The end is near. Well, let me re-phrase; I actually don’t know when the end will come. I just know it will come. Eventually.
For college sports fans, at least.
It’s my passion, specifically college football. It’s a sickness, really. I plunk down thousands of dollars each year on season tickets to watch a bunch of 19 and 20-year-olds run around on a football field seven times a year in College Station. Sometimes they’ll drop a game to say, Arkansas State, go 4-8 in the process and I’ll be back for more the next season. Bank it. With all due respect to Arkansas State.
I get kicked in the groin and I come back for more. But every game is a reunion, every road trip a fun time, based around passion for my school and a love to watch the game.
The sad fact it, it will all go away at some point. Money is the root of all evil, and soon it will infiltrate the college ranks and destroy the great game(s) we love – college football and college basketball.
Last week in Washington, D.C., the mother of former Duke basketball star Wendell Carter addressed the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, comparing the current system of NCAA basketball to “slavery and a prison system.”
Her point was that colleges and the conferences make a ton of money, and that the student-athletes are being exploited. She also brought color into the argument, but I refuse to go there. White or black or purple, these players are all in the same boat, and there is plenty to focus on here rather than the color of their skin. Let’s drop the slavery comparison and focus on the real issue – money.
Carter’s mother was correct on that front in a lot of ways, and money will end up destroying college athletics as we know it. And that is a shame.
Should college athletes be paid? It’s a fair question. The money that these primary sports generate is mind-boggling. These kids get a free education out of the deal, and there is some significant value in that, for sure. But if we were to compensate these athletes in correlation to the profits their sports generate, well we might as well go to semi-pro ball (which is where I fear we are heading).
And what about the swimmers, the track and field athletes, tennis players or equestrian riders? Shouldn’t they see the same amount of profit that a quarterback or point guard might get? What about the female athletes? Same deal.
The thing I love about college football is the passion of the sport – the pageantry, the school colors, the mascots, and of course the bands. The kids on the playing field are students; that’s a fact. Do some of them take easier degree plans or a large amount of web classes? Yes, probably. But appreciate a young man like Texas A&M wide receiver Damion Ratley, who just graduated with his degree in architecture. And how about former Florida State corner Myron Rolle, who is on his way to be a neuro-surgeon after his football career. Many of these kids make the most of the opportunity and go on to accomplish great things off the field, including raising families and contributing to society.
But there will always be athletes or parents who cry foul, wanting their piece of the pie without seeing the value of getting a college scholarship and chosing to accept it. Ah, right, they did have a choice. The truth is that Ms. Carter’s boy could have easily chosen Harvard or any school to play basketball with his talent level. But he chose Duke and played on the big stage (and a great school in its own right). That is also worth something, but she is focused on the immediate pay-off (or lack thereof).
The more money creeps into the game, the further down the path towards being semi-pro sports we go. Here’s hoping we can keep this from happening, at least later than sooner.
That would be a major letdown if college sports loses the things that make it so great. Give me the occasional kick to the groin from a home loss vs. Arkansas State any day over that. At least there’s passion around it.
