if religon is the opiate of the masses, then sports must be the crack cocaine.
13
This football/sports obsession is not limited to the deep South. Our local newspaper has almost daily updates on the status of various Penn State football recruits, even though the main campus is 90 minutes away by car. Not a day goes by without some Penn State football article prominently splashed on their web site's home page, often getting better placement than meatier news stories.
Meanwhile, academic pursuits at the same university get little, if any, coverage. Oh, a local weatherman did once accuse a university climate scientist of fraud (the weatherman was forced to apologize), but that's about it.
I agree with those who are concerned with the bread and circuses nature of our society. I like football/sports, too, but this obsession with athletics over academics seems a bridge too far. Doubt there's anything we can do about it, though.
Meanwhile, academic pursuits at the same university get little, if any, coverage. Oh, a local weatherman did once accuse a university climate scientist of fraud (the weatherman was forced to apologize), but that's about it.
I agree with those who are concerned with the bread and circuses nature of our society. I like football/sports, too, but this obsession with athletics over academics seems a bridge too far. Doubt there's anything we can do about it, though.
3
Perhaps these schools should rebrand themselves as for-profit sports enterprises, with an ancillary function of awarding diplomas to young adults under certain, defined circumstamces.
1
Watts "really didn’t have much choice, given the passion the cancellation of football had aroused in the city."
Not so. He had the same choices as before. He should have had the courage to stand by his guns. Fight the fight -- in the open -- to its conclusion. If Watts lost his job, then so be it. Worse things can happen.
Not so. He had the same choices as before. He should have had the courage to stand by his guns. Fight the fight -- in the open -- to its conclusion. If Watts lost his job, then so be it. Worse things can happen.
4
In ancient Rome "sports" of various kinds was a way for the rulers to keep the population occupied. Today who rallies around education, cheers for good grades, celebrates when someone makes the honor role? Our local newspaper has an entire section (about 1/3 of the paper) dedicated to local sports of all kinds, including pictures. Guess where academic achievements appear? (If at all).
6
As an Alabama native who attended both UAB and UA, I would say that Birmingham is still feeling slighted and a little out of sorts after losing the Iron Bowl starting with the 2000 season.
Some things you just never, ever get over…
Michael Bain
Glorieta, New Mexico
Some things you just never, ever get over…
Michael Bain
Glorieta, New Mexico
2
Isn't the issue whether it is necessary to keep a football program versus keeping a competitive program? Is it really necessary to throw such money at a program to win games? My guess is they could have kept the program without the increase from 20 to 30 million per year budget. Just ask Billy Beane of the Oakland A's if it's possible to field a world class team with a significantly limited budget. The issue is how efficient are these programs at managing investment capital. I think not so good.
2
THe argument of BIrmingham, with a metro population of a little over 200,000, needing a major college football team is beyond silly. Des Moines, Younkers, & Rochester, NY, multiple cities in California, Fayettville, NC, and Montgomery, AL; all of have populations near or exceeding Birmingham. Only in the South would this happen.
10
Imagine if Hatton Smith and the other corporate leaders had put that money toward scholarships for low- and middle-income students. Now that truly would have been a worthwhile contribution to the 'quality of life in our community.'
13
American Exceptionalism.
We are the richest country on the planet.
We rank around 20 when it comes to educating our citizens depending on which study.
We are the richest country on the planet.
We rank around 20 when it comes to educating our citizens depending on which study.
12
And then of course there is the reality that Nocera is simplistically omitting.
http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/6/9/8751425/continuing-to-propagate-...
Here's the 17 minute audio of the real story, not 3-4 million dollars a year in a $3 billion a year institution: LISTEN here (AUDIO, 1st 17 minutes) : >> http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/uab-blazers-reinstate-pr...
http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/6/9/8751425/continuing-to-propagate-...
Here's the 17 minute audio of the real story, not 3-4 million dollars a year in a $3 billion a year institution: LISTEN here (AUDIO, 1st 17 minutes) : >> http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/uab-blazers-reinstate-pr...
5
Obviously, large segments of the public want to root for a football team that carries the name and sports tradition of their favorite college/university. A first step to getting the horse back in front of the cart might be for colleges to spin off their football programs to financially separate entities controlled by a board consisting of local civic leaders. The educational institution would receive a negotiated fee annually. The newly formed sport institution would be licensed to use the college's and team's name, and could rent use of the stadium, but would receive no financial assistance from the educational institution or public funds. The athletes, who are semi-pros anyway, could be paid and given the opportunity - but not the obligation - to attend classes and acquire a college education.
3
Well, guys, let's face it. This is not a top tier school (a "top notch university, it certainly is not), it is not in a top-tier city or a top-tier state. What they have is college football. Their priorities are not education or culture or the arts, it's college football. The rest is pretty much non-existent there. And if they are wiling to pay for it, they should. So, let them. It brings them "civic pride".
3
Imagine what that fund raising effort could do for academics at UAB. UAB academics out perform the better known UA, which excels at football, but only in a limited array of fields. Remember Werner van Braun did not push for the establishment of UAB in order to have a football team in the rocket science center.
When I was growing up in Dallas, the school system elected to cancel the football program at one of its schools, N.R. Crozier Technological High School, on the campus of the original Dallas High School. The school offered specialized programs that its name implies, students came from all over the city, and few were really interested in football. In the last year before the administration announced the demise of the program, only 15 students showed up to participate, in a school with an enrollment of over a thousand. There had not been a winning season in years, and even the students themselves did not attend the games.
I will remember though a family member whose reaction was, "What, they're killing the heart of the school. That's what high school is all about."
Go figure.
When I was growing up in Dallas, the school system elected to cancel the football program at one of its schools, N.R. Crozier Technological High School, on the campus of the original Dallas High School. The school offered specialized programs that its name implies, students came from all over the city, and few were really interested in football. In the last year before the administration announced the demise of the program, only 15 students showed up to participate, in a school with an enrollment of over a thousand. There had not been a winning season in years, and even the students themselves did not attend the games.
I will remember though a family member whose reaction was, "What, they're killing the heart of the school. That's what high school is all about."
Go figure.
7
The town wants its football team. That's fine, as far as it goes; entertainment and luxury dollars get spent on lots of fun things of dubious value. What the Universities should be doing is to put the football team at arm's length (or maybe a 30 foot pole length). Make the football team a separate corporate entity that pays (or not) to use the University's name and the University's stadium Let that entity generate its own revenue and pay its own expenses. If the town and state decide to support the football team and not the University, then they will get the town and state they deserve. Keeping the two separate would be wonderful for transparency. The only thing standing in the way is the NCAA, which is run by college presidents.
5
Besides college (and professional) sports, one thing we're good at in this country is blowing things up. Modest proposal: "Blow up" college athletics. Schools should franchise their names to a non-profit organization who would then be free to play a sport under the school's banner, charging whatever the market afforded and paying their employees (most particularly the athletes) for their work. Whether the athletes were actual students or not would be up to them -- it wouldn't matter (Like it does now??). If the teams make a go of it, great -- excess over the franchise fee could go to the general fund. If not, find another organization or leave the market.
4
Can anyone explain why an educational institution is involving students in a sport that is known to produce brain damage?
12
When Americans start complaining about the decline in per-student spending let us all know. The irony here is that in a state that has long had some of the country's worst schools it is the high-powered medical complex--something Alabama has to be proud of--that feels the need to keep up the football Joneses.
3
The University of Nebraska at Omaha, only a few thousand students smaller than its storied Cornhusker sister in Lincoln, dropped football lead by an Athletic Director that is a former UNL Husker football legend and ESPN commentator, Trev Albert. He saw that the future of college football was either big or small but not in between. People squawked, but by dropping football he has improved other sports like Hockey and Basketball actually bringing in new national TV revenue and recognition than the successful but second tier football team ever did.
3
Honest to God.
You can't make this stuff up.
Civic leaders want to see young men getting concussed on each and every football "play." Watching young athletes get CTE while "Coach" earns millions is part and parcel of civic pride? And of course after their four years of providing entertainment these mostly young black men are tossed on the athletic slag heap.
Welcome to your America.
You can't make this stuff up.
Civic leaders want to see young men getting concussed on each and every football "play." Watching young athletes get CTE while "Coach" earns millions is part and parcel of civic pride? And of course after their four years of providing entertainment these mostly young black men are tossed on the athletic slag heap.
Welcome to your America.
6
Would the citizens and corporate leaders of Birmingham (or any other university town, for that matter) band together to raise the funds needed to make their engineering school, chemistry department, or to get really ridiculous, the school of education, "competitive" with those at other universities with great reputations in those areas? Do they think any of these programs add to the quality of life in their communities or that they're central to a "top-notch university?" With state support for many public universities dwindling fast, we're about to find out.
3
Just another sorry example of the jock-oriented aspect of American culture. School sports always gets the money - pity the poor debaters or band and orchestra members. Student athletes enjoy favoritism and different standards. School sports exist so the balding overweight jocks of earlier generations can still relive the days of their glory when everyone else had to kiss their rings. Now I know why I like being in Europe as often as I can afford it - my European friends are still in awe at the nonsense that goes on in the USA regarding school sports.
4
Try to imagine them raising that money for--say--a philosophy department.
Hard, isn't it.
What do Americans think their universities are? NFL farm system--as one comment suggested--seems right.
Part of the general dumbing down of the USA.
Hard, isn't it.
What do Americans think their universities are? NFL farm system--as one comment suggested--seems right.
Part of the general dumbing down of the USA.
7
Wasn't it just three or four years ago that the City of B'ham and/or Jefferson County (where B'ham is located) filed for what was then the nation's biggest Ch. 9 bankruptcy arising from a $4+ billion debt? Have the good burghers of local government resolved their debts sufficiently well that they can now underwrite subsidies for a low-grade football team playing in a low-grade conference? This raises questions of competency to self-govern. Or do they do government in B'ham?
5
If UAB is to play football, the fans need to form a booster club and pay for it. Universities are not the life support system for a ball team; the ball team is incidental to the university.
1
The problems at UAB are due to questionable competency and leadership at the highest levels. The manner by which the decision was made to cut football was a symptom of a much larger problem, and this was further confirmed by the recent decision to reinstate football. A more thorough examination of the events surrounding these and other decisions, including issues related to the lack of autonomy of UAB because it does not have its own Board of Trustees would have given this piece greater depth and and helped readers get a better understanding of the real issues.
5
Quite a few small colleges learned the hard way that, whne they dropped their football progams, male students stoped applying to attend and their student ratio of men to women suddenly changed from 50:50 to 40:60. So most have reinstituted football --- and this reversal happened at even the lowest levels of sports competition.
