After the Penn State ordeal, do you feel coaches have too much power over what goes on in colleges? Who do you feel should be in charge? Do you think colleges should be more about learning and less about sports? Do you feel there should be colleges JUST FOR sports like there are for certain kinds of learning? Here is the Good Question that was on over the weekend.
what people are talking about
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Us Girls..Our Views 
People go to college to learn a skill or to improve the ones they are gifted at.
sports are no different.
You have different classes for anything else. You could major in sports and minor in any kind of sports medicine, training, nutrition etc…. Sports today are so more advance then people know.
My website is a step forward in the way sports are looked at.
Evolution of baseball
I was wondering the same thing. I was disturbed by the fact that down-to-earth people whom I respect thought the football aspect of that college was so important that it should be taken into consideration when making hiring and firing decisions about stuff like the child rape scandal. I mean, they aren’t saying child rape is OK, but they are willing to give a lot of grace to people who made choices based on football. I mean, it’s football, people. Throwing around an oblong piece of inflated leather. Pushing people around and running. I’m a football fan, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a GAME. How much you wanna bet they don’t even have uprights and gridirons in Heaven?
I don’t know that much about exactly what kind of power the football people have in universities, so I can’t really say how it ought to be changed. I just feel things are out of balance. I remember when I started a job at a big accounting firm and it became obvious very quickly that you have to act excited and be knowledgeable about basketball if you want to get ahead. What basketball has to do with audits and taxes, I don’t know, but you were a complete loser if you weren’t up on it. Used to really bug me. Sports can be a very positive aspect of life, but too much emphasis on it can be harmful.
Okay here is what I think.
Like it or not sports and competition is engrained into the human psyche. America has football and Europe has… well football with a different shaped ball. Those are the two major sports. However, competition is in every aspect of our lives. But I don’t want to get too far off topic.
If you are going to have a competitive course at any given institution you want the best person you can get to teach that specific competition. That should be the foremost consideration when hiring. Is this person the BEST individual to teach these specefic set of skills needed to get those participating to learn and achieve their maximum potential abilities in that specific field? THAT IS WHO YOU WANT… THE ABSOLUTE BEST!!
HOWEVER, that does not mean, that the Board, President or Whoever is doing the hiring of this Competitive Teaching Individual (CTI), should ever cede their position of AUTHORITY simply because the CTI is achieving or has a long history of achieving success in the position they were hired to work in. The CTI is paid to teach certain and specific skill sets. But we must also keep in mind that these skill sets (at the college level) MUST include more than how to run, kick, catch, etc. It is imperative, not only for the individual student or the college but for society as a whole, that these young adults also be instructed in character building, moral values, personal responsibility and how to hold themselves and others (including the so called leaders) to these standards.
BUT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS $$$$$$$$$$$!! When you see something like what has been in the news lately you should stop and look at what the determining factor was in each of these cases. Some may say they wanted only to protect the reputation of the institution. But why is that? It’s because if their reputation is kept in tact they can continue to attract students, donars and fans. Each of these groups = $$$. And don’t believe for a secnond that the money is solely for the institution(s) either. The more $$$ the institution rakes in the more $$$ gets into the pockets of those connected to the institution.
So do football coaches have too much power? No. The power ultimately rests in the hands of those who do the hiring and firing. A coach can not hire himself. The problem (once again) rests with those whom see their coaches and athletic programs as a means to their ultimate personal gain. Just because an institution like PENN STATE, or THE CITADEL, for that matter, appears to have long track records of success does not mean they shouldn’t be rigorously and routinely monitored.
I think coaches DO have too much control over things and we all know how many big “athletes” graduate and can’t even read. Who’s really behind that? But I do think sports need to be in college. I think it’s just a part of life that kids should have. I didn’t go to college but people talk about it like it was the best experience they’ve ever had.
I think there are colleges now that cater to certain kinds of learning and different ones for sports etc. Football players go to college “for” that just like doctors or nurses go to colleges that lean towards that. I think by the time you’re that age, you know what you need to be learning so I already think that is a choice.
I definitely think there should be sports in college but there should be monitoring. I think there should always be monitoring in colleges. Whether it be an ethic committee of some kind or councilors in dorms. There used to be “mother hens” watching over kids but I’m sure those are days long gone so I guess it’s up the the head man/woman in charge and there can be NO overlooking of the kind of thing we’ve been hearing the last month. My mind just can’t get around how many people overlooked this OR would overlook it. How could you live with yourself?
The thing is, people in college are mostly adults. The Penn State problem involved kids. I don’t know that I’d change the way adults are treated (overprotect them or whatever) on the basis of what some scumbag was doing to children. I think in a lot of ways, adults in college are shielded from real-life decisions and consequences, and that’s not necessarily good for them. But for stuff that would be illegal for adults to do anywhere, yes, that has to be taken seriously. Whether it’s rape (any age/gender), sexual harassment, menacing, fraud, whatever.
I absolutely agree with you about the “overlooking.” Regardless of the issue, if it’s something that would not or should not fly off campus, how can anyone overlook it just because football is involved? I can’t believe I’m even hearing myself say this.
You’re right, some kids do go to college just for sports, and they happen to get an education in the process. To which, hopefully they will use in their future. Young kids think they can go to college for sports, and don’t realize they do have to think about what they will learn in college. So, you have this adult saying, I can make sure you have a walk on spot on the Varsity football team when you grow up. That’s their dream, and when they have little else to go on or little involvement from their parents, these young, vulnerable kids eat it up and will do anything. Clearly, anything, because that’s exactly what happened at Penn State. I think, when it comes to young adults, or teenagers that are looking into colleges (through sports) there needs to be more emphasizes on what the college can offer them, outside of sports. Some sort of counseling, or mother hen type like you said. I don’t know. Maybe there is, and it’s overlooked. Or the sports players, simply don’t care.
Coaches are not Gods. And they should not be put up on a pedestal, or given any special treatment when it comes to LAWS! I can’t help but think, what if this was a teacher, and students…not affiliated with sports at all. This would have been dealt with a long time ago. In my opinion.
I agree with the crowd… and I also have a different perspective to throw to the crowd. I was… am… was a Band Geek. Started in 4th grade, and never looked back. When I got to HS, it was a no-brainer that, even though i agonized over other courses, Band was front and center on my schedule, and that meant Marching Band, as well. Well, our school wasn’t rich, and our uniforms were pathetic. They had to be about forty years old, and we still even had those stupid q-tip hats. So our Band Director approached the School Board, requesting new uniforms for the band. The board denied the request, saying that there wasn’t money in the budget. So we put together several fund-raisers, ranging from “tagging” (standing in front of stores, begging for money. Yuk.) to candy sales and car washes. We worked our butts off that year, and raised what we needed for the uniforms – no small amount. When our Director approached the Board again, to update them on the status of our uniforms… he was told that we would have to give half of our earnings to the football team!!! And they were serious!!
It never happened. The Band Director and several of our Band Booster Parents opened a can of whoop… on the board members. We didn’t share that money. The next year, that “cash strapped” board bought new uniforms for the FB team. A losing team, I might add… and our band had racked up several championships.
So it’s not just in college. We are a football-worshipping nation. It’s frightening just how much not only football coaches can get away with, but players, as well. How many have committed awful crimes – domestic battery comes to mind – and gotten off with a slap on the wrist, where a normal mortal like ourselves would have to pay with several years of our lives?
So, yeah… They do have too much power. It’s pathetic to listen to some FB players on the pro circuit when they give interviews – it’s painfully clear that they were hustled through their schooling because of football. Geez, I could rant about this all day long.