Despite Penn State punishment, football still big man on college campuses
The NCAA sent a clear message Monday: The win-at-all costs mentality that gives athletic directors and particularly football coaches exaggerated power on too many university campuses has to stop.
But was anyone really listening?
The NCAA issued significant and appropriate penalties against Penn State because of the horrific child sexual abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Top university officials — including once legendary football coach Joe Paterno — failed to halt Sandusky’s activities for many years, essentially to protect the supposed sanctity of the school’s football program.
The NCAA’s decisions to fine the university $60 million, reduce football scholarships and impose a ban on postseason bowls were supposed to serve as warnings to other schools.
“We’ve had enough,” said Ed Ray, president of Oregon State and chairman of the NCAA’s executive committee, speaking on behalf of chancellors and university presidents.
In reality, however, football and the pursuit of the big bucks associated with it have long ruled much of the college landscape. Most indications are that this situation is going to get worse.
Look no further than the University of Missouri, which bolted from the Big 12 to the SEC because of its prowess as a football conference. Now, athletic boosters are scrambling to raise $200 million to make MU’s football stadium bigger and to lavish even more money on the program. Missouri’s regents enthusiastically backed the move to up the ante in the SEC arms race with Alabama and other conference football powers, even as they slashed millions from educational programs.
At the University of Kansas, athletic officials recently spent the mind-boggling sum of $9 million to pay off two failed football coaches.
Meanwhile, MU, KU and many other universities across the land are hiking tuition, raising fees and desperately trying to replace public support that’s been ratcheted back by state legislatures.
Athletic directors don’t apologize for cooking up multimillion-dollar deals with ESPN and other networks. Much of that money goes to overpaid coaches who rake in far more than the values of all the scholarships given to their athletes.
Penn State now has been added to the shameful roster of schools whose football programs got them in trouble with the NCAA. The unprecedented penalties it received likely will reduce it from a football power to a football also-ran.
None of this will be much comfort to the boys abused by Sandusky.
Kent Mueller
10 months agoWhy does the Star continue to confuse collegiate money spent on athletics and collegiate money spent on academics? The editorial draw a very clear line from the money raised and spent on athletics and budget cutbacks in academics. That would be true if those monies both came from the same pot. But they don’t Significantly all of the money that flows into athletics come from media contracts, ticket sales and fan contributions. Yes, it’s big money. But, it does not come from the same source as the academic budget. To make that connection is wrong. To continue to make that connection is, well, what is it?
Recent coverage of KU, KSU and MU showed some athletic budget detail. As I recall, about 5% of the athletic budgets came from tax money. About $3 million. I am all for stopping those dollars. The states shouldn’t be providing that to the athletic dept’s. But that is chump change. That is not causing the academic money problems.
Can the Star show that the $200 million MU is raising will cut into funding for academics? If the Star can’t, then they need to stop making that comparison.
Kent Mueller
10 months agoName one school who would accept a forfeited win? Have you seen the dispute between KU and MU regarding all time football wins?
Of course they wouldn’t have fined Bowling Green the same. It was intended to be proportionate to the wealth of the program. My only problem with the fine is that they didn’t stipulate that they couldn’t reduce funding for the non-revenue sports that football pays for. Those innocent sports could be in danger without football’s largesse.
Frankly, I don’t think the scholarship reductions went far enough. And the bowl ban is of no value if they got it right with the scholarship reductions. If the scholarship reductions work as planned, then Penn State isn’t going to be bowl eligible anyway. So, there is no practical penalty. What they should have done was make Penn State ineligible then next for times they qualify for a bow. If that is the next four years, then fine. But if they aren’t eligible for these four years due to too few wins, then the ban would simply extend into the future until they miss four seasons when the actually qualify.