April 8th, 2010
Why I Hate College Sports
Now that the Division I college basketball tournament is over, I can tell you why I hate college sports. Actually, I don’t hate all college sports, I just hate NCAA Division I sports. These programs represent the exact opposite of what a college should represent. A college is supposed to be about academics. These athletic programs have nothing to do with academics and everything to do with winning.
As most people know, Duke won the NCAA tournament. Imagine if Duke’s coach retired and a new coach came into the program. Imagine if this coach recruited good basketball players who were excellent students. Imagine if his students graduated with honors but the team never got past the “Sweet 16″. How long do you think this coach would last? How about not long enough to see any of his recruits graduate. Who are the most widely recruited athletes? The athletes that everyone knows will only be at the college for a year or two before they leave for the pros. No coach cares if any of his students do well in college. What they care about is how they can toss a basketball or how hard they can knock down another student. Don’t believe it? Then look at what happened at SUNY Binghampton, one of the top schools in the NY state university system.
The school decided that they wanted their Division I basketball program to improve so they hired a new coach. This coach recruited students that had no chance of qualifying to attend Binghampton. Grades were changed. Teachers were threatened to give passing grades. Teachers who didn’t cooperate were terminated while the coach is still on the payroll, although suspended. Basketball players were allowed to take summer courses that were supposed to be reserved for graduate students. Players were allowed to take special one week courses and independent study courses. Players who transferred in were given credit for courses such as Bowling I and Theory of Softball.
But this is what happens when coaches are paid ten times more than professors. This is what happens when winning at all costs is the name of the game. Students who can hit a jump shot or rush a passer are more highly recruited than a student who can be a research scientist or a brilliant writer. This is what college sports are all about today. Read the two articles below.
David McM wrote,
Interestingly, Duke may be the exception. It has an extraordinarily high graduation rate. Otherwise, I have must agree. Big time college sports seems to forget that the primary purpose of a university is to provide students with an education. Having been a Ph.D. student teaching in another North Carolina university, I can tell you from personal experience that faculty members do get their arms twisted to change grades for star basketball players.
Link | April 9th, 2010 at 5:48 am
Kristen Faulkner wrote,
Wake Forest is literally right down the street from my house, so we tend to root for WF, but because (after 3 years) the coach didn’t get the team to the tournament, he just got fired. I heard on the radio, though, that the coach had education ethic- he was sure to make the students do their work FIRST. And, now he’s out of a job…
Link | April 12th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
Tom wrote,
Kristen, what you are describing is exactly the problem. A coach who makes sure his players are students first and he gets fired. What message does this send to the next coach?
Link | April 12th, 2010 at 10:23 pm