The world of sport and big money continues to amaze me. In the case of collegiate athletics, the tail---all that revenue from sports---is wagging the dog. Look at the recent changes in athletic conferences with colleges switcing conferences, or trying to do so. Why? more dollars, of course. the bigger and better the conference, the more chance for lucrative TV deals.
With the cost of education spiraling upward continuously, colleges are looking for any extra income they can get. Private universities are nearing stratospheric levels. My old alma mater, Hamilton Gollege is pushing $40,000 per annum. A little school like Hamilton with no prestigious sports team can expect no help from the athletic department in containing costs. The Ivy league schools aren't much better. Princeton or Penn usually have decent basketball---not football--- teams and make the March Madness tournament, which is good for some bucks but not much in the big picture.
The major conferences, the SEC, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 (or 14 0r whatever it is, the Pac-10 or 12 or 14----there you see the big bucks. And it's like an insatiable monster, gobbling up new schools, spitting out old ones. Then, if you are part of the N.C.A.A hiearchy, you get nightmares wondering if the colleges formed their own March Madness tournament and pulled away from the N.C.A.A.'s auspices. Whee, it's enough to make one giddy!
It's the new version of musical chairs. Or Abbott and Costello---who's on first?
Sometime I think some of the schools in these major conferences forget their purpose of educating students. Their purpose, I sometime think is to make first downs and win ball games. And it really doesn't make a whole lot of difference how much money the colleges make, it will do little to benefit the students or the staffs, only the coaches and athletic departments.
ReplyDeleteNothing matters but money. Traditional rivalries will be out the window along with common sense. It's all a money grab, pure and simple.
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