2
I have relatives in Birmingham. They said the University of Alabama trustees wanted to end the football program at UAB because the bigger campus in Tuscaloosa didn't want to compete for players or fan loyalty. The state is already bitterly divided between Auburn and Alabama programs and adding a third growing program into the mix threatened the status quo. The Birmingham business community that benefits from the program was not amused. Birmingham is easily able to support a respectable football program. That's OK as long as the business community pays for most of it.
6
One of the problems engendered by large football team expenditures is the fact that the fat cats have too much influence in the NCAA, and a school like UAB has no clout. As part of this we still do not have a true collegiate playoff in college football. The so-called "playoff" only involves 4 schools chosen subjectively by a panel of coaches and sports writers. I live in Boise and in the recent past there were times when Boise State should have been in the hunt for the national title, but because of the way the NCAA was structured, there was no way they had a chance at the national title, because of the conference they were in. They have been a better team many years than most of the teams in the major conferences, yet BSU had less of a chance at the national title than a large number of lesser teams. We need a true playoff series in college football modeled after the playoff series in college basketball and the NFL. We should have a "January Madness" in college football like the "March Madness" in college basketball. We should also have an expenditure cap in college football and perhaps even have a high school draft process to better level the field and allow for football to be enjoyed at the maximum numbers of schools. These processes have been instrumental in ensuring that professional football remains competitive and hasn't hurt public interest, team receipts, and perhaps has prevented the development of perpetual dominance by one team.
And what about concussions, CTE, and the corrupting influence we've seen in some sports that over-ride whether the player is also a serious student?
The NCAA and universities need to go after the NFL to help support what is essentially the professional football farm system. A starting point would be for the drafting NFL team to pay the universities of every player it drafts whatever the athlete has cost the university - room, board, and tuition, plus the amortized costs of coaching, medical care, and facilities. It might not be much in terms of the overall program cost, but it would put a number on how universities subsidize the NFL.
3
Mr. Nocera:
College football is a fantasy of states rights battles for supremacy. Mississippi had two ranked teams this year past. I'm sure that the state's dependency on federal handouts wiil drop as a result of this gridiron greatness, aren't you? In some states they seem to understand that the quality of life has more to do with football than it does education. True fans know that having brain damage at an early age is a small price to pay for a winning team.
College football is a fantasy of states rights battles for supremacy. Mississippi had two ranked teams this year past. I'm sure that the state's dependency on federal handouts wiil drop as a result of this gridiron greatness, aren't you? In some states they seem to understand that the quality of life has more to do with football than it does education. True fans know that having brain damage at an early age is a small price to pay for a winning team.
3
What is wrong with saying to any College Sports Team:
We will fund you at $1,000 a player and then you have to
rely upon ticket sales and outside benefactors to meet your budget.
Why should students/taxpayers be expected to fund a college sports team
they have no interest in ?
We will fund you at $1,000 a player and then you have to
rely upon ticket sales and outside benefactors to meet your budget.
Why should students/taxpayers be expected to fund a college sports team
they have no interest in ?
2
The revealing news here comes near the end of the column: " By the end of May, the city’s corporate leaders had pledged to make up the additional $17.2 million subsidy, and had made a promising start on raising the $13 million or so needed for the practice facility." Imagine the city springing for, say, new dorms or classroom upgrades. Poor Ray Watts sounds like one more pricey university president trying to reign in a football program--like Barchi, at Rutgers--and looking for the political cover that he just can't, probably will never, find. The corporate overlords won't permit it.
3
With all respect to the football players at UAB, many of whom are no doubt fine people and good students who also love to play football, this is too bad. We finally saw one school which had the crazy notion that its core mission was academic and that when athletics and its costs ran contrary to that mission, education had to come first. Instead, alumni, local business leaders and others who apparently remain silent when college funding drops, have pressured the school into spending money it doesn't have for a non-educational purpose. Do we really wonder why our national educational achievement scores are dropping relative to the rest of the world?
2
I suspect part of the reason that businesses chipped in is because of the business football generates for them when people go out on a Saturday to watch the game.
1
the warped priorities here are crazy. for a school like UAB, $17.2 million in annual financial aid grants could make a huge difference. and for students who otherwise couldn't afford UAB, it could make a huge difference throughout their lifetimes.
3
Gee, maybe UAB , without a football program to generate 'civic pride', might have to settle for attracting students for whom self-worth doesn't depend upon a game that involved a few men (only) and a lot of brain damage.
8
One can only imagine that if UAB had announced it was closing down its library because keeping it open had become prohibitively expensive (and, after all, anything you need to know you can Google), there would have been virtually no outcry from students and alums. Cart before the horse, indeed!
9
The outcry over UAB football was hardly a movement embraced by the whole city. There were many, like me, who felt the decision to drop football was sound. UAB should never have fielded a team 24 years ago. And it doesn't need one now. Or, if it wishes to field a football team, it should stick to a lower division.
What was really going on was that UAB feels itself the poor cousin to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa (the Crimson Tide). It feels this in many more ways than athletics, as it started as simply the State of Alabama's medical school, but as a part of the University of Alabama system, which has always been controlled by UAT. UAB is now a full-fledged university, with graduate and undergraduate programs to match UAT or Auburn, but without the reputation of those two stalwarts which started in the mid-1800's. It wants respect more than it wants football. UAB barely supported its football team, but didn't want UAT to take it away.
Ditching UAB football was the right thing to do. It hasn't a decent stadium in which to play--Legion Field is a decrepit mess on the hard edge of the West End ghetto--and it didn't have support sufficient to warrant building a new stadium.
Ray Watts should have held firm. But if the school is to field a team again, the school should require it be self-supporting, at the very least.
What was really going on was that UAB feels itself the poor cousin to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa (the Crimson Tide). It feels this in many more ways than athletics, as it started as simply the State of Alabama's medical school, but as a part of the University of Alabama system, which has always been controlled by UAT. UAB is now a full-fledged university, with graduate and undergraduate programs to match UAT or Auburn, but without the reputation of those two stalwarts which started in the mid-1800's. It wants respect more than it wants football. UAB barely supported its football team, but didn't want UAT to take it away.
Ditching UAB football was the right thing to do. It hasn't a decent stadium in which to play--Legion Field is a decrepit mess on the hard edge of the West End ghetto--and it didn't have support sufficient to warrant building a new stadium.
Ray Watts should have held firm. But if the school is to field a team again, the school should require it be self-supporting, at the very least.
5
I think what you are seeing with the reinstatement of football at U.A.B. is a part of the culture of the deep south. Don't you dare take away guns, the Bible or football. Although the alums up north may protest if their schools stopped the football program, they would relent in the face of economic pressure. In the south, they would fire professors way, way, before football coaches. Who needs to teach the physics of atomic particle's colliding when you can watch the physics of bodies colliding on Saturday afternoon after a day of drunken tailgating? Pass the football and the biscuits!
2
sez the guy from Ohio...do you really believe your fellow Ohioans would relent in the face of economic pressure if one of the multitudes of mediocre college teams from Ohio competing in the top collegiate division (save the Ohio State University, which is not mediocre) decided to drop college football? What if Kent State decided to drop football?
Without fail, every time an article on some aspect of the South appears in the Times, particularly if it specifically is about Alabama, some yahoo from the Northeast or Midwest explains it as a function of regional differences, in the process, denigrating the South in a lame attempt to make them feel good about their enlightened culture.
For someone from football-crazy Ohio to do it here poignantly illustrates the biases and prejudices and stereotyping so prevalent among people who hate the South, people who believe incorrectly that the South is a monocultural thing that can safely be hated.
Besides, there was hardly any tailgating at UAB games. Part of the reason is that the stadium in which they play is in a dangerous part of town, but mainly it's because there were hardly any fans who attended games. "Pass the...biscuits" Please.
Without fail, every time an article on some aspect of the South appears in the Times, particularly if it specifically is about Alabama, some yahoo from the Northeast or Midwest explains it as a function of regional differences, in the process, denigrating the South in a lame attempt to make them feel good about their enlightened culture.
For someone from football-crazy Ohio to do it here poignantly illustrates the biases and prejudices and stereotyping so prevalent among people who hate the South, people who believe incorrectly that the South is a monocultural thing that can safely be hated.
Besides, there was hardly any tailgating at UAB games. Part of the reason is that the stadium in which they play is in a dangerous part of town, but mainly it's because there were hardly any fans who attended games. "Pass the...biscuits" Please.
4
You could not be more wrong. This is not a bible-guns-football thing. Also, it's funny you mention particles colliding, given that UAB has one of the largest cyclotrons in the U.S.
I do really love football, I live for the pro-season. BUT, let's be honest when it come to College football, in reality it is the farm system for the pro's. It is time to stop with the tax exemptions, overly fancy stadium's, well overpaid coaches and expensive road trips. All mainly to satisfy the Alumni Associations overreaching desire to field the finest football team in America. It is past obvious that in many schools the main purpose of the school is a winning football team, and that the student/athletes in far to many cases do not graduate with an education of any benefit to them in the future.
2
Demon Football is a major contributor to the inexorable demise of the great American Experiment. I soundly applaud The New York Times' continuing exposure of its toxic effect on our social fabric.
Roll Times!
Roll Times!
8
Another example of why we need HB1 visas to keep the complex machinery of American industry turning. We are more willing to spend money inducing brain damage , than educating brains
7
Yes, the cart is way out in front of the horse. How is it smart to send kids bright enough to get into U. A. B. on to a field to get their brains and bodies destroyed for - what? Glory? Bragging rights? This country is obsessed with "The Great God Football," our very own gladiator "sport." Talk about misplaced priorities...
And then, millions (ultimately billions) of dollars later, people wonder why our kids aren't as well educated as those in other countries. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist - or a neurologist - to see the disconnect and to stand up for his principles.
And then, millions (ultimately billions) of dollars later, people wonder why our kids aren't as well educated as those in other countries. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist - or a neurologist - to see the disconnect and to stand up for his principles.
8
Too bad that college/university priorities are upside down, by giving more importance to a sport than the function it was created to fulfill: education.
2
I was really happy and surprised to read that UAB was cutting their football program last year. I really think that the cost of both college football and perhaps college basketball has gotten way out of control and needs to be reigned in. Otherwise, in my opinion, the professional sports associations should be subsidizing the college sports operations, since they essentially recruit directly from these programs and pay very little or nothing in direct support. Given the billions being earned each year by the NFL and NBA, its the right thing to do.
33
"Thus does the cart come before the horse."
Only at some schools and some conferences. That these schools and conferences are predominately below the Ohio River and in states that are bright red is purely coincidental...
Only at some schools and some conferences. That these schools and conferences are predominately below the Ohio River and in states that are bright red is purely coincidental...
