The trend of "Play for Pay" in big time college sports is leading to buying championships. And I realize in some ways it occurred decades ago. But today its out in the open and really is detrimental. Just saws this:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ot...S&cvid=c6ed6bd638ea4ad5b8551d2709f1ff00&ei=40
Although this does not seem related. The desire for a NCAA champion in a particular sport drives huge dollars to that team to the detriment of other teams. And loss of competition and/or lose of the team period as in above. Yes there are other things more important and I suppose no big deal. But to me its still sad.
Maybe I missed it, but I don’t see where they said they’re rerouting resources to another program. Universities are currently all running scared about their funding situations, loss of revenue from so many angles. This is the case in the UT system, I’m very aware.
I have to chuckle a bit at this article, primarily because it really is there due to the loss of a women’s team. Title IX decimated so many men’s teams in so many sports in the not too distant past. Wrestling, crew, tennis, xc, etc. Meanwhile women who got full rides to do the same sports, newly created as varsity sports that included scholarships, wore “title IX” hats to emphasize the “injustice” that was actually so resolved, they were now going to school for free on. Meanwhile the men took it out of pocket and from wealthy donors, and folks who donated their time. It BTDT, paid the dues to compete on a club team while the women’s varsity team balanced the football budget.
So forgive me for lacking empathy and failing to see an issue with this situation, except for the fact that I have daughters, and would hate to see them cut off from the sports they love. So I can certainly feel for the women and their families.
But in general? I love sports. I hate the bloat that the university sports, NCAA, etc has become, and the emphasis and handouts that sports get over academics at a place of learning, as I noted in my earlier post. All the special considerations given to athletes at the expense of tuition payers and non-sports donors?!? No thanks. Balancing a men’s sport budget with a women’s sport budget that doesn’t generate revenue? No thanks. But don’t take that as being one sided. I don’t think that any sport in a university should get the level of scholarships, coach paychecks, special considerations on living, food, classes, etc. None of it.
I’d much prefer if sports were done in a club setup, and then based upon performance and merit? Very few and very small scholarships were given. So, for as much as it may first sound like my personal experiences cause a vendetta for Women’s sports, that’s not the case. My beef is with the approach taken for all college sports, including the ones that actually produce real revenue. Excellence should be in academics. Funding of all kinds should be for academics. Sports scholarships should be few and far between. The existence of sports should be based upon their net economic impact, and if they don’t have one, I’d be all for the Universities hiring coaches for men’s and women’s sports that have a sustained interest and quorum of athletes. But that’s where it ends. Results by some other metric, or true equivalence by sport should be emphasized, and limitations on funds in place to prevent the ever increasing cost of education. It’s education, not sports, that is why Universities exist.
