When did the national media turn into Pravda? It seems no matter where I've turned the past couple of days the prevailing theme screamed by every single talking head is, "$32 million is too much to pay for a football coach!" Is it? Really? Says who? The people who have to answer for the financial decisions made by UA and its Athletic Dept. (Dr. Witt and Mal Moore) certainly don't seem to think so. The alumni of the University haven't been complaining. I haven't heard of any riots or protests from the student body as a result of Saban's hiring. The fan base doesn't seem all that upset about it. In fact, no one but the media seems to think it was a bad idea.
However, the media is so upset about the situation that they don't let simple things like "facts" stand in their way in their haste to condemn the Evil Imperialists at UA. The most recent article I read (which is linked in another post here) claimed that the state of Alabama had no business spending that much money on a coach when its public education system was so poor. They also pointed out that the median income in Alabama was one of the lowest in the nation. The inference is that the state of Alabama will now not be able to afford to increase spending on education because of the money being paid to Saban, and that the $32 million should have been used for that purpose rather than to pay for a football coach. Let's ignore the fact that general public education and the University system are funded differently, and money earned by UA doesn't go into one giant coffer from which funds for both high school textbooks and college football coaches must be drawn -- the media certainly has. Basically what these morons are saying is that the Athletics Department of the University, which pays for itself and makes millions of dollars in profit every year, should turn around and donate every bit of that money to the government for distribution in "proper" channels. That certainly is an interesting way to look at it, and I bet I know a group that would find it right up their alley: COMMUNISTS.
Before we move on to the next subject, I think it only right to point out that those bashing Alabama for spending too much on a coach are members of the sports media, who are able to feed and clothe their families because institutions like the University of Alabama make and spend vast amounts of money on sports instead of donating it all to charities. I'm not saying... I'm just saying.
The other underlying theme to the drivel being spewed by "journalists" is that it is somehow unfair for Alabama to even be able to spend that much on a coach. We're "driving up the coaching arms race" and making it impossible for small athletic programs (like the Miami Dolphins) to keep good coaches when bigger, more profitable programs start throwing piles of money at them. There's even talk (Orwellian as it seems) of Congress stepping in and imposing some sort of limit on the salaries of college coaches. After all, they say, how is it right that UA can pay $32 million to Nick Saban when schools like UAB or Prairie View or Northeastern Lousiana A&M Tech (who are surely just as deserving) are unable to match them? Aren't these coaches educators, just the same as the most humble history professor? I seem to recall a man who, when asked a similar question by an educator, replied, "You don't have 80,000 people show up to watch you give an exam." True, yes, but apparently inconsequential, as it is apparently somehow wrong for a program like Alabama (the 8th most profitable program in the nation according to a recent Forbes report, even after the past decade of mediocrity) to use its fairly earned funds as it sees fit. Instead it should be artificially kept to the same limits as a program like, say, UAB, which not only is NOT profitable but actually stays afloat because money from student tuition is diverted to help cover their debts. As we all know (or at least are told by the media), excelling is something that low-class people do. Being better at something than someone else might hurt their feelings. You know who else felt that way? That's right. COMMUNISTS.
I don't know about you, but I consider myself an American, and here in America we believe in things like free enterprise, self-determination, and the ability of a man (or in this case an institution) to use fairly earned money in the best way that he sees fit. These are things that a Communist would know nothing about, and by their recent actions, I can only conclude that practically every member of the national media is one. I don't know Nick Saban personally, but I'm willing to bet that he is a fine, upstanding American who believes in those ideals just like you and me, and I hope that the next time he meets some idiot journalist who wants to question whether or not he should have taken the job at Alabama, he wraps his right hand in the American flag, balls it into a fist, and uses it to punch that dirty pinko Commie square in the face.
Roll Tide.
However, the media is so upset about the situation that they don't let simple things like "facts" stand in their way in their haste to condemn the Evil Imperialists at UA. The most recent article I read (which is linked in another post here) claimed that the state of Alabama had no business spending that much money on a coach when its public education system was so poor. They also pointed out that the median income in Alabama was one of the lowest in the nation. The inference is that the state of Alabama will now not be able to afford to increase spending on education because of the money being paid to Saban, and that the $32 million should have been used for that purpose rather than to pay for a football coach. Let's ignore the fact that general public education and the University system are funded differently, and money earned by UA doesn't go into one giant coffer from which funds for both high school textbooks and college football coaches must be drawn -- the media certainly has. Basically what these morons are saying is that the Athletics Department of the University, which pays for itself and makes millions of dollars in profit every year, should turn around and donate every bit of that money to the government for distribution in "proper" channels. That certainly is an interesting way to look at it, and I bet I know a group that would find it right up their alley: COMMUNISTS.
Before we move on to the next subject, I think it only right to point out that those bashing Alabama for spending too much on a coach are members of the sports media, who are able to feed and clothe their families because institutions like the University of Alabama make and spend vast amounts of money on sports instead of donating it all to charities. I'm not saying... I'm just saying.
The other underlying theme to the drivel being spewed by "journalists" is that it is somehow unfair for Alabama to even be able to spend that much on a coach. We're "driving up the coaching arms race" and making it impossible for small athletic programs (like the Miami Dolphins) to keep good coaches when bigger, more profitable programs start throwing piles of money at them. There's even talk (Orwellian as it seems) of Congress stepping in and imposing some sort of limit on the salaries of college coaches. After all, they say, how is it right that UA can pay $32 million to Nick Saban when schools like UAB or Prairie View or Northeastern Lousiana A&M Tech (who are surely just as deserving) are unable to match them? Aren't these coaches educators, just the same as the most humble history professor? I seem to recall a man who, when asked a similar question by an educator, replied, "You don't have 80,000 people show up to watch you give an exam." True, yes, but apparently inconsequential, as it is apparently somehow wrong for a program like Alabama (the 8th most profitable program in the nation according to a recent Forbes report, even after the past decade of mediocrity) to use its fairly earned funds as it sees fit. Instead it should be artificially kept to the same limits as a program like, say, UAB, which not only is NOT profitable but actually stays afloat because money from student tuition is diverted to help cover their debts. As we all know (or at least are told by the media), excelling is something that low-class people do. Being better at something than someone else might hurt their feelings. You know who else felt that way? That's right. COMMUNISTS.
I don't know about you, but I consider myself an American, and here in America we believe in things like free enterprise, self-determination, and the ability of a man (or in this case an institution) to use fairly earned money in the best way that he sees fit. These are things that a Communist would know nothing about, and by their recent actions, I can only conclude that practically every member of the national media is one. I don't know Nick Saban personally, but I'm willing to bet that he is a fine, upstanding American who believes in those ideals just like you and me, and I hope that the next time he meets some idiot journalist who wants to question whether or not he should have taken the job at Alabama, he wraps his right hand in the American flag, balls it into a fist, and uses it to punch that dirty pinko Commie square in the face.
Roll Tide.