6
Yes, and at multi-hued Oregon and its Beaver rival, Oregon State, the players are all students first and athletes second. There are no carts before horses there, but its incredible how the Oregon Ducks have the money to field newly designed uniforms practically every time they take the field. Uniforms aren't cheap. You could buy a lot of books with just the money those uniforms cost.
7
OSU is pretty prosaic, actually, and OU is spending Phil Knight's (Nike) money for its admittedly over the top football program.
OU & OSU do not make up the entire PAC12, other than the Ivy League, the best academic conference in the US...
OU & OSU do not make up the entire PAC12, other than the Ivy League, the best academic conference in the US...
1
If you want a textbook case of watching a community go berserk over football, look no further than Oregon, with it's now-famous UO football team. The citizens of this state, particularly where I live, have been quite willing to overlook the recruiting of thugs, brutes, and burglars, in exchange for a winning football program. Everyone, from the president of the university to the infamous Phil Knight (Nike), whose money (thankfully) finances most of Oregon football.
All the while, Oregon remains a 2nd tier university when it comes to academics. There is something dreadfully wrong when athletics become such a huge part of the college budget and the football coach becomes the highest paid public employee in the state.
All the while, Oregon remains a 2nd tier university when it comes to academics. There is something dreadfully wrong when athletics become such a huge part of the college budget and the football coach becomes the highest paid public employee in the state.
14
The quote in the last paragraph from prominent citizen Hatton Smith says that having a college football team adds to the quality of life in the Birmingham community. This seems pretty reasonable - like having a minor league baseball team, or even a philharmonic orchestra or opera (and such things always have local corporate sponsors). So if the citizenry wants to band together and pay to keep the football team, what's the problem? The extra money is not coming out of the pockets of students or the education budget.
3
If the people of the city really loved the team, attendance should've been much better over the years. There would have been a culture built around the city and the school that held the team as a sort of magnet for students and citizens to cling to. It's not as if there's that much competition for the Saturday entertainment dollar. That didn't happen. And it won't happen. The team is in the same perilous position as that of Marshall's after the plane crash. Only there aren't any martyrs to attract praise and prayer in this story. It's all about the money.
Our attendance has always been right in line with our conference peers.
Universities are our society in (not-so) miniature. It's not a new thing. It's distracting the public from the real issues by bread and circuses. That's how Juvenal characterized what the emperors did in ancient Rome.
You refer to UAB as 'top-notch', and if that is so, what term should we use for, say, Harvard or Yale or Rice or Carnegie-Mellon or Chicago? Somehow, it does seem possible to have a real university without a stadium holding more seats than there are for the student body (that is, those who rather than being at the library go to spend the day watching their U's 'student-athletes'.
Without being, one might say, a spoil sport, our society ought to learn about priorities, or maybe admit to what its actual priorities are. And studying tough subjects isn't one of them. And there are usually, if eventually, consequences.
You refer to UAB as 'top-notch', and if that is so, what term should we use for, say, Harvard or Yale or Rice or Carnegie-Mellon or Chicago? Somehow, it does seem possible to have a real university without a stadium holding more seats than there are for the student body (that is, those who rather than being at the library go to spend the day watching their U's 'student-athletes'.
Without being, one might say, a spoil sport, our society ought to learn about priorities, or maybe admit to what its actual priorities are. And studying tough subjects isn't one of them. And there are usually, if eventually, consequences.
4
Student fees should absolutely not be supporting athletics in any way. Period. There are people attending this university that may be the first in their family to go; the parents of those children may be earning very modest sums. Consider the extra hours those parents or children need to work to pay the fees to fund a game. Yes, a game!
Sometimes our whole political, economic, and social system seems beyond salvage. This is one of those things that makes it seem that way.
Sometimes our whole political, economic, and social system seems beyond salvage. This is one of those things that makes it seem that way.
4
The students voted for their student fees to be increased to give football more support.
VALUE ADDED There is a great myth abroad that Football Adds Value, to cities that build billion dollar stadiums and give a free ride to millionaire and billionaire players and team owners. Ripoff #1! Retired pro football players have won a very large settlement for chronic brain injury that is predicted to plague them now and as they age, threatening a large proportion of them with dementia. Losing their minds, literally. Colleges and high schools are next in line to be sued for permitting the brains of our children and youths to be exposed to chronic brain injury that have been demonstrated to be the same as that of the retired pros who just won their settlement. Except universities and high schools, especially, are far more financially vulnerable to large suits, since awards running into the hundreds of million dollars would close down all but the best endowed universities and cause the collapse of entire school districts nationwide. What threatens them is a Domino Effect that will definitely happen, not like the Domino Effect that never occurred as threatened in Southeast Asia. Once people wake up and realize that their children's lives are being destroyed by football, either by playing or by being victimized financially, the game will ultimately be outlawed in schools. In my opinion, exposing underaged children to foreseeable brain injury that will be lifelong is the clearest evidence of physical child abuse imaginable. Tackle football is not long for this world!
7
Relying on individual university presidents to make policies that hold collegiate athletics to accountability is like asking toga makers to save Roman civilization.
The situation is just too large for an individual institution to address. When the United States of America treats a donation to a college football team as a "charitable" tax deduction, you have to realize that the problem is much larger than any single college. American civilization seems to be on a pretty obvious path when large sums of the public coffer are dedicated to converting our institutions of truth seeking into institutions of entertainment and idolatry.
IF something was ever to be done about this destructive path, it would have to be done by a larger force than some quixotic university president.
Maybe, of all places, a reform movement could be started in what is currently the capital of college football, Ohio. If you add up all the subsidy going to all the college athletics in the state of Ohio as reported by USA Today, you come up with a grand total of $163 Million dollars. Left on their own, the Youngstown States and Wright States of Ohio might individually conclude that they must invest in sports promotion strategies to remain competitive. BUT if a state governor or state legislature was to call the matter to question, maybe there would be a chance to change the course we are on.
I know. The irony is that my fantasy of responsible government...is quixotic.
The situation is just too large for an individual institution to address. When the United States of America treats a donation to a college football team as a "charitable" tax deduction, you have to realize that the problem is much larger than any single college. American civilization seems to be on a pretty obvious path when large sums of the public coffer are dedicated to converting our institutions of truth seeking into institutions of entertainment and idolatry.
IF something was ever to be done about this destructive path, it would have to be done by a larger force than some quixotic university president.
Maybe, of all places, a reform movement could be started in what is currently the capital of college football, Ohio. If you add up all the subsidy going to all the college athletics in the state of Ohio as reported by USA Today, you come up with a grand total of $163 Million dollars. Left on their own, the Youngstown States and Wright States of Ohio might individually conclude that they must invest in sports promotion strategies to remain competitive. BUT if a state governor or state legislature was to call the matter to question, maybe there would be a chance to change the course we are on.
I know. The irony is that my fantasy of responsible government...is quixotic.
25
And there's not enough money in Ohio to regulate pollution and keep Lake Erie pure. Or fully fund the public schools (all of them, in poor communities, too). Or have full-time professors at the universities (instead of basement-wage adjuncts). Further, our Governor Kasich is all about cutting taxes again on the richest Ohioans.
2
If the president of the University of Alabama is going to allow the city fathers (really, would women do this?) override his decision, he should condition the continued existence of the football team on an academic study of the factors behind the support for the sport.
Let's start with the money and look at other deserving causes in Birmingham, especially social services, health care and education. Are they underfunded? How much difference would $30 million make to the poor and underprivileged members of the community? How does the $30 private donation to football compare to private funding of social services, health care and education in Birmingham over the same period of time?
Then let's look at the demographics. What sex, ages, races, educational levels and occupation did the leaders of the insurrection agains the president's decision hare? What are the demographics of the people who are willing to open their wallets for football? What ties do they have with each other? Back to the first question, what is their record of charitable giving?
It's necessary to probe into motivation. How many of the supporters are former high school or college athletes? How do they rationalize their support of a sport that causes brain damage? Do they favor athletes over others in hiring decisions? Why is football important to them? Where do they fall on the political spectrum, and is there a link between their passion for football and other beliefs?
Let's start with the money and look at other deserving causes in Birmingham, especially social services, health care and education. Are they underfunded? How much difference would $30 million make to the poor and underprivileged members of the community? How does the $30 private donation to football compare to private funding of social services, health care and education in Birmingham over the same period of time?
Then let's look at the demographics. What sex, ages, races, educational levels and occupation did the leaders of the insurrection agains the president's decision hare? What are the demographics of the people who are willing to open their wallets for football? What ties do they have with each other? Back to the first question, what is their record of charitable giving?
It's necessary to probe into motivation. How many of the supporters are former high school or college athletes? How do they rationalize their support of a sport that causes brain damage? Do they favor athletes over others in hiring decisions? Why is football important to them? Where do they fall on the political spectrum, and is there a link between their passion for football and other beliefs?
Mr. Nocera:
thank you for updating the on-going saga of America's uneasy love-affair
with organized sports---as entertainment---particularly as
related to football played at colleges and universities.
where it has existed in a ceaseless tug-of-war for more than 140-years.
campus senates versus presidents versus alumni versus "athletic" departments
versus regents versus surrounding communities versus tax payers versus
legislators have been in near-constant repetition for a very long time.
perhaps the industrialization of labor more or less about a hundred years ago,
with its urbanization and eventual adoption of the 40-hour "work-week",
set the stage for communal practices of devoting the additional
leisure hours to the watching of sporting events.
the earliest business models determined that the athletes could not be paid a salary,
so their "amateur-status" was disguised behind the moniker of "student-athlete".
associations were formed between neighboring schools, stadiums were constructed,
"week-ends" were invented, and a social gathering of the masses developed.
more and more money was exchanged.
competitive-statuses enlarged.
media, also seeing a profit, began reporting about the outcome of these contests,
thus engaging the folks that could not attend the events themselves.
soon this all became the "normal", "expected" way for a large part of the population to behave...almost "religiously".
until folks stop watching and attending, the distortions will continue.
Rich white people watching poor black people play a sport that's heavily subsidized by the debt taken on by students who rarely if ever attend the games: that's the NCAA business model.
In so far as the UAB makes any money from football, it's by offering up their teams as cannon fodder at away games for big name programs like LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Ohio State, South Carolina, Florida State and Michigan State (all losses over the past ten years). This has nothing to do with civic pride.
In so far as the UAB makes any money from football, it's by offering up their teams as cannon fodder at away games for big name programs like LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Ohio State, South Carolina, Florida State and Michigan State (all losses over the past ten years). This has nothing to do with civic pride.
6
I'm a longtime fan of Nocera, including the NCAA related columns. But I don't know what the big deal here is.
