Can we talk?

College Sports

    I am no sports expert, collegiate or otherwise. I have little interest in following any team on a regular basis. I have no interest in motorized sports.  Yet I have to know some names and a little info to stay in the loop with everyone around me. I usually speak of sports only to be polite to others and hear their enthusiastic expressions. I usually cheer for any local or close-by team.

    Yet my father has expressed some ideas which seem reasonable to me. College sports began as a side interest for young adults pursuing an education.  Whether just for physical activity, for health, or to foster good sportsmanship, sports did not override the classroom. The students put the classroom first and pursued sports for the love of the game, whether it was golf, canoing, field, or football. They became gentlemen (and gentlewomen) by engaging  in friendly competition. They paid for their tuition.

    Then college sports began evolving. Alumni and other fans would pay big money to watch and make substantial contributions to the college if the team won more than they lost. Institutions of higher learning profited from winning teams.
So colleges began to offer scholarships to recruit students who still wanted an education above all else. The love of the game was still there, but the student received a free or reduced-price education and living expenses in exchange for playing sports. It became more and more intense as colleges competed in recruitment. The students began receiving more than a fee education and expenses; they received nice apartments, cars, salaries, and bonuses. If their scholastic achievements didn't measure up, they had tutors to bring them up to speed. The students still had to make good grades and still received an education along with the nice lifestyle.

    Now the emphasis is so strongly on winning, that lower quality students are being brought in to play sports. They can hardly read and write in some cases. Scholastic achievement has gone way down. Schools have had to relax their policies on passing grades, and granting do-overs or extensions on exams for students to finish the playing season. Schools that have stuck by the scholastic requirements end up losing playoffs, because the star players can't attend since they have failed exams. Many are not getting their diplomas, but are leaving school early. The love of the game isn't there any more. The love of money has taken over. If they don't get increases in their stipends, they don't want to perform on the field.

    The idea that I've heard proposed is that the college form a semi-pro team. There would be no academic requirements. They would be recruited to play only, not to the classroom. Pay the players, as players. Spare the expense of tuition, which is quite often just a waste any way. if a player wants to be a student, that would be his own responsibility. It could be limited to the same age group, make a profit for the college or university, but not be restricted by the scholastic side. It would make a fairer playing field for playoffs.

    People would resist the idea, since people always resist change. But we no longer have traditional college sports, so this really needs to be evaluated.