Arguments for and Against College Athletics

We had a tough discussion in class one day about what college sports programs contribute to education. There are many pros and cons for the topic and it could be argued either way. There is a lot of question about how much school college athletes actually go to during a season. Athletes are taking "easy majors" or sometimes getting grades altered so they are academically eligible to play. You could also bring up the fact that by these kids playing for Division 1-A programs and are bringing in about $4 Billion in revenue each year. It’s a multi-billion dollar business that has two primary emphases: men’s football and men’s basketball. Only 1 in 5 football programs actually profits from their organization while the majority lose more money than any other program in their school. Now don't get me wrong, I love college sports. There is nothing like going to a Pitt football game, sitting in the student section, and getting on the jumbo-tron a million times because your brother is the infamous Darth Vader in the stands. These are some of my greatest memories of my college experience so far, but the question is really about smaller programs like Slippery Rock or my old institution, Bethany College.
I attended Bethany College down in West Virginia for two years. While there I learned how important college athletics were at this school. The Bison football team in the past 5 years has won as many games as I have fingers. They were an absolutely terrible team full of players who actually thought they could still reach the NFL level after college. There were no more than 800 kids that attended the college and about 600 of the students were there just for athletics. What really bothered me at Bethany as well as Slippery Rock is how the athletes carry themselves. When you are in line at the cafeteria and you see 3 or 4 football players jump to the front of the line, how do you feel? When you are studying for hours upon hours for a midterm the next day and then hear the baseball team already has all the answers, how would you feel? When you are studious and attend every class but still do poorly and then see the dumbest kid on the football team get an A, how do you feel? These are all questions I asked myself when I experienced each one of these situations at least once in college. The problems are the attitude of the players in a sports program that most likely won’t take them places in life. What they don’t realize is they are paying the same amount to go to the same college is me because there are no athletic scholarships in Division 3 schools. It would be different if you were a superstar at Florida State, a Rhodes Scholar, and a soon to be Neurosurgeon after a productive NFL career like Myron Rolle. I think that the intentions of the university are good by trying to create good social environments for students by building nice stadiums and facilities, but what they don’t realize is, most of the students don’t care. While at Bethany, I attended maybe 3 football games in 2 years. I chose not to go because I don’t like to see a losing team, and if the team is losing all the time year after year, what's the motivation to start going? Me and my friends chose not to support the people who claimed to be better than or above everyone else. What I never understood was how people on the worst Division 3 football team in the country could actually carry themselves like they were the greatest thing since sliced bread. We need more athletes like Myron Rolle who are humble, respectful, and intelligent human beings. Myron chose not to enter the NFL draft last year to further his education at Oxford University this past fall. Talk about a kid with good values, this guy chose to pass up millions of dollars to make sure that if his NFL career doesn’t work out; he has something to fall back on. The school brings in no money from the athletic programs yet the students are paying out of our pockets to keep them going. I have yet to see any real good benefits of sports at small colleges other than the usual stuff people say like, it gives an opportunity for people to interact and socialize. There are about two dozen other ways to meet people and socialize at college other than joining a sport team. Schools like Northeastern, East L.A. College, and Hofstra are all cutting football and baseball programs because of the costs. It’s becoming too expensive and not worth the investment in the programs. "The cost of the football program, now and in the future, far exceeds the return possible," Hofstra president Stuart Rabinowitz said Thursday. “He added that despite Hofstra having sent several players to the NFL, the team does not attract enough national attention. The $4.5 million spent annually on the team will be used on scholarships and other priorities.” I realize the tradition that the institution may have with the programs, but what administrators need to ask themselves is "What is this program really doing for my University?" I say if the programs are unsuccessful and continue to cost your institution money, cut it. If it’s just for leisure or fun, make it a club sport. There is absolutely no reason a small school like Bethany or Slippery Rock should be spending millions on programs that get you nothing in return. I pay over $500 a semester for books that I sometimes hardly because the teacher tells us we don’t need it. This is not fair to the people who are in college to get an education, not throw a football. I played football in High School and I love the game more than any other sport but that doesn’t mean that I agree with the way the institution is spending my money. Schools like Slippery Rock and Bethany are athletically funded by us, the students. Our tuition money is going to losing, and sometimes pointless programs instead of helping us with the cost of books that they continue to rip us off on. Let me know how you feel about this issue because it is becoming a very heated debate among universities around the nation, especially with the economy in the state that it's in today.