Newsflash, people like football. The most important fact is that all the funds will be private funds. It isn't a case of college president being held hostage-- if anything, it was Dr. Watts who was the hostage taker.
Newsflash, people like football. The most important fact is that all the funds will be private funds. It isn't a case of college president being held hostage-- if anything, it was Dr. Watts who was the hostage taker.
3
"Newsflash, people like football"
OK, but what does football have to do with college?
OK, but what does football have to do with college?
"Which is what they did. By the end of May, the city’s corporate leaders had pledged to make up the additional $17.2 million subsidy, and had made a promising start on raising the $13 million or so needed for the practice facility."
You know the old saw, wouldn't it be nice if the Pentagon had to hold a bake sale to raise money. In this instance, wouldn't it be a hoot if the community raised $13 million a year to build up STEM studies or (gasp!) even the liberal arts. You know, actual educational stuff.
You know the old saw, wouldn't it be nice if the Pentagon had to hold a bake sale to raise money. In this instance, wouldn't it be a hoot if the community raised $13 million a year to build up STEM studies or (gasp!) even the liberal arts. You know, actual educational stuff.
1
Why won't SOMEONE at the NYT look into this situation with more depth?
Football is a mere symptom of what is really going on in the UA System. The Board of Trustees are trying to dismantle the entire undergraduate program at UAB in an effort to direct attendance to their "flagship" in Tuscaloosa, which is currently accruing debt at an unsustainable pace (they're up to $1B, while even their endowment is only $632M).
Did I mention that 1/3 of the BOT membership has ties to Bryant Bank, who would stand to profit greatly (or suffer greatly if things go bust) from this expansion to the Tuscaloosa campus?
There's a great investigative story here, if only someone would go after it!
Football is a mere symptom of what is really going on in the UA System. The Board of Trustees are trying to dismantle the entire undergraduate program at UAB in an effort to direct attendance to their "flagship" in Tuscaloosa, which is currently accruing debt at an unsustainable pace (they're up to $1B, while even their endowment is only $632M).
Did I mention that 1/3 of the BOT membership has ties to Bryant Bank, who would stand to profit greatly (or suffer greatly if things go bust) from this expansion to the Tuscaloosa campus?
There's a great investigative story here, if only someone would go after it!
9
Why even pretend to be an academic institution? Cut the academics, balance the budget, and focus exclusively on sports.
Yes, that's sarcasm, but that's what it seems to be coming to in some so-called universities.
Yes, that's sarcasm, but that's what it seems to be coming to in some so-called universities.
1
College football is basically the South’s “pro football”. Generally speaking, southerners have a rooting interest in their regional NFL team, but they passionately support their college football team. In order to understand what happened at UAB, people must understand this fact.
Yes, it’s true that the US as a country have misplaced priorities. Sports trump more important issues such as our crumbling infrastructure and our subpar educational system. If we’re to become a better nation, this must be reversed.
Yes, it’s true that the US as a country have misplaced priorities. Sports trump more important issues such as our crumbling infrastructure and our subpar educational system. If we’re to become a better nation, this must be reversed.
UAB has also raised over $500,000,000 for education from the local community as well. Its not an either or proposition as some of you highly educated people would like to believe.
3
Mr. Schwarz thinks that colleges and universities receive benefits from athletics, but most economists say the opposite, that the financial benefits to communities that host teams are overstated.
3
Michael,
I fully agree with you. Mr. Schwartz is wrong and naive. In fact, the cost of college athletics to a university operation is grossly under reported. There are several financial schemes to shift resources to athletic departments and to not fully account for costs. The following are just a few of the many.
1) Many universities use an accounting practice of charging departments for "indirect overhead." Athletics departments are sometimes exempted from these charges, or are able to "negotiate" lower rates.
2) Head coaches of major sports are granted exclusive rights to the use of residence halls and dining halls to run profitable summer athletic camps. Can you imagine if these rights were granted to faculty to run educational summer programs?
3) Major auxiliary enterprises are not reimbursed by athletics for services. Look at athletic parking revenues and expenses for instance. Typically an athletic department will earn revenue from the parking concession on lots used by faculty and staff. They are not required to reimburse the parking department for this use, and in turn the cost of maintenance of these lots is covered by the fees paid by faculty, staff and students.
There are many more examples of how athletic departments are financially privileged within the university budgeting system. The host institutions are bearing a remarkable undocumented collection of costs that further subsidize college sports. Mr. Schwartz has never sat at the table.
I fully agree with you. Mr. Schwartz is wrong and naive. In fact, the cost of college athletics to a university operation is grossly under reported. There are several financial schemes to shift resources to athletic departments and to not fully account for costs. The following are just a few of the many.
1) Many universities use an accounting practice of charging departments for "indirect overhead." Athletics departments are sometimes exempted from these charges, or are able to "negotiate" lower rates.
2) Head coaches of major sports are granted exclusive rights to the use of residence halls and dining halls to run profitable summer athletic camps. Can you imagine if these rights were granted to faculty to run educational summer programs?
3) Major auxiliary enterprises are not reimbursed by athletics for services. Look at athletic parking revenues and expenses for instance. Typically an athletic department will earn revenue from the parking concession on lots used by faculty and staff. They are not required to reimburse the parking department for this use, and in turn the cost of maintenance of these lots is covered by the fees paid by faculty, staff and students.
There are many more examples of how athletic departments are financially privileged within the university budgeting system. The host institutions are bearing a remarkable undocumented collection of costs that further subsidize college sports. Mr. Schwartz has never sat at the table.
2
This silly argument leads one to conclude that if one assembles a football team which is subsidized by the community or a few individuals, one has the beginning of a university. The school becomes an afterthought. That seems correct when you consider that UA's coach makes more money than its president and more than all the professors in some departments combined.
Football is a huge diversion from the role of a university, but if very successful, it is profitable, attracts students and doors and is a huge PR benefit. In the end one needs to ask: What is more important, the quality of teaching and course offerings or the football team. Add to that that a large fraction of football team members never finish college and are in it primarily to get a chance to play commercially at large salaries, which are rarely connected to their intellectual value.
Football is a huge diversion from the role of a university, but if very successful, it is profitable, attracts students and doors and is a huge PR benefit. In the end one needs to ask: What is more important, the quality of teaching and course offerings or the football team. Add to that that a large fraction of football team members never finish college and are in it primarily to get a chance to play commercially at large salaries, which are rarely connected to their intellectual value.
1
Another example of priorities and the compromises made to buy support. If education standards were that high, we wouldn't need half of our "Institutions of Higher Learning" and would not have enough seats available to fill with PC students. As most of the expenses of education are funded by taxpayers, education institutes (more so in the South) need voter support. Fans equal votes equal support. Support for more seats at lowered standards grows the educational institutions and the government institutions that grow when more money pours into them. More supply of degrees lowers the salaries of those with those degrees and decreases their ability to pay their student loans, then needs more taxpayer support to keep growing.
2
With this decision, UAB is well on its way to becoming the largest, most expensive amusement park in Alabama. Its leadership is convinced that the way to attract good students is not high-quality academic programs but high profile fun and games. And, of course, Watts found himself confronting Alabama and its football mania; a state that will not pay for education, which taxes the poor, where many people cannot afford to see a doctor, will always pony up for a chance to throw money down a rat hole--they call it pride, I say they look for any excuse to ignore reality. Meanwhile, they're probably still laughing in Tuscaloosa and Auburn.
15
What about South Alabama, Troy, Alabama State, Alabama A&M, Samford, and Jacksonville State? Should we be the only big school in Alabama not to play D-I football? Why is it such a great idea for them but not for us?
Because Alabama and Auburn exist, I guess the rest of the schools should just give up, right? Let's teach all our kids to be quitters.
Because Alabama and Auburn exist, I guess the rest of the schools should just give up, right? Let's teach all our kids to be quitters.
Residents of Birmingham (and every other American city of any size) know that you don't need no stinkin' diploma to enjoy football. You think that they are going to take civic pride in the orchestra or art museum? Residents of a city are members of a tribe, and they need their totems which everyone can worship.
11
Ever been to Birmingham? Just for your information and despite numerous faults; it has an excellent zoo and art museum for a city of its size.
There's always more money for sports. In the great state of texas, A&M is spending a half billion dollars just to refurbish the stadium, a facility that will be used, what, five or six times a year. There's always more money...
7
As a former resident of the Birmingham area, I know first hand of their love of football. The city has many multiple attempts to find a way to build a stadium to replace the aging Legion Field and tempt an NFL franchise to the city. Yes, it is absurd. When they gave up, they moved the UAB football program to Division I, even though they have two NCAA Division I football programs in the state already. The U of A Tuscaloosa is just a 45 minute drive from Birmingham. I never felt that was the right move and I don't think this one is either. You wouldn't see community leaders able to raise this sort of money for the educational mission of the university or for the public school the city or Jefferson county.
3
Here's a real question, at least for for those of us who still think institutions of higher education have any business teaching people to think rationally, rather than just being jock-and-robot factories for 'hire education': Does a glorified farm club for the NFL really deserve to be called a 'university'?
10
Football = future encephalopathy machine.
Football program = unlimited liability for future encephalopathy.
College football = contradiction in terms.
Football program = unlimited liability for future encephalopathy.
College football = contradiction in terms.
8
Bridges collapse, libraries are closed, music and art disappears from schools, class sizes rise, but hey, what would week be without Friday night under the lights. What are the new Rome --- give them bread and circuses.
17
This is just one example of a state and perhaps national madness for football. Long past time for the college presidents, not the athletic directors who are part of the problem by definition, to retake control of athletics and firmly establish the proper subordination of athletics to education in college.
Out with unneeded TV breaks and too many commercials period. Out with 600 bowl games, national polls, playoffs, and overtime games. Back to student athletes, regional rivalries, and halftime shows. Once again $ ruins a way of life.
Out with unneeded TV breaks and too many commercials period. Out with 600 bowl games, national polls, playoffs, and overtime games. Back to student athletes, regional rivalries, and halftime shows. Once again $ ruins a way of life.
8
Perhaps the neurologist wanted to eliminate the football team for neurological reasons. I played college football. The back surgeries (30 years ago, 5 years after I stopped playing) and periodic back problems I experience today are bad enough. However, my adult onset epilepsy is more concerning. Head trauma, unavoidable when playing football, causes neurological trauma. That is the human cost of a football program. As a neurologist, the doctor knows.
53
Interesting hypothesis, but when I asked Dr. Watts at a faculty meeting in December whether his background as a neurologist and the accumulating evidence that traumatic brain injury can lead to chronic encephalopathy and long term cognitive decline and degeneration had informed his decision to cut football he denied that this had anything to do with it! It was purely economic!
