Football and Greed

Yesterday, Michigan State scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the last one with seventeen seconds left, to beat Baylor, 42-41. It was a very exciting game. My sons were texting each other and me all the way through the game.

Joanne Gerstner had an interesting piece about college football in the New York Times yesterday. Here are some excerpts.

"After taking a sociology exam, Cardale Jones, a quarterback at Ohio State, posted a message on Twitter that echoed across college sports: 'Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain’t come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS.' "

Had I been the Ohio State Coach, I think Cardale might not have played for the Buckeyes anymore.

Gerstner went on to say, "Two years after publishing that provocative statement, Jones will be the starting quarterback on Thursday against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, (OSU won) the second semifinal game of college football’s new playoff system — and his words have renewed relevance. Never has the sport been so awash in money, a growth industry on campuses that some observers believe increasingly resembles professional football more than higher education."

"In some ways, even the N.F.L., that $10-billion-a-year enterprise, might be struggling to compete. The University of Michigan on Tuesday introduced its new coach, Jim Harbaugh, who left the N.F.L.’s San Francisco 49ers to join the Wolverines. His base salary — $5 million annually for seven years with 10 percent increases after three and five years — will eventually amount to more than what he was earning in the N.F.L."

I remember that several years ago I was critical of MSU's plans to expand their stadium to the point of writing the AD and complaining about it. His response was something like, "It's what the regents want."

Gerstner wrote, "Football is the main reason top-tier college programs have increased their revenue over recent decades at a rate that would make blue-chip companies blush. In constant dollars, the median Division I athletic department revenue in 1970 was $6.5 million, and in 2012, it was $56 million, according to one N.C.A.A.-commissioned study."

"And nearly every Big 5 program makes far more money than that figure. According to USA Today’s college financial database, Arizona State in 2013 had $65 million in revenue, Florida State $91 million, and Texas, one of the most marketable athletic departments in the country, made $165 million — 66 percent from football."

There have even been suggestions that college athletes should be able to unionize. In fact, the Michigan Legislature passed a law during their recent lame duck session that prohibits that from happening, at least in the public schools.

The whole phenomenon is a reflection of what's wrong with our society. Greed influences everything and causes us to want more, bigger, fancier, more comfortable, faster, shinier, and on and on. Look at U of M with their Schemblechler Hall complete with a big, bronze statue of him. Where is the statue of "the good professor," or "the famous scientist?"

Jeez. Maybe I've lived too long.