Of College Athletics

Greetings:

While running on the treadmill yesterday, I watched most of the Kansas / Iowa State men’s basketball game.  Iowa State upset Kansas.  I was rooting for the Cyclones because they are not ranked, and Kansas stood at #5 last week.  Later, I watched a different game.  Yes, I was rooting for a team, but the experience differed.

For many reasons, I have grown to dislike the major, Division I college athletics, especially basketball and football.  The money, the hoopla, the exploitation of athletes, the ego of athletes, the lemmings behavior of fans — each leaves me cold.  For many, playing sports and watching sports are fun, but the D1 system has deteriorated into a cauldron of behaviors that take away from the contribution to human development that athletics make.  Worse, D1 (and professional) sports influence young children to mimic selfish attitudes that only serve to cause problems later in their life.  Thank goodness we do see examples of coaches, teachers, and players who exemplify the ideal of athletics.  Certainly, Mr. Paterno was one such person, regardless of what happened at the end of his life.  To him and many others, sports is not meant for Gladiators to perform in front of rabid fans.

Particularly irksome to me when I watch big time college or professional sports on TV is a distinct demographic profile.  Contrast the crowd and the players.  What do you see?  Men or women (usually the male teams) composed of one race watched by a different race  (I would suspect that at the college level there is a “class” difference, since we know that college is affordable to a relatively few.  4 year scholarships are not widely available to those without special skills).

I marvel at this.  On the one hand, players receiving the free or subsidized education (a good thing) risk being cut from the team and losing their scholarships, or required to ignore academics in favor of practices/games.  On the other hand, the college makes the money.  The coach is rich.  The students have screaming fun.  The alumni/alumnae can brag, but the player, perhaps led during recruitment to dream of glory and lots of professional money is the loser, possibly cast out with no degree and maybe a permanent injury.

(As an aside, the professional level of sports tends to demonstrate a similar racial divide between players and fans.   However, there is  a different economic chasm that is not manifested in the players – they make a great amount of money – but within the stands.  Who can afford ticket prices or has friends in high places who hold season tickets?)

The one redeeming feature, I suppose, is that a few athletes make it to the top and do reap financial reward in professional sports. Those who can look into the crowd and smile, knowing that he is making a heck of lot of money off those who watch both the game and the cacophony of advertisements.  The reality is that chances of making it to the professional level are slim.

There was another game I watched on Saturday.  the Cedar Crest College Women played Philadelphia Bible University in a very small school, Division III game where the fans were few (family and friends) and the reward was staying out of last place.  I have a student on the team, and I try to attend games when I do not have a class.  Saturday home games are the best.  Checking for the game time on Friday at the college’s website, I came across this story at D3Hoops.com. The Sunderhaus Rules, a reflection on small school sports featuring one of Cedar Crest’s players.  I know that stories like this are everywhere in sports, big programs and small.  I am sure that each player on the Kansas and Iowa State teams have a good story, too.

Still, the issue is not with the players.  The dilemma is that we have pushed sports to become bigger than life.  How corporations use tickets to make people feel important.  How coaches make millions while players too often get the short end of the stick.  How a clear sociological (and often economic) divide often exists between players and those who are in the stadium seats.

Ms. Sunderhaus played for exactly 1 hour yesterday, her lunch hour between science lab sessions.  She played well, and contributed greatly.  She left in the 2nd half with about 15 minutes to play, leaving her 7 other players to hold on to a fairly substantial lead.  PBU only had 6 players.  CCC won by a good margin, and left the court happy.  Every CCC player scored!  A telling comment from a referee after the game was, “I wish every game was like that, up and down the court, lots of points scored.”

Playing a sport is one step along a path toward personal development, just as is playing an instrument or performing in a play.   One is able to connect their body and mind to the world beyond him or herself.  Yes, at times sports are violent, too violent, but even understanding how rules help to control violence is a worthwhile lesson within a chaotic society.

Two games, two victories, two losses.  An interesting contrast in purpose and result.  I hope that someday, Americans who lose themselves in the fantasy world of athletics are able to see just how much beliefs and attitudes about winning at all costs encourages a we/they nation, unable to compromise, excessively competitive, and unnecessarily polarized.

As always, your comments are welcomed.

Michael

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