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Here are some articles that support my case about Hofstra and the other institutions that are cutting programs.
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/03/hofstra-football-canceled_n_378516.html
• http://www.citytowninfo.com/career-and-education-news/articles/colleges-cut-back-sports-programs-09031801
• http://www.usnews.com/blogs/paper-trail/2009/11/24/northeastern-discontinues-football.html
• http://www.huntington-news.com/news/athletic-department-cuts-football-program-1.2095649
• http://articles.latimes.com/1993-04-18/news/ci-24533_1_community-college-football

Values

We were sitting in my American Sport in the 21st Century class talking about values. In almost every class in my Sport Management department here at Slippery Rock, we have talked at least once about values, morals, and ethics. Your values are something you really care about; you take pride in, and are proud to let others know about. In class we discussed character building and developing certain traits. From the time I was very young my parents instilled a certain set of values in me that would help mold me into a professional and respectable young man. Things like religion, reputation, work ethic, and most of all family. I have accepted these values and they are very important to me. My dad would always tell me to never put shame on your name. The name George (my last name) is the most important thing I own and that it not only represents me, but my entire family. If I do something wrong or get in trouble, it not only looks bad on me, but my parents, brother and sister as well. He taught me to be admired and respected. If I am admired, people want to be like me. That means I’m doing something right and if I am respected, I am making the right choices and good decisions in life.
Now that you know a little about my values, I want to talk about Tony Dungy, former Indianapolis Colts head coach. I want to talk about Tony because of the way he carries himself. The man walked away from football at the top of his career. The colts were legitimate super bowl contenders every year but Tony made the decision to give it all up to give back to the world. In this article I found, he talks about his higher calling and why he is doing what he is today, and that is changing lives. He is showing that people deserve a second chance no matter how bad the crime as long as they were willing to fully commit themselves and really want to change. In this article Dungy is referred to as "a messenger from God" and "is viewed as the moral compass of American sports." Dungy is a man of respect, decency, and character. He talks about how before Mike Vick got arrested; he was with him promoting the game being played in Japan between the Falcons and the Colts. He got to talk to Vick and they jokingly agreed to go fishing one day during the off season to get to know one another. That fishing trip never happened though and Tony still asks himself, if I just had a little time with Mike, could I have helped save his life and get him on the right track? This shows me the type of man Tony is and his passion for helping others. He went to visit Vick in a Kansas prison before his sentence was over. He talked with Mike for a few hours and asked him questions that he wanted to hear the right answers to so he could decide if he really wanted to help the former superstar out. Tony likes to use his faith as a guide and direction when helping people. Although he doesn’t make them turn to god or faith, he finds it easier to relate and teach with it. With a good recommendation from Tony, Mike could end up back on the field one day and he eventually did. This showed me that Tony has not just great pull in the NFL organization but great respect around the league. I saw it as, if Tony took the time out of his busy day to go talk to a criminal, then the man obviously sees that this prisoner is willing to fully take responsibility and change his life. Tony speaks to prisons all over the country and is saddened by the number of young adults that are African-American behind bars. Back in the beginning of the college football season, University of Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount punched Boise State linebacker Byron Hout in the mouth after a postgame confrontation. Oregon head coach Chip Kelly decided to suspend Blount for the entire season but Kelly really was unsure if he has made the right decision, Blount was one of their best players and a starter. Kelly contacted Tony and although he never spoke with him before, Tony was willing to talk to him and his troubled player. Tony spoke on the phone with the running back for several hours giving advice and answering questions. Blount was then reinstated for the last few games of the season. Kelly later said that “Tony Dungy was a man of impeccable integrity, who understands young men.”
Mike Vick isn’t the only player Tony has helped out during his short time away from football. He has helped several famous people and other unknown average Joe people. Tony’s commitment to doing the right thing, faith, and family are all values I have and am proud of. He is a great role model for young adults starting to get into the real world. He sets a good example of how to carry yourself in the professional world that it’s not all about when you do on the field, but it’s what you do when you are not playing the game. How are you going to change someone’s life today?

Here is a copy of the article from ESPN.com http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=100128/TonyDungy