Add this to the list of things making this country unintelligible

#1

… to both those who live here and anyone who cares to observe us.

Jimbo Fisher, a college football coach at Texas A&M, was fired this weekend.

The following sentences are from one article discussing the situation.

"The Aggies (in December 2017) gave him 10-years and $75 million to leave Florida State. In 2021, A&M handed Jimbo a fully-guaranteed 10-year, $95 million extension. …

"This contract is privately funded, which means a handful of wealthy Aggies agreed to pool their money to make a person not work for their school. …

There is something so wrong about this, and nothing will stop it."

I believe that Romulus Augustus (the last Western Roman Emperor) was overheard to say, “Est aliquid tam iniquum de hoc, nihilque.” I believe it translates roughly to almost exactly the same thing.

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#2

When I first moved to Texas I kept seeing ATM decals on automobiles. Not knowing about Texas A&M university and the fanaticism of football in state I thought were an ad to promote using bank ATM’s. I guess I was right about them having their own ATM.
Even our local high school has a multimillion dollar stadium, of course the city is the Dallas Cowboy’s coach, Tom Landry’s, hometown. There is a huge painted mural on a downtown street named after him.

Interesting article about the situation…

#3

I used to be an avid College Football fan, but who wants to watch it now while wondering all the time which athlete is going to die next??? As far as the $$$…it’s really wild, isn’t it?!! :crazy_face:

#4

I wonder what the difference would be if college athletes were paid like pro football players?

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#5

… you mean openly? :slight_smile:

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#6

Yeah, paycheck for the record instead of “perks” they now receive, including a scholarship for an “education”.
No more freebies, they pay for the classes and all other costs out of their paycheck. No hiring an accountant, they manage all invoices and payments themselves. Most people earning $200,000 a year manage their own money. Good life lessons, including time management, even for those recruited by the pro teams…

#7

There are the players, then, the institutions.

#8

… Hmmmm. NCAA penalties for low graduation rates, an ENTRANCE AND EXIT exam that would indicate PROGRESS in reading and writing skills with penalties for low performance on those tests, a comparison of classes (and work required) taken by athletes with classes taken by other students … there are ways of making things better.

#9

Things could definitely be improved. I’d start with trying to get consensus on some basic questions:

  • What’s the goal of a university? Is it a business? Is part of its mission to maximize profits?

  • What’s the goal of education? What, if anything, does sports have to do with that goal?

  • Should we lump together, in one school or university, people with fundamentally different skill sets? Does everybody really need to go through the same general education curriculum from kindergarten through university?

The reality is that most talented athletes are never going be scholars, and most talented scholars are never going to be athletes. Why do we expect or pretend athletes are going to have the time, interest, and aptitude to be good students, and why do we expect academically inclined kids are going to have any interest in or aptitude for sports?

Too many universities have become businesses whose main goal is to get as much money as possible. Sports and the pharmaceutical industry are two of their biggest sources of revenue; in my view, that creates all kinds of distortions.

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#10

Okay, more testing, like those taken during their prior school years? Based on what coaches are paid to recruit and assemble a team, why shouldn’t they share the bounty? No different than having a supervisor at a corporate gig. The corporation that pays everyone.
The coach and his staff are essentially a subcontractor for the university to maximize sport revenue.
If the athletes get a diploma instead of a gold watch at end of their contract, so much the better. They at least would learn personal double entry accounting.