WhackyNation

Despite the best intentions of major-college presidents, big-time varsity football keeps getting bigger and bigger. The genie is out of the bottle, and nobody knows how to control it, least of all the coaches who thrive on bigness.

Now, I have no gripe against college football. I’m a hopeless, longtime fan and I will go on being one no matter what changes are made in the game. My complaint is with the hypocrisy of college athletics, mainly football and basketball.

The major-college coaches and athletic directors tell you that football and, in some cases, basketball, make the money needed to keep all other campus sports alive. Maybe so, but if that’s the case, why don’t the colleges approach the issue honestly?

It’s ridiculous to pretend that college athletes knock themselves out for the glory of Podunk U and for that old school spirit. Rah! Rah! Those days are gone. Most athletes want a job with the pro teams or at least a career as a coach or sports administrator.

I still think athletes in big-time college sports should draw a weekly salary, not a scholarship. To me it has always been ludicrous that in virtually every case in every state, the salary for the state’s major college coaches is far greater than that of the state’s Governor! Are things lopsided, or what?

In addition to a program whereby major-college athletes should draw a salary, I think those colleges and universities should shelve the hypocrisy forever by creating a College of Athletics. That’s right, a College of Athletics to stand right alongside the Colleges of Engineering, Sciences, the Liberal Arts, Music, Communications, and all the rest. And why not?

Why try to turn the athletes into something they definitely are not? Give them the courses they will need to help them as players, coaches, instructors, or administrators. And quit forcing them to take classes in subjects they will never need — and in which they usually will fail or get nothing out of.

If the college athletes are to be paid, what should happen to the athletic scholarships so many of them now receive? That’s an easy one. Give them to all the physical-education (gym) programs that are important to young men and women who are not varsity athletes — programs that don’t draw at the box office.

It hasn’t happened yet, but, gradually over the years, it seems we’re beginning to see signs of that long-sought breakthrough in the hypocrisy that has dogged college sports across America. I believe the beginning of that breakthrough came about 15 or 16 years ago, and much of it happened right here in Washington State.

I remember it well, because I commented on it in commentaries I delivered on television and radio at the time.

Similar statements came from three of the most respected coaches in football. One was Johnny Majors of the University of Tennessee, another was Don James of the University of Washington, and the third was Jim Walden of Washington State University.

What they all said at virtually the same time was that most of the nation’s colleges and universities were drawing considerable cash from the box office at varsity games and that it was time the schools began compensating players for their services to help them make ends meet while attending school.

The coaches acknowledged that many of the players attend school on scholarships, but that they still needed additional funds for other expenses. Practice sessions and game days take most of the players’ free time, so they rarely have a chance to work at jobs after school hours.

The coaches’ logic made a lot of sense to me. I think the public, as well as the colleges and universities, should face the truth.

Football, basketball, baseball, and other major varsity sports are honest trades. They are certainly as legitimate as engineering, medicine, business administration, communications, or any other pursuits.

The big difference is that the major sports make a lot of money — for the colleges, that is. But none of it goes into the pockets of the young players who draw the crowds. Today we seriously maintain a year-round charade in all college sports programs that goes by the name of “amateur status.”

We continually appeal to all the players to perform for the sake of school spirit and for dear old alma mater. Why have we gone on kidding ourselves all these years? As I said, the colleges make sure that their key athletes are given scholarships so they don’t have to pay tuition costs. And a few are even given jobs, if they are able to find the time to work at them. But, for the most part, players rely on money from home or from dedicated alums to help them meet their expenses.

The methods many colleges have used to recruit and reward players have been scandalous and often don’t bear scrutiny because they would offend the students who pay their way through for four years or more. At least paying athletes for their efforts — say even $50 or $75 a month, as the coaches suggested — would begin to curb the hypocrisy.

However, I don’t think even $50 or $75 would be enough. The hypocrisy ought to be wiped out completely. I believe the varsity athletes who draw the big crowds and fill stadiums or arenas week after week should be paid at least a reasonable wage drawn from ticket proceeds.

I’m serious! The players have earned their salaries, and they risk serious injury for the sake of old alma mater. And, if they were paid out of box-office receipts, the scholarships they now receive could go instead to athletes in all the sports that don’t pay for themselves because they don’t draw large crowds.  It’s time to end the hypocrisy!