Opening old wounds
Just when things had started to quiet down in big-time college sports after the ACC's raid of the Big East for Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College comes reports that the Big Ten may be on the prowl for a 12th school.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, called by some the most powerful man in college sports and seen as the leading barrier to a football playoff, has sent word that the conference's new television channel may provide an opening for a 12th school to join the party. Let's not forget that it was the Big Ten's annexation of Penn State in the 1990s that set in motion the wave of colleges hopping from one league to the next.
Amazingly, the conference commissioners, the school presidents and athletic directors continue to inveigh against playoffs and providing stipends for student-athletes, while breaking longtime bonds between schools and invoking the concept of academic purity all the while. How do you define chutzpah?
Comments
Let's face it - football (and to some extent basketball) drive the revenue for the entire sports departments at these BCS schools. Believe it or not, I'm in favor of this because it also benefits the schools generally, and creates the passion that also generates the bucks to go back to the academic programs as well. The thing that irks me the most is the lack of emphasis on the academic side of things. The free tuition, room, and board is the most valuable thing to give these student athletes, and the money and prospect of an NFL future that causes so many of these kids to leave early or drop out (see Gaither) is what needs to be stopped.
Posted by: EricB | July 27, 2007 2:24 PM