Thank you, Joe, for continuing to be a voice of reason in the ugly wasteland of big-time (or, for UAB, medium-time) college sports. Please take a look at America's military schools, too -- Air Force, West Point, and Annapolis -- where the issue isn't money, but the opportunity cost of filling first-year-class spots with cadets who are focused mainly on football or basketball, instead of kids who want primarily to be military officers. The corruption starts with the military 'prep' schools, which now run up to 50% jocks whose high school grades aren't high enough and act as feeder programs for athletic teams -- instead of the prep schools' intended role of helping enlisted personnel move up to officer level with a college degree. The inordinate power of alumni (with stars on their shoulders) is very similar to civilian schools.
14
It appears that UAB, like most other colleges, consider sports more important than education. The scary part, and the one which should concern all parents with college-age children, is the fact that spending-per-student is in such decline. In a short time, the cost of a college degree will be out of reach for most families. Seems to me that is the way it was in the mid-20th century: few people went to college, and a degree was a rarity. But maybe that will be better for all and put a much greater value on having a degree. Being a college graduate nowadays seldom gives anybody "a leg up", as it once did.
10
Why do you think education is not important at UAB? What gives you that impression, either in this op-ed piece or elsewhere?
A $20 million subsidy is what percentage of our multi-billion dollar annual revenue? Help me our here; I guess since I went to football-crazy UAB, maybe I'm not too good at percentages.
A $20 million subsidy is what percentage of our multi-billion dollar annual revenue? Help me our here; I guess since I went to football-crazy UAB, maybe I'm not too good at percentages.
I'm a yankee living in Bama and this story surprised me for reasons beyond what Mr. Nocera wrote.
Here in Bama, nearly everyone follows either the University of Alabama or Auburn University football. Both teams are consistently among the best in the nation. So, when UAB talked of cutting their team, I thought there'd be no outcry. Birmingham is less than 1 hour from Tuscaloosa and the UA juggernaut. When local leaders say that the city needs a team, they're kind of overlooking the fact that UA already is that team.
The UAB issue, understood in the context of UA and AU mania, becomes all the more bizarre.
The state of Alabama, of course, can put its attention to college football because it has marvelously solved all other social questions affecting its residents.
In closing, I'm constantly reminded of what Dr. King wrote in his letter from the Birmingham jail: "One day the South will recognize its real heroes," and they're not football players.
Here in Bama, nearly everyone follows either the University of Alabama or Auburn University football. Both teams are consistently among the best in the nation. So, when UAB talked of cutting their team, I thought there'd be no outcry. Birmingham is less than 1 hour from Tuscaloosa and the UA juggernaut. When local leaders say that the city needs a team, they're kind of overlooking the fact that UA already is that team.
The UAB issue, understood in the context of UA and AU mania, becomes all the more bizarre.
The state of Alabama, of course, can put its attention to college football because it has marvelously solved all other social questions affecting its residents.
In closing, I'm constantly reminded of what Dr. King wrote in his letter from the Birmingham jail: "One day the South will recognize its real heroes," and they're not football players.
150
I just spent 3 months in Baton Rouge, or LSU town. LSU sports is everything. Every store has an aisle dedicated to LSU parephenelia. Everyone you meet wants to discuss LSU's latest game. My usual question was "other that the sports teams, what is LSU known for academically." I never did get an answer.
2
Wouldn't it be nice if all of these civic leaders who have promised to make up the $30 million for a football team would have as much concern for the education of the non-athletes at this school? $13 million for a practice facility...how many student scholarships would that pay for? I am at a small college that is facing a similar situation with similar financial difficulties. No faculty raises of consequence for the past 10 years, but all gung ho for DI. Our priorities are out of order for sure.
35
As long as the US can count on educated and ambitious immigrants who excel academically at university and ignore the entertainment drivel, in the short term it hardly matters that US citizens grow up to be ignorant (and proud of it) fools. The problem is the long term, when we may be inundated with uncritical, unthinking, ignorant and pretty much useless masses.
28
That time is already here.
Agreed!
Just yesterday I learned that Antonin Scalia, a justice of the United States Supreme Court, said in a commencement address that mankind has been around for 5,000 years. LOL! Of course, Scalia has his agenda but he is so far wrong that the graduates in his audience should have hooted him of the stage.
We (Homo sapiens) have been around for 195,000 years and after some evolutionary fine tuning, mankind was pretty much like we are now as of 35,000 years ago. Why do we put up with such ignorance?
Just yesterday I learned that Antonin Scalia, a justice of the United States Supreme Court, said in a commencement address that mankind has been around for 5,000 years. LOL! Of course, Scalia has his agenda but he is so far wrong that the graduates in his audience should have hooted him of the stage.
We (Homo sapiens) have been around for 195,000 years and after some evolutionary fine tuning, mankind was pretty much like we are now as of 35,000 years ago. Why do we put up with such ignorance?
I am wondering how Nocera fits in this information about the football debts of most colleges with his earlier and continuous accusations of universities piling on riches on the backs of students. I suggest that he look into statistics about the few that make money and the many that lose it.
3
Thanks, Joe. This may be outrageous. However, there are so many other outrages in our country, far more outrageous than this, that I simply can't muster the outrage for this one. Besides, you can take the South out of football but you can never take football out of the South.
11
Millions of Americans to some degree earn a living (directly or indirectly) from college football. Even more millions enjoy this quintessentially American institution, many supporting it through donations annually. Every aspect of our culture can not be measured merely in dollars and cents. I wonder what the writer and others of like mind would go after once they have destroyed college football.
3
One would think that the biggest beneficiaries are the Las Vegas legal bookmakers and the illegal ones that are all over.
1
Get a grip, "wezil." Why don't you show us the math on this wild statement of millions of Americans earning a living from college football. And no, selling snow cones parking tickets 6 days a week for a few hours does not count as earning a living. Of course, you don't need actual facts since you've already decided them in your mind.
4
Rest easy, wezilsnout (great handle, BTW!). There is about as much chance Joe Nocera, and others of like mind, will destroy college football as there is that most Americans will suddenly decide that learning something is more important than playing or watching sports.
I completely agree with you that not every aspect of our culture can be measured in dollars and cents. There is art, music, literature, science, etc., but I'm sure we can all guess how much success Dr. Watts would have had trying to raise $30 million for those things.
Finally, I hope no one uses this development to badmouth the state of Alabama. I am sure not too much effort would be required to find similar examples in any other state.
I completely agree with you that not every aspect of our culture can be measured in dollars and cents. There is art, music, literature, science, etc., but I'm sure we can all guess how much success Dr. Watts would have had trying to raise $30 million for those things.
Finally, I hope no one uses this development to badmouth the state of Alabama. I am sure not too much effort would be required to find similar examples in any other state.
It's a few minutes drive from Birmingham to college football heaven in Tuscaloosa, but I guess those 20,000 or so UAB fans hated the drive in all that traffic. Thank goodness for those Birmingham civic leaders who ponied up the money to enhance the city's image. They've got their priorities straight.
Best of all is that the bowling and rifle teams have been saved too and we didn't even know they existed
Best of all is that the bowling and rifle teams have been saved too and we didn't even know they existed
12
So is it the Birmingham taxpayers who are funding this football team?
A simple solution for Dr. Watts: Put the UAB football team up on Kickstarter, trying to raise the necessary subsidy. If the public of Birmingham is willing to put its money where its mouth is and fund the team, fine, it stays. If not, then the market has spoken and Dr. Watts can go back to more consequential matters.
3
Minus the use of kickstarter, that is essentially what happened. The article makes this clear that local corporations pledged the necessary extra funds (third to last paragraph).
These "subsidies" will actually be an indirect hit to the Development Office: Fundraising for legitimate classroom and research needs will suffer.
15
I think this is incorrect. Probably the real reason that football will be reinstated (besides the votes of no-confidence from all the university constituencies) was that the alumni were galvanized by this issue and it was recognized that there was the possibility of losses of tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in alumni fund raising over the next decade.
With their insanely expensive focus on big time sports and their thrall to cost-cutting political hacks in the respective state capitals, most state universities are sinking very fast. Even the elite few (U Michigan, U Cal Berkeley, U Wisconsin, UN Carolina et al.) have been buffeted if not irrevocably damaged in the past few years by nothing less than malevolent forces. Places such as U Alabama-Birmingham were never much for academics; now they are really down the totem pole and headed toward rock bottom.
Meanwhile most of the private elites (Ivy League, Chicago, Caltech, MIT, Johns Hopkins, Emory, Carnegie-Mellon, Rice, Vanberbilt, etc.) are plowing ever more money into academics and physical plant. The few that manage big time sports (Northwestern, Stanford) are so wealthy that it becomes a hobby for them. These universities have their issues too (bloated administrations), but thank God they exist and are generally outside the clutches of political hackery. I don't mean to sound elitist, but can you imagine the state of the nation if private schools were not propping up what is left of our tattered university system?
Meanwhile most of the private elites (Ivy League, Chicago, Caltech, MIT, Johns Hopkins, Emory, Carnegie-Mellon, Rice, Vanberbilt, etc.) are plowing ever more money into academics and physical plant. The few that manage big time sports (Northwestern, Stanford) are so wealthy that it becomes a hobby for them. These universities have their issues too (bloated administrations), but thank God they exist and are generally outside the clutches of political hackery. I don't mean to sound elitist, but can you imagine the state of the nation if private schools were not propping up what is left of our tattered university system?
31
Excuse me? You clearly have no idea what you're talking about, because frankly UAB is all about academics. Have you not heard of our highly ranked School of Medicine? How about our School of Dentistry or Public Health? Or the School of Health Professions? Look it up before you go insulting us and saying we're headed toward rock bottom.
Tom, maybe you didn't mean to sound elitist, but you did. I'm glad you mentioned Berkeley. In spite of being financially battered by the leftists in Sacramento for decades (Reagan was a union man before he sold out), Cal and its siblings (UCLA, UCSD, UCSF, etc.) have managed to maintain world class academics and research. While Cal is nominally a state university, it receives only a pittance of its operating capital from the State of California.
Your private elites may have lots of endowment invested in the market, but the public sector is doing a commendable job with far fewer resources and far more restrictions.
Your private elites may have lots of endowment invested in the market, but the public sector is doing a commendable job with far fewer resources and far more restrictions.
2
UAB does have an extremely good medical school.
Panem et circenses. It worked in the Republic of Rome and it still works. When will we ever learn?
6
Yes, but they finally had to be much greater at entertaining the masses - so they came up with the predecessor of football - Christians vs The Lions.
2
No one should be surprised by this turn of events. America has always valued doers over thinkers, action over introspection. Not to mention that America needs heroes so baldly that she will settle for athletes.
That athletics seems to be more important that academics, that coaches make more than university Presidents, is as American as apple pie.
