It’s probably wishful thinking, but here’s why.
I love college football. I’ve loved it for as long as I can remember. So why do I favor taking a pause? It’s not just because of COVID-19 and the need to ensure the safety of players, staff, and fans. That would be reason enough. It’s because the college football I fell in love with years ago isn’t the college football I know today—at least not at the major college level.
The college football I fell in love years ago was mostly about amateurs playing a game they love, and coaches who felt they were overseeing an institution. Today, college football is a corporate offering in a large industry called ‘college sports.’ Original intentions have been corrupted, the mission of higher education displaced, as schools shoehorn revenue-generating athletics into its offerings.
The problem? Revenue-generating major college sports—football and men’s basketball—are presented under the fraudulent guise of ‘amateur sports.’ They aren’t.
So I think pausing from playing the game can be put to great use by cleaning up the game.
But just getting a first down in that regard is a tough assignment. Three things always seem to stay the same: as the industry gets bigger, no major reforms are in sight, and most college sports fans cheer but don’t demand change.
I’m beginning to believe that asking for sports reform is a fool’s errand. Why? The current system benefits so many and so much.
One reason is the media. A significant commercial market exists for selling broadcast rights–even more so today because of the cost of attending games. Conferences and universities benefit enormously from the revenues that media affiliations generate.
Another reason is the way college sports are funded today versus how they were supported decades ago. Before the 1970s, the prevailing paradigm was to pay for college football the way universities paid for other collegiate activities–via the university budget. But with football expenses rising, many schools dropped the sport in the 1950s and 1960s because “it was too expensive.” Today there are more college football teams than ever. Why? Universities discovered that alums and other donors were willing to cough up money to help support the sport. Athletic philanthropy went from ‘What’s that?’ to a specialty with professionals who raise billions of dollars annually. Big donors get naming rights, too. For example, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh is ‘The Harris Family Head Football Coach.’ Northwestern’s AD is ‘The Combe Family VP for Athletics and Recreation.’ The list is quite long.
Then there’s the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Despite a chorus of calls for the NCAA to lead the way in sports reform, the NCAA holds a firm grip on the status quo. Why? The NCAA is a membership organization. It doesn’t operate for the public good or even for college athletes’ good. It exists to protect and advance the universities’ interests. To expect otherwise is to misunderstand why membership organizations exist. And it’s also why U.S. states are taking action to impose rules on the NCAA, and why the U.S. Congress may do the very same thing. It’s also why the NCAA and major conferences spend a bunch of money each year on political lobbying. It’s a tug-of-war between reform versus maintaining control and sustaining the status quo.
Courtesy: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
What about fans? Why aren’t they asking for reform? To answer, let’s dive into the realm of ‘fandom.’ First, there’s school loyalty and spirit. Then, there’s the matter of personal identity. Few things in life define our identity the way collegiate affiliation does.
Why is all of that getting in the way of reform? Loyalty, spirit, and identity combine to foster adulation for ‘Alma Mater. In Latin, Alma Mater means ‘Nourishing Mother.’ Who among us feels comfortable calling out your nourishing mother?
Instead, most fans cheer and ask little in return from their universities and sports teams—other than winning. But there are other reasons why most fans sit on their hands–one is psychological, and the other is social, and the two are connected.
I know this to be true because I tried this experiment and failed. On the day of a big game (and if you want to give this a test, make it for the entire football season) DON’T attend games in person. DON’T go to a ‘Game Watch.’ DON’T watch or listen via TV, radio, or any other platform. DON’T call or text friends/family about your team–before, during, or after games.
It’s HARD! I felt as though I was ‘falling off the wagon,’ sticking with it for a time and then giving in. I concluded that my biological and social clocks were linked to kickoff times.
I know ‘addiction’ is a harsh word, so let’s soften that word a bit, making it equivalent to needing a cup or two of coffee to start your day. Then, let’s soften it a bit more by calling it ‘honoring tradition’ … the social component of which includes gathering regularly with family/friends to assuage shared (let’s call them) ‘needs.’
Why do I bring up any of this? Public outcry demanding reform is far less likely when college sports fans ‘need a fix’—even when the ills of college sports are right before their eyes.
Consider just one example. College football, and especially men’s college basketball, operate as a neo-plantation system. How so? The majority of players are African Americans, but few head coaches and athletic directors are. The data show that clearly, and the data have shown it for years. But many otherwise Liberally-inclined fans—those who would call out such a practice in other industries—generally sit on their hands. In college sports, what they and others see is ‘normal.’ So what’s the big deal?
But it’s at what cost? A few years ago, I found myself at a dinner sitting next to a man whom I barely knew. The host’s seating arrangement was the reason. Halfway into the meal (and without prompting), the man began talking about his mood swings. He spoke about how his spirit was lifted or depressed, depending on how his college team performed in the last game. He then went into how much he admired coaches and athletes, and how fans should do everything they can to applaud and support them. “The coaches are worth every penny they earn,” he said. “Even with multi-million dollar annual contracts,” I asked? “And more!” he said. He then went on to say he automatically dismisses criticism of his university and teams. ‘Headline mongering’ journalists or fans from rival schools were two reasons. “They are out to get us!’ he asserted.
On that night, discretion told me that just listening (and not talking much) was the preferred option of choice. But later, I thought a lot about what I had just experienced. I found an answer in the lyrics of a long-ago Cole Porter song, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”
Just the thought of you
Makes me stop before I begin
‘Cause I’ve got you under my skin.
(From “I’ve got you under my Skin,” introduced in the film, Born to Dance (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), 1936. Words and music by Cole Porter)
Porter’s offering, a love song, is also about addiction–something Porter knew well. Born into wealth, Porter lived extravagantly, here and abroad, distancing himself from the poverty and distress of the Depression Years. A creative genius and pleasure-seeker, Porter devoted much of his adult life to balancing the two.
Porter’s edgy lifestyle offered fertile ground for imagining the lyrics of “Skin.” In it, he offers a powerful, enduring message. And if you take Porter at his word, the odds are stacked against kicking addiction out of your life:
…just the thought of you
Makes me stop before I begin
Cause I’ve got you under my skin.
Yes, fans, we have college sports ‘under our skin.’ BUT that doesn’t mean we can’t pull off a both/and, that is, loving college football and pushing hard for its reform.
Why is that so important? Short of legislative oversight and regulation, I think it’s the only way to reform college football and revenue-generating college sports in general. I’ve given up on major reform coming from the universities, conferences, and the NCAA. But if enough fans express their concerns and do so forcefully, I believe athletic administrators and university executives will listen. Fans are their constituents, after all–and they need your support and money.
A year off from playing to improve the system would be time well spent IF we use it to clean up college football. Otherwise, the sport will continue on its merry way–a way that’s titanically different from the way it used to be … when it was an amateur sport compatible with higher education.
Cole Porter (courtesy, LA Times)
