I used to think that some good people like school presidents of elected officials would step in and clean up college sports. After all, the great Teddy Roosevelt stepped in and made college football safer and hoards of college presidents organized and gutted college sports amidst cheating scandals in the 40's.
That will never happen again. Not when schools are hiring nothing but fan boys and girls as school presidents. People such as Donna Shalala, Gordon Gee, and Louanna Simon are fans first and academic leaders second. We see school boards stacked with even more cheerleaders. Now we see how closely politics and schools are aligned when we see Engler take over for Simon. So instead of an academic leader taking charge over a school's future they allow a renegade program to be their calling card to the world.
One of my favorite college presidents was John Dibiaggio who was a Michigan grad and was president at MSU in the mid 80's to early 90's. I knew him personally and had lunch with him quite often as a young man while he was at MSU. He was disgusted at the state of affairs in college sports but he had no power to do anything about it. He knew Lorenzo White had no business being in the same classroom as other MSU students but he said that was the system that ruled the day. He soon left to be president at Tufts University where he didn't need to be part of the sports machine and wasn't beholden to a board that cherished sports and votes over academic excellence.
It's sad that it has come to this as I have made college sports a huge part of my life. But college basketball has lost me and college football is on its way there. I pray that Michigan will remain an exception to the rule...win or lose.
That will never happen again. Not when schools are hiring nothing but fan boys and girls as school presidents. People such as Donna Shalala, Gordon Gee, and Louanna Simon are fans first and academic leaders second. We see school boards stacked with even more cheerleaders. Now we see how closely politics and schools are aligned when we see Engler take over for Simon. So instead of an academic leader taking charge over a school's future they allow a renegade program to be their calling card to the world.
One of my favorite college presidents was John Dibiaggio who was a Michigan grad and was president at MSU in the mid 80's to early 90's. I knew him personally and had lunch with him quite often as a young man while he was at MSU. He was disgusted at the state of affairs in college sports but he had no power to do anything about it. He knew Lorenzo White had no business being in the same classroom as other MSU students but he said that was the system that ruled the day. He soon left to be president at Tufts University where he didn't need to be part of the sports machine and wasn't beholden to a board that cherished sports and votes over academic excellence.
It's sad that it has come to this as I have made college sports a huge part of my life. But college basketball has lost me and college football is on its way there. I pray that Michigan will remain an exception to the rule...win or lose.