What surprises me is we have not found a way to financially separate athletics and education. We should drop all the pretense and let the professional teams support the large football programs. Let them be farm teams. After all, most fans did not actually attend their favorite school and only want a winner. They do not really care about the athletes on a personal level and many of the athletes really only want to play at the highest level and make big money. Why do the players have to be students at all? Let them be gladiators for the large universities. The present system has evolved into a mockery of the original "student athlete" concept anyway.
That athletics seems to be more important that academics, that coaches make more than university Presidents, is as American as apple pie.
What surprises me is we have not found a way to financially separate athletics and education. We should drop all the pretense and let the professional teams support the large football programs. Let them be farm teams. After all, most fans did not actually attend their favorite school and only want a winner. They do not really care about the athletes on a personal level and many of the athletes really only want to play at the highest level and make big money. Why do the players have to be students at all? Let them be gladiators for the large universities. The present system has evolved into a mockery of the original "student athlete" concept anyway.
69
The majority of Notre Dame fans(from where I graduated debt-free in the 70s) are known as "subway alumni, having never attended ND but part of the large ethnic catholic tribe once inhabiting New Yorjk, Chicago and other large American cities, I suppose giving the then urban under-class a "team of their own."
ND used to mingle its athletes among the dorms, decline to go to bowl games (the first was 1970), and had no sports complex dedicated to athletes. I ran Varsity Track for a year before putiing down childish things and can verify that the only thing I recieved was a pair of track shoies and "training table" which meant as much as you wanted to eat from the same slop as the rest of the student body!
America has always been the land of the swindler, huckster, carney barker, patent medicine salesman but we've reached new lows of self-deception.
ND used to mingle its athletes among the dorms, decline to go to bowl games (the first was 1970), and had no sports complex dedicated to athletes. I ran Varsity Track for a year before putiing down childish things and can verify that the only thing I recieved was a pair of track shoies and "training table" which meant as much as you wanted to eat from the same slop as the rest of the student body!
America has always been the land of the swindler, huckster, carney barker, patent medicine salesman but we've reached new lows of self-deception.
2
There are plenty of heroes in America - you just don't see their stories splashed all over a dedicated section of your local newspaper, or on national TV programs like "Sports Center". A fireman running into a burning building to save a little girl's pet; a sister donating a kidney for a sibling's transplant; a teacher paying for textbooks and materials out of his own pocket. Those folks do a lot more than run fast or throw far. But since there is no vicarious or tribal identification involved, it doesn't "sell".
I do agree with you on one thing, though: the "student athlete" system is a complete joke and should be abolished. Education is the last thing on the minds of these folks. Besides heroes, Americans could use a dose of honesty: these guys are professionals and should be treated as such.
I do agree with you on one thing, though: the "student athlete" system is a complete joke and should be abolished. Education is the last thing on the minds of these folks. Besides heroes, Americans could use a dose of honesty: these guys are professionals and should be treated as such.
1
"in the future there will be no war. There will be.....ROLLERBALL."
The future is now, ESPECIALLY in my home state of Alabama, where neither the white Republican governor nor the overwhelmingly white Republican legislature can manage to pass a budget to deal with a more than $250 million dollar shortfall because they refuse to raise taxes already some of the lowest (property) in the country. The ONLY thing Alabama cares about is football. Not education, not healthcare, not infrastructure, not the wellbeing of its citizenry nor its environment--ONLY FOOTBALL. It is a foolish, foolish state.
The future is now, ESPECIALLY in my home state of Alabama, where neither the white Republican governor nor the overwhelmingly white Republican legislature can manage to pass a budget to deal with a more than $250 million dollar shortfall because they refuse to raise taxes already some of the lowest (property) in the country. The ONLY thing Alabama cares about is football. Not education, not healthcare, not infrastructure, not the wellbeing of its citizenry nor its environment--ONLY FOOTBALL. It is a foolish, foolish state.
2
I thought the primary role of a university was to educate their students and prepare them to live in an ever changing world. Silly me no the focus is to field a footbal team. Is it any wonder that our nation is in trouble?
15
So, the city of Birmingham and its civic leaders are prepared to come up with $30 million now (and who knows how much later) to save a football tradition that never existed in the first place. This would suggest that the city has no other needs that might benefit from a $30 million infusion - schools, infrastructure, housing, crime prevention, just to mention a few items that seem to be troubling most American cities. Congratulations to Birmingham!
9
OK people wanted Dr Watts fired...did the person who decided the stadium should be big enough (and expensive enough) to seat 72,000 ever get fired?
15
The stadium is a 1927 hand-me-down from the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) that was too old and run down for them twenty years ago so they abandoned it. UAB gets UAT's discards.
Legion Field was built in 1923, 40+ years before UAB was even a school, and it is a City of Birmingham facility. It is not our stadium. We just play there because it's our only option. It used to host Alabama games, CFL games, USFL games, XFL games, and a few NFL preseason games. Also some Olympic soccer qualifiers in 1996. It sat closer to 80,000 before the upper deck was taken down. UAB had nothing to do with its construction or design.
Legion field was built in 1926 and is still owned by the city of Birmingham. UAB football began in 1991.
1
I call upon the NYT to do its part to end the college sports idiocy by banishing coverage of college sports from its pages.
13
UAB has approximately 20,000 students. They get 20,000 fans a game. Members of the local community seem to be up in arms about football. One would logically conclude that a large percentage of the students do not attend the games. Football is for the alumni. They should pay for it, if they want. It is too bad they did not let it go so we could put to the test what the impact of no football would be on the school and the community.
3
Cutting a sports team as a means of backdoor fundraising, only to reinstate it once the donations start pouring in from people unhappy with the decision? Sounds familiar -- it happened to my Swimming & Diving teammates and I at Dartmouth College during the 2002-2003 season. Much smaller scale of course, but to this day it still rubs us and many of our parents who pledged funds at the time the wrong way. If you need money, ask for it forthrightly. And if you are thinking of cutting a program cherished by the many, or even the few, talk about it forthrightly first.
1
Because Alabama is recognized as such a leader in education, healthcare and employment, the absurdity of spending thousands of hours to raise millions of dollars to fund a sport is forgiven. After all, what else would they do with that time and money?
33
I love it -- elementary schools drop phys ed, kids play no old outdoor games, high schools have more illiteracy and metal-detectors, and colleges grow student debts like mold on old cheese. So we raise public funds for football players who only rarely even gain a non-sport profession let alone a dgree at most places. Hoa many NFL and NBA players have ever givel a coherent interview? Have careers after ball? Either education works or it plays games that don't benefit players or the fitness of the students. Football is neither recreation nor education for 99% of students. It's business, and often a failure by that measurement.
13
One NBA player quickly comes to mind. Bill Bradley. Princeton grad. Rhodes scholar. US Senator. All of the other thousands must be total social busts.
Can't think of any NFL types. Too much brain damage, I guess.
Can't think of any NFL types. Too much brain damage, I guess.
Once the dust-up settles and football is safely re-ensconced at U.A.B., don't look for Watts to be its president for much longer. The pressure will build to find someone less likely to be sensible when parsing contending priorities and the question of true mission.
9
Ray Watts cut one of the few sports that makes money and spent $11 million in the process. What part of that was sensible?
Duke University is among the most highly sought colleges in the nation, entirely attributable to the success of its men's basketball program, as are the stratospheric increases in its tuition. It's not that great of a university. The fact of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of college students have no business on a college campus. They are there to hang out for 4 years (or more), buying themselves an empty credential with their daddy's money (or loans), and painting their faces for the games. It's sick and it's sad.
The whole upper education model needs to get shaken. For starters, there is so much good course content on-line, I question the whole brick-and-mortar regime. In any event, we need to get away from college athletics as a source of civic pride. College athletics beyond intramurals is just plain stupid.
The whole upper education model needs to get shaken. For starters, there is so much good course content on-line, I question the whole brick-and-mortar regime. In any event, we need to get away from college athletics as a source of civic pride. College athletics beyond intramurals is just plain stupid.
7
College for many many students and parents? extended, expensive daycare.
ah, but Duke is now spending tens of millions in support of its football program! Stand back, America!
"It's not that great of a university?"
Duke is consistently ranked in the top ten schools academically. Duke's athletes graduate from college. Duke, Stanford, Notre Dame, Harvard, etc. serve as examples of schools that are doing a great job of balancing education and athletics, and should not be attacked for their success. Denigrating Duke misses the point of the column. The point of the column is not to question universities such as Duke, but shine the light on universities such as UAB that should not be fielding teams in sports that take resources away from what should be the mission of every college -- education.
Many valuable lessons can be learned from athletics and athletics are an important part of education, but it's a matter of priorities, and education should outweigh athletics at all times.
Duke is consistently ranked in the top ten schools academically. Duke's athletes graduate from college. Duke, Stanford, Notre Dame, Harvard, etc. serve as examples of schools that are doing a great job of balancing education and athletics, and should not be attacked for their success. Denigrating Duke misses the point of the column. The point of the column is not to question universities such as Duke, but shine the light on universities such as UAB that should not be fielding teams in sports that take resources away from what should be the mission of every college -- education.
Many valuable lessons can be learned from athletics and athletics are an important part of education, but it's a matter of priorities, and education should outweigh athletics at all times.
It is not "silly" logic for there is nothing logical about the surreal costs of sports particularly football. We are hearing "silly" emotions expressed. Even for Division 1 sports towns surely 6 home games that fill local hotels and restaurants are not sufficient to support a business for the year. If the business community of Birmingham has $17 million to donate it would seem a far better investment to improve the downtown. I have never seen Birmingham, but can imagine that some stores might need a face lift or providing trolley service around town or ... would be a much longer term investment than a limited use practice field or other football conveniences.
4
The mega buck major sports teams hold the national spotlight; the rest are intramurals by comparison. It's best for small programs to forget running with the big dogs and focus on developing the physical education departments in other ways: building school spirit with sports such as volleyball, basketball, soccer and ice hockey -- expand the coffee shop.
2
Not every college needs to have a department of Romance languages or a department of chemical engineering. Neither does every college need a football team. If a football team is important to them, a student will pick an institution that has one. Based on football attendance figures at many colleges, there are a lot of students for whom a football team does not matter.
2
Mr. Nocera is perhaps too polite to say so, but this is also another case of a wholly undistinguished third-rate university grasping for name recognition and status via the playing field. For what else is UAB known besides its frequent "trips" to the NCAA basketball tournament?
Think what this money could do if dedicated to a few academic or professional programs that could lift UAB out of mediocrity. Citizens of Alabama have their priorities inverted. Rather than scholars, scientists, and civic leaders, UAB is destined to produce the football fans of tomorrow.
