Revelations recently about the compensation levels of college football coaches really strains the dynamic between schools that can afford lavish salaries for athletic programs and the same schools that are constantly poor mouthing their state legislatures that they need more money.
I am a university trustee, so I fully understand the importance of college athletics as a way to build school loyalty, keep the alumni in the mix, and help the school recruit. I also understand that big schools like the Ohio State University reap good revenue on their football programs, in particular.
But there seems to be a belief that big money corrupts--on Wall Street, in Washington, D.C., etc. Who inoculated the big money college sports programs from the same kind of greed? As the past two years have shown, nobody has.
The NCAA spends a lot of time worrying about politically correct, but insignificant things like the mascots of certain schools. North Dakota can no longer be the "Fighting Sioux", but Florida State can still be the Seminoles because the university pays big money to the Seminole Nation. Those two words, again, BIG MONEY.
Big Money is clearly ruling the roost in college football.
Maybe the NCAA ought to be made of "sterner stuff". Or maybe it ought to go away completely. As a protector of student athletes, it acts more as a corrupting force.
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