Exactly. Remember when the chemistry professor told Coach Bryant he felt there was too much emphasis on football at Bama? Coach Bryant replied, "Oh really...well let me ask you, when was the last time 50,000 people paid to watch one of your chemistry tests?"And what would the alternative look like? Many of these colleges wouldn't have the academic resources they had if it weren't for these big time football programs bringing in the money they do. It's a double edge sword. If he's going down this road then I think it is fair to discuss the fact that so many colleges offer degrees for things that have no real demand in the job market. Leaving these kids with big student loans, and a degree that is about as worthless as the paper it's on. Just because you have an "education" doesn't mean you are employable.
There will be a correction sometime as is already happening at Michigan, but the college feel of the game is being taken over by TV and a corporate feel. Who knows when the correction will happen, but no amateur sporting event can be bigger and more expensive every year with some kind of bubble bursting.Concur. There's no going back.
It has already happened, and as buzz said above, "it is a double edged sword". Personally the collegiate game day atmosphere has changed to more of what you would expect at an NFL venue. I was not impressed with the game day atmosphere in Tuscaloosa last year and chalked it up to my "old school expectations", but the changes have taken place over the years and it is not for me.There will be a correction sometime as is already happening at Michigan, but the college feel of the game is being taken over by TV and a corporate feel. Who knows when the correction will happen, but no amateur sporting event can be bigger and more expensive every year with some kind of bubble bursting.
I read an essay this morning talking about how college has been turned into a way to bury yourself in debt rather than a way of bettering yourself.Without question many schools have decided to cash in on college sports to the detriment of the principle charter of their institutions. This is the reason that the Ivy League schools decided to change their sports departments decades ago. That said, I see it as a victimless change.
What concerns me more is the way that colleges have tried to change our society. They have created an almost elitist mindset across the country that has pushed people into college than should ever have attended, often leading to debt that will never be covered. Not every job requires a degree, and many employers now require degrees for positions that should not require any college whatsoever.
He is right, but it's been happening since the beginning of the twentieth century or thereabouts. I believe that, anyway. Colleges began to use sports, football in particular, as a PR tool to grow their campuses at that point in time and the method picked up steam. That's how the Ivy League lost it's hold on the sport. Those colleges didn't need money or student recruiting tools, colleges in other areas of the country did and they found it. Television absolutely boosted the situation exponentially. So did the rise of pro football. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!He's right.
Yep, our entire society seems to devalue education and celebrate anything or anyone on television or radio regardless of why they may be there. Doing the right thing isn't celebrated, but acting like an idiot or an immoral jerk may earn you fame and fortune. Gee, I wonder what message the kids pick up there?The whole world has sold out.
They would have generations ago, but no one was buying.The whole world has sold out.
Without question many schools have decided to cash in on college sports to the detriment of the principle charter of their institutions. This is the reason that the Ivy League schools decided to change their sports departments decades ago. That said, I see it as a victimless change.
What concerns me more is the way that colleges have tried to change our society. They have created an almost elitist mindset across the country that has pushed people into college than should ever have attended, often leading to debt that will never be covered. Not every job requires a degree, and many employers now require degrees for positions that should not require any college whatsoever.