Think what this money could do if dedicated to a few academic or professional programs that could lift UAB out of mediocrity. Citizens of Alabama have their priorities inverted. Rather than scholars, scientists, and civic leaders, UAB is destined to produce the football fans of tomorrow.
7
The ideal of the amateur athlete is a legacy of Greece, with the ancient Olympics representing the highest expression of amateur competition; although, there is some question about just how truly free of subsidizes nonprofessional sports were even then. True amateurism (not the modern pejorative sense of the word) was admired for its pursuit solely of participation in unadulterated competition—no ulterior motives, no corruptions or intrusions from all else that consumes life. It was supposed to be an application to athletics of the principles of scholarship and intellectualism, of acquiring knowledge for the sake of itself: in athletics having the experience itself and in scholarship pursuing truth.
Our emulation of the Greek ideal was that of the collegiate scholar athlete, a supposed mutually supportive joining of two idealistic pursuits. For a time, it succeeded and in some instances even admirably. That time though is long gone, as is of course the idealistic purity of the Olympics. We have instead now the spectacle of the near-complete break-down of the whole purpose of collegiate sports, their elevation to a false status, and as a consequence the actual corruption of the very essence of our universities, the subjugation of their true purpose of scholarship, education, and human development. All this done in the name of the false idol of sport, or what we today assume sport to be and believe falsely what it can bestow. We have lost the nobility of the amateur.
Our emulation of the Greek ideal was that of the collegiate scholar athlete, a supposed mutually supportive joining of two idealistic pursuits. For a time, it succeeded and in some instances even admirably. That time though is long gone, as is of course the idealistic purity of the Olympics. We have instead now the spectacle of the near-complete break-down of the whole purpose of collegiate sports, their elevation to a false status, and as a consequence the actual corruption of the very essence of our universities, the subjugation of their true purpose of scholarship, education, and human development. All this done in the name of the false idol of sport, or what we today assume sport to be and believe falsely what it can bestow. We have lost the nobility of the amateur.
4
If one defines collegiate sports as a necessary part of education then every college, no matter how small or academically oriented must have at least one sports team that plays with other colleges. And that team ought to be football, baseball, or some other sport that brings in money which can then be spent on improving the athletic fields, recruiting coaches, and advertising.
The same should then be done in high schools. Rather than spending money on improving classroom facilities, or academic courses it must go to maintain athletic fields, recruiting and retaining coaches, cleaning and buying uniforms, paying for transportation to and from the other schools, etc.
It's not the academics that are important in America. It's the team record! What good is learning how to read, write, and do basic math when the best way to get ahead is to play sports? Sports is the universal language of Americans. Everyone must play sports no matter how disinterested they are in them. It's the only way to get ahead. We don't know how think until that sports icon tells us how to think and if he/she doesn't, we don't. There, glad to have solved that issue.
The same should then be done in high schools. Rather than spending money on improving classroom facilities, or academic courses it must go to maintain athletic fields, recruiting and retaining coaches, cleaning and buying uniforms, paying for transportation to and from the other schools, etc.
It's not the academics that are important in America. It's the team record! What good is learning how to read, write, and do basic math when the best way to get ahead is to play sports? Sports is the universal language of Americans. Everyone must play sports no matter how disinterested they are in them. It's the only way to get ahead. We don't know how think until that sports icon tells us how to think and if he/she doesn't, we don't. There, glad to have solved that issue.
2
"A neurologist who was previously the dean of the university’s medical school"
As the old joke goes: A college president dies and finds himself in his old office at the university. He asks Saint Peter if he is in Heaven. Saint Peter replies, "No, you're in Hell." The president asks how that can be. Saint Peter then replies, "Now you have two med schools instead of one."
College athletics is now the tail that wags the dog, just like a med school. Irony.
As the old joke goes: A college president dies and finds himself in his old office at the university. He asks Saint Peter if he is in Heaven. Saint Peter replies, "No, you're in Hell." The president asks how that can be. Saint Peter then replies, "Now you have two med schools instead of one."
College athletics is now the tail that wags the dog, just like a med school. Irony.
18
Maybe when the nation decides to value education over bread and circuses this will change. I'm not hopeful, however.
17
The dearth of comments to this piece suggests to me, an academic who teaches at an institution that spends far too much on athletics, even though it doesn't have a football team, that people don't find this issue compelling. However, everyone is screaming about how expensive higher education has become. Ridiculously expensive athletic programs--that provide few benefits for the student body and are essentially PR stunts in order to encourage non-affiliated people to "support" the university--take money away from academic programs, from infrastructure, and from other kinds of scholarship and benefits for students. Most athletic programs have horrible deficits, which are not ameliorated by tv ads, and the NCAA is an exercise in self-promotion and self-preservation (how I wish that the FBI would investigate them as they did FIFA!) not a promoter of education among low-income communities.
It is time to de-couple higher education and semi-professional sports and athletics. European universities do not field sports teams, except in the form of self-funded clubs, which are not designed to train professional athletes. There are plenty of sports to be found--usually the kind that doesn't pay a living wage upon graduation--and plenty of enthusiasm for them. If people want semi-pro sports, let them buy tickets and vote for bond initiatives for their stadia and leave education to those of us who actually care about students and their futures.
It is time to de-couple higher education and semi-professional sports and athletics. European universities do not field sports teams, except in the form of self-funded clubs, which are not designed to train professional athletes. There are plenty of sports to be found--usually the kind that doesn't pay a living wage upon graduation--and plenty of enthusiasm for them. If people want semi-pro sports, let them buy tickets and vote for bond initiatives for their stadia and leave education to those of us who actually care about students and their futures.
113
@Linda, maybe the dearth of comments is due to the fact that this matter is simply a case of the bleeding obvious. What UAB has done (and what many cities do at the professional level - public funding of stadiums for privately owned teams, except for the Green Bay Packers) seems so stupid that there's almost nothing to say.
And note that in Green Bay's case, the NFL has a rule saying that no other football team is allowed to be owned by the public.
And note that in Green Bay's case, the NFL has a rule saying that no other football team is allowed to be owned by the public.
1
The citizens of Birmingham aren't paying for their football team. I am, as a Maryland taxpayer..
Like most Red states, Alabama gets about twice as much money from Washington as it sends to Washington. Yet its political leaders tirelessly denounce the Federal government that feeds them.
If they want to secede again, this time we should let them.
Like most Red states, Alabama gets about twice as much money from Washington as it sends to Washington. Yet its political leaders tirelessly denounce the Federal government that feeds them.
If they want to secede again, this time we should let them.
157
it is past time to ask nicely, we should just show them the door.
Go Blazers Go! U.A.B. Blazer football fans are not brought down by the unfortunate comments of a New York City based critic!
3
Add to this the sheer brutality of modern American football and we see the emergence of a sick society.
22
So are the business leaders going to foot the bill into perpetuity? On the one hand, as long as the ridiculous amounts of money aren't coming from the university's general budget, that's a win. On the other hand, whose team is it now? You can be sure the business leaders of Birmingham will be sharing their views on that question soon, along with the phrase "this isn't a charity."
4
Every southern college must have a team; college football and NASCAR are religious sacraments down there....
8
"Down there"? And you are in Miami? Everything should be "up there" to you.
Not a single penny should be stolen from tuition to pay for football.
Just think..you are paying back $100 grand in student loans and a big chunk of that was wasted on football and had nothing to do with your education.
Millions of people can't afford to go to college any more but it is so worth having millions living in poverty as long as there is football right?
Bread and Circuses, the beginning of the end of many a civilization.
America the stupid, we should all be so proud.
Just think..you are paying back $100 grand in student loans and a big chunk of that was wasted on football and had nothing to do with your education.
Millions of people can't afford to go to college any more but it is so worth having millions living in poverty as long as there is football right?
Bread and Circuses, the beginning of the end of many a civilization.
America the stupid, we should all be so proud.
131
Good point. Let's follow the money. Who stood to lose if the football program was cut? All those millions, where did they go? I would love to see an accounting of that and then I would like to see if the groups that stood to lose that money had anything to do with the outcry.
I wonder if all this corporate-based financial support for a sports program would also be there if the college sought to improve a physics, chemistry or engineering program that was also running out of money.
98
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Dr. Watts had it right the first time. That subsidies were made up by outside sources does not guarantee UAB will not be back on the hook to allocate $20+ million to subsidize a token football program in future years. UAB had an opportunity to distinguish the school as having its priorities straight with focus on excellence in education. Major missed opportunity
51
Where is the hue and cry (and fundraising) to support the academics? Where are the corporate sponsors to fund the science labs and libraries?
OK, to be honest, I know that there are such academic and research donations, but they seem paltry in comparison and some come with strings attached.
What is wrong with our priorities?
OK, to be honest, I know that there are such academic and research donations, but they seem paltry in comparison and some come with strings attached.
What is wrong with our priorities?
48
What a waste of money...UAB football was never and never will be an attraction that will be self-sustaining and will enjoy limited participation by city residents. The funds that were promised for this resurrection could be used much more effectively if committed to a new academic building or funding for top notch scientists. Instead, good money will be used to support (for a while) a mediocre team.
32
Football is an important part of university life in Alabama. I assume that UAB competes for students against such institutions as the University of Alabama and Auburn. If the UAB supporters are willing to foot the bill, that pretty much ends any argument for me.
War Eagle.
War Eagle.
4
I doubt there is much competition. Would you go to Georgia Southern if you got into UGA? Probably not.
Where would supporters' money go if not to football, one wonders. What local investments are shorted? What improvements not made?
A complete waste of money, but at least the local elites will be picking up the extra tab (for now).
25
Our fan support has never been a problem, and it is anything but tepid. Don't expect us nor anyone else in our conference to fill a 72,000 seat stadium. We aren't trying to.
Money was not an issue. Donor support has always been here. UAB has never wanted to accept donations to the football program. This only changed in the last month. As Andy Schwarz illustrated in a series of articles for Vice Sports, which you devoted an entire sentence to in this opinion piece, football, bowling, and rifle make money for the school. They do not take money away from education. In the 2013 season, the absolute nadir for UAB Football, it netted $500k to the athletics department. I think we supporters referred to Andy's work ad nauseam, and the Birmingham News covered it extensively. His firm was hired by UAB to reassess the financials behind shutting the program down. Ray Watts vetoed his firm personally.
Paul Bryant, Jr., Finis St. John, and Joe Espy do not want us to play football, and they will force square pegs into round holes until their mission is accomplished. You guys continue to push this narrative about the struggle between academics and entertainment, and you can go on and on about that all you want. But stop using UAB Football as a case study. That is not the conflict at my school. 150 scholarships among the three cut sports that net money for the school through conference revenue sharing, buy games, and yes, ticket sales. Those athletes seem to be getting an education.
