A Conflicted Fan...

I love collegiate sports. I love the way fall Saturdays are consumed with more college football than a person can possibly take in. I love how in March, college basketball basically walks in like it owns the network television schedule. Though I'm not naturally the biggest baseball/softball fan, I'll gladly take in a game if my team, the Missouri Tigers, are involved. There's no better way to say it than to sipmly say this: College sports are awesome.


However, this morning, I ran across an article by Pat Forde on Yahoo Sports that once again stirred up an ongoing conflict I have as a sports fan.

In the article, Forde mentions the new facilities being built at the University of Oregon for the Ducks' football program. Forde writes:

"Oregon is dumping $68 million of Nike kingpin Phil Knight's money into a new 'football operations center.' Among the accoutrements you get for $68 mil, the Eugene Register-Guard reported, is a private hot tub and steam room for the coaches, 'each with a waterproofed video center . . . so they can watch video while taking a soak.'"

The money being used here, as I understand it, is primarily donor money, and I certainly don't think it my place to tell the head honcho of Nike how the recipients of his cash should use it. They can use that money for whatever purpose they mutually agree on.

Still, I can't help but wonder if this is just another symptom of what's wrong with college athletics, specifically in the world of football. It's hard, if not impossible, not to admit that college sports, as we know them, have gotten fiscally out of control.

A few stats of note:

• Urban Meyer, Ohio State football coach, will make $24 million over the next six years (that's guaranteed money, not including any bonus cash).
• In addition to all the other details of Penn State's mess, they now must also pay roughly $4.5 million in severance to assistant coaches fired when the new head coach came in and cleaned house.
• The University of Florida's athletic department's expenditures run in the neighborhood of $113 million.

These stats are just a sampling of the ridiculous amounts of money that universities have to shell out to have prominent athletic programs. Still, these teams I noted are just the "big boys," right? Surely it's only the top tier who spends this kind of money? True, but there's a developing trend in sports where smaller Division-1 FBS programs are trying to live like those at the top of the food chain.

When these smaller programs try to live as if they're the University of Texas or Alabama, the university is left to pick up the hefty price tag of their pursuits of prominence. Adam Weissman of The Atlantic reports that in 2010, only 22 of all FBS athletic programs turned a profit. He also reports that of the 120 FBS football programs, 51 were "in the red" with a median loss of almost $3 million. Where does money come from to cover that kind of cost? As an educator, I'm scared to ponder that question.

All of these figures, along with scandals like the one at Penn State or the USC/Reggie Bush debacle, are the worst aspect of the sports I love. I know that these kind of facts force me to face important truths, but as such a college sports nut, it's just far less than enjoyable to think about the fact that collegiate sports, at its core, is just another big business.

I don't want to watch a game knowing that it's all about cash. I want to believe that the triumphant moments I've watched such as Christian Laettner's buzzer-beater, Vince Young's single-handed takeover of the BCS championship game, or Boise State's stunning takedown of powerhouse Oklahoma were about the thrill of competition, the will to win, the drive to be the best...not about the almighty dollar. But, perhaps there's no room for such idealism in the market-driven world of college sports.

(From The Wall Street Journal back in 2007)

Posted with Blogsy

I love this stuff...

Fall is approaching and football is firing up.  This is the time of the year when my sports addictions awaken from their mid-summer sleep (sorry, baseball; it's not you, it's me).  All the excitement of the coming seasons had me perusing youtube last night for some of my favorite sports moments of all-time.  After about two hours of this, here are the ones that I would probably consider my favorite moments that I actually recall watching when they happened. Every time I watch these, I can't help but get pumped, so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!

Michael Jordan Dominates the Blazers

St. Louis Rams Super Bowl Win

Christian Laettner Downs Kentucky

Barry Sanders Breaks 8 Tackles

Tiger Woods' Improbable Chip-In

M-I-Z...

When people ask where I'm from, I might give my actual hometown once out of every ten times.  Not a lot of folks are familiar with "Auxvasse" and nobody who didn't grow up within ten miles of that metropolis can pronounce the name. Thus, I usually just answer the question by saying that I'm from Columbia since it's only about twenty minutes from where I grew up and is an easy point of reference.

Having grown up so close to Columbia, it was fated that I should be counted among the Tiger faithful.  Black and Gold has been part of my sports DNA from a very early point in my life.  Spiritually speaking, I am a missionary to all peoples carrying the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.  On a MUCH more earthly level, I consider myself sports missionary carrying a message of repentance for those wayward souls who cheer for KU.

Now, realize that I have no delusions about where the Zou's teams stack up.  We are not a powerhouse (though we fans do know how to run our mouths as if we were one).  We don't go into games against the big boys as favorites...ever.  Still, we are always a competitor and on the right night, the spoiler.  Don't get me wrong, I'd love for my Tigers to be a juggernaut.  Still, there's something I dig about being "Little Mac" and having the chance to knock out Mike Tyson (+5 for 1st generation Nintendo allusion).  Guess it just makes some victories that much sweeter, even if you do get your face punched in occasionally.

One such case came last fall at the Mizzou homecoming game.  My wife is truly a gift from the Lord on more levels than I could tell you about in this blog.  On the night of that game, my wife confirmed this fact for me by denying her Okie heritage and humbly sacrificing for the sake of our marriage by cheering for the Black and Gold (or, at least not cheering against us...close enough).  It was a dreary, gray afternoon which we mainly spent walking around campus taking part in the electric atmosphere created both by the implications of this game should we pull off the upset as well as ESPN College Gameday's presence at Faurot Field. 

When we finally got into the game, it was as full as I have ever seen that stadium and literally a sea of gold.  The Oklahoma faithful did have representation, but were largely hidden in the mass of Tiger fans that were ready to brave any elements that night.

For anyone that saw the game, you know the outcome.  I won't bore you with a recap of every detail (and I'll save you the rant about Yost's five-wide sets at the goal line).  I will, however, always remember the roar that went up when McGaffie took that first kick back.  That was a sound I've never heard rivaled at any sporting event I've ever been to.  That place lit up like Clark Griswold's Christmas  decorations.  People went nuts because they all knew, win or lose, that our team was going to put on a show, and that they did.  It's no secret that OU has slapped us around plenty the last few years, so the sight of Bob Stoops whipping off that visor in disgust sent the whole Tiger nation into a frenzy that fired on all cylinders straight through to the final play of the night when the scoreboard read 36-27 in favor of the hometown Tigers.

If you're not a Mizzou fan, then that night probably meant nothing to you.  You're probably thinking, "Yeah, then you all lost two straight and went on to blow it against Iowa."  True, that's the life of a Mizzou fan.  We relish the good moments because we know that they are not guaranteed to last.  Oh, and will the Sooners bring the thunder next year to avenge that loss?  Totally possible and highly probable.  Still, if you were a Mizzou fan and were there that night, then you know how I felt when I saw our student section flood that field and walk the goalpost to Harpo's.  Sweet doesn't quite describe it. 

This video captures some of the coolest parts of that night.  To the MU faithful, "M-I-Z..."

 

Effective Score: 36...to 27.