18th, Miami Herald had a story about a report issued by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. The imbalance between spending on sports and academics is increasing in the football/basketball factories.
This report will probably be filed away like a lot of other reports made by committees. But I think college presidents would be wise to change the way they do business because I think spending on sports has reached a level where some perverse things are happening.
The Southeast Conference spent about $246,468 per student athlete. That's a lot of money and the costs of supporting an athlete that plays football has increased 70%in 10 years while there has only been a 6% increase in support for non-athletes.
Houston, we have a problem and there needs to be a complete rethinking of the place college sports have in higher education. I like college football a great deal but something is out of whack. Scandals and cheating of all sorts seems to be going on everywhere you look closely. The common response is everybody is doing it. I follow the University of Miami and that seems to be the first line of defense. Coaches screw up and then move on.
Meanwhile sports do generate publicity, donations and entertainment for alumni, but do they really pay off? I'm not sure. Players generate a lot of revenue and yet a lot of them feel slighted and often can't pay for a pizza on Sunday evening, leave school without completing their degree or educations and think they should be paid for their services.
Tinkering around the edges of big time college sports seems to be playing whack a mole on the football field, basketball court, or in the case of the UM: Alex Rodriguez Park where they play baseball.
Downsizing it all needs to happen soon and the sooner the better.
This report will probably be filed away like a lot of other reports made by committees. But I think college presidents would be wise to change the way they do business because I think spending on sports has reached a level where some perverse things are happening.
The Southeast Conference spent about $246,468 per student athlete. That's a lot of money and the costs of supporting an athlete that plays football has increased 70%in 10 years while there has only been a 6% increase in support for non-athletes.
Houston, we have a problem and there needs to be a complete rethinking of the place college sports have in higher education. I like college football a great deal but something is out of whack. Scandals and cheating of all sorts seems to be going on everywhere you look closely. The common response is everybody is doing it. I follow the University of Miami and that seems to be the first line of defense. Coaches screw up and then move on.
Meanwhile sports do generate publicity, donations and entertainment for alumni, but do they really pay off? I'm not sure. Players generate a lot of revenue and yet a lot of them feel slighted and often can't pay for a pizza on Sunday evening, leave school without completing their degree or educations and think they should be paid for their services.
Tinkering around the edges of big time college sports seems to be playing whack a mole on the football field, basketball court, or in the case of the UM: Alex Rodriguez Park where they play baseball.
Downsizing it all needs to happen soon and the sooner the better.
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