Money was not an issue. Donor support has always been here. UAB has never wanted to accept donations to the football program. This only changed in the last month. As Andy Schwarz illustrated in a series of articles for Vice Sports, which you devoted an entire sentence to in this opinion piece, football, bowling, and rifle make money for the school. They do not take money away from education. In the 2013 season, the absolute nadir for UAB Football, it netted $500k to the athletics department. I think we supporters referred to Andy's work ad nauseam, and the Birmingham News covered it extensively. His firm was hired by UAB to reassess the financials behind shutting the program down. Ray Watts vetoed his firm personally.
Paul Bryant, Jr., Finis St. John, and Joe Espy do not want us to play football, and they will force square pegs into round holes until their mission is accomplished. You guys continue to push this narrative about the struggle between academics and entertainment, and you can go on and on about that all you want. But stop using UAB Football as a case study. That is not the conflict at my school. 150 scholarships among the three cut sports that net money for the school through conference revenue sharing, buy games, and yes, ticket sales. Those athletes seem to be getting an education.
9
Why do you have a 72,000 seat stadium if you never expected to fill it, or even come close?
1
Sounds like you didn't read the article. It clearly states that two-thirds of the athletic departments funding ($20M of $30M) comes from university funds and student fees.
In other words, money IS an issue.
Universities are supposed to be about education - not sports.
In other words, money IS an issue.
Universities are supposed to be about education - not sports.
8
If the city of Birmingham wants a minor league football team, let it pay for it. It has zero to do with a university, whether the university is the University of Alabama or the University of Alabama Birmingham.
1
You know, I'm a football fan. A fan of sports in general.
But stories like this make me shake my head in concern for this country.
If you ask anyone over 35 whether this country is - for lack of a better term - dumber than it was, say, 20 years ago, the answer will invariable be a resounding yes. And yet people in America will cry the loudest when their bread and circuses are in danger of being taken away. When the population of a country hurls itself willingly toward idiocy, decline is inevitable.
Who knew the movie Idiocracy would turn out to be so prophetic?
But stories like this make me shake my head in concern for this country.
If you ask anyone over 35 whether this country is - for lack of a better term - dumber than it was, say, 20 years ago, the answer will invariable be a resounding yes. And yet people in America will cry the loudest when their bread and circuses are in danger of being taken away. When the population of a country hurls itself willingly toward idiocy, decline is inevitable.
Who knew the movie Idiocracy would turn out to be so prophetic?
162
"You know, I'm a football fan. A fan of sports in general. But stories like this make me shake my head in concern..."
You know, I'm neither a football fan nor a fan of sports of any kind. But I see the point of college-town football fans. There's more to life than education, and colleges are a great way to deliver. College football also is a tradition so embedded in the American way of life that due consideration should be given to fans. That said, education must be the primary goal of academe. So the Birmingham case presents a good example of how to proceed. Let local (and state) business boosters raise funds for their teams. And why not make endowment funds available to which businesses can contribute - in exchange for "bragging"/advertising rights related to their participation in such funds? Finally, colleges can appoint an executive for sports, who would be responsible for day to day sports matters - and who would provide options to the college President when major decisions arise.
You know, I'm neither a football fan nor a fan of sports of any kind. But I see the point of college-town football fans. There's more to life than education, and colleges are a great way to deliver. College football also is a tradition so embedded in the American way of life that due consideration should be given to fans. That said, education must be the primary goal of academe. So the Birmingham case presents a good example of how to proceed. Let local (and state) business boosters raise funds for their teams. And why not make endowment funds available to which businesses can contribute - in exchange for "bragging"/advertising rights related to their participation in such funds? Finally, colleges can appoint an executive for sports, who would be responsible for day to day sports matters - and who would provide options to the college President when major decisions arise.
1
Every year the United States drops a notch or two in international rankings of (supposedly) industrial countries with regard to the various components of education and intelligence, especially math, science and reading.
Every year state legislatures cut funding costs for state institutions of "higher" education. Every year these same institutions spend more and more on football and basketball.
Our downward path towards mediocrity, sensationalism and celebrity culture continues unabated.
Every year state legislatures cut funding costs for state institutions of "higher" education. Every year these same institutions spend more and more on football and basketball.
Our downward path towards mediocrity, sensationalism and celebrity culture continues unabated.
43
Since these community leaders are in the mood, how about a small tax to fund schools and maybe also fix a couple of sidewalks?
16
There are no "small" taxes.
All of that money could have gone to teachers, libraries, laboratories and other educational expenses. What a tragedy.
43
It can be said with certainty the $30 million which ultimately will be raised from the community is money that will not be available to improve education at UAB. Football thus becomes a competitor for funding with the institution it is supposed to represent.
16
Education at UAB needs to be improved? It seemed fine to me when I was there.
The power 5 conferences are running the show and running conferences that generate additional funding for their universities. The other conferences are going to continue to generate deficits for their universities. It is the story of the haves and the have nots starting with the power 5 conferences having their own television networks.
Is this fair? No! But it is the same as the 1% vs the 99% unfortunately.
Is this fair? No! But it is the same as the 1% vs the 99% unfortunately.
5
What a bigoted column. Could you imagine the readers' cries if this column had been written about a woman's sports team--do you know how heavily women's sports teams are subsidized at colleges, and subsidized by football and men's sports at larger schools.
I'm no fan of college football, but private $ came up with the subsidy and the community put their money where their mouth is.
I'm no fan of college football, but private $ came up with the subsidy and the community put their money where their mouth is.
4
According to a much earlier NY Times article (last year), the highest paid state employees in every state but one are college football coaches. Paid more than governors, college presidents, medical school deans, law school deans,, scientists, etc. Note that none of them are women and none coach a "women's sport". Admittedly most women's sports are subsidized by major (football, basketball) sports and they should be. (Although that's more a function of how the cash flow is established than a world order that should be sacred.) If sports are part of the academic mission then all students should participate with equal backing.
8
Nice column. Kudos to Joe for giving the UAB football affair a national audience.
Public money (often hidden from sight by sweetheart revenue stream deals) for a new stadium with luxury boxes for privately owned professional sports teams? YES!
Public money to pay for the $2.5 million salary of the college football coach, luxury training facilities, and stadium upgrades for the college football team? YES!
Public money for crumbling infrastructure? NO!
Public money for lowering pubic university tuition? NO!
Public money for health care insurance? NO!
Public money to improve public schools in poor areas? NO! NO! AND NO!
Only in America...
Public money (often hidden from sight by sweetheart revenue stream deals) for a new stadium with luxury boxes for privately owned professional sports teams? YES!
Public money to pay for the $2.5 million salary of the college football coach, luxury training facilities, and stadium upgrades for the college football team? YES!
Public money for crumbling infrastructure? NO!
Public money for lowering pubic university tuition? NO!
Public money for health care insurance? NO!
Public money to improve public schools in poor areas? NO! NO! AND NO!
Only in America...
100
Billions and billions to subsidize profitable industries (including the NFL which uses college football as a farm system without having to pay for it), yet when we are asked to pay for the infrastructure for our Nation, or to help our citizens get through some rough times we scream, "Socialism bad".
An exceptional nation to be sure.
An exceptional nation to be sure.
1
Mens sana in corpore sano—a sound mind in a sound body, the dictum is the root of fielding college sports teams. The problem with college football is not only the utter neglect of "a sound mind", but it violates the notion of "a sound body."
College football is the most sacred sport to the fabric of American culture; especially the south and Midwest.
'Long live American college football.'
Where else can Americans watch extreme violence and exploitation of young people by giant corporations making millions of dollars. It is an American institutions that captures several American ethos: young people are expendable, violence is entertainment, and corporations set the agenda.
College football is the most sacred sport to the fabric of American culture; especially the south and Midwest.
'Long live American college football.'
Where else can Americans watch extreme violence and exploitation of young people by giant corporations making millions of dollars. It is an American institutions that captures several American ethos: young people are expendable, violence is entertainment, and corporations set the agenda.
18
There are more important issues on which Mr. Nocera could spend his time and 'pulpit'.
Rutgers' situation is very disturbing. They are in a power conference (Big Ten) and will need to spend much more to try to catch up. I'm afraid we'll be looking at a disastrous situation with their football and basketball teams five years down the road. The latter will certainly need a new arena to compete. Way bigger deficits and poor performing teams are a likely scenario. The administrators have sold their souls.
5
Consider the millions invested in Rutgers football when the bottom of your car gets ripped out falling through a pothole on the way home from the game! I think New Jersey has plenty of places to spend the TAXPAYERS' money than subsidizing football.
4
"THE" UofA football program should satisfy the football obsession for all of the state of Alabama. The other programs are a waist of money that should be used for educating students.
1
If you do not go to college to support the football team then why do you go? And of course we all know that college football teams make tons of money. As a matter of fact if they would extend the season by only 4 games then the additional revenue would make college tuition free. No foolin'.
1
But it doesn't. Yes, profits from the football team fund other sports, and a multi-million dollar salary for the coach. But in general they don't go back into the University pool like other profits do (intellectual property rights, etc. No one else on campus gets to keep their profits). In the meantime, athletics gets to benefit from all the other aspects of being part of a University, including tax-free land, and lots of it. That affects the tax base of the county. Football also COSTS the community in the amount of trash it creates http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/frat-beach-or-scrap-beach-trash-piles..., not to mention vandalism, public drunkenness, urination (and worse), etc. Fans seem to be considered above the law.
2
So students shouldn't have anything fun to do on campus, ever? Why go to our football games when they can go to another campus and spend money there instead!
I enjoyed reading and going to parties when in college. Seemed as though I had fun while never watching someone run on a field.
Parsing the athletics' budgets of "colleges" is obscene. The whole pretense of education in the majority of US "colleges" is obscene.
Imagine if, instead of raising money for a football program, the city's corporate leaders had raised funds for real education? Couldn't happen, could it?
Imagine if, instead of raising money for a football program, the city's corporate leaders had raised funds for real education? Couldn't happen, could it?
16
Would that this were a story unique to UAB...
8
Mr. Smith has a very valid point when he states "... it was as if U.A.B. wouldn’t be a top-notch university anymore without a football team." When, Mr. Nocera, has the New York Times written an article examining the University of Alabama at Birmingham that wasn't sports related? If there is no sports focus, no fraternity connected scandal or no threat of closure attributed to funding shortfalls, almost all education articles focus on the achievements of the Columbias, the Michigans and the Cal Techs of the country.
2
There ought to be more outrage, but at 7:15am I'm only the second comment. I guess most people are ok with colleges acting as grooming ground for professional teams. Thank you for writing this ( and other articles) to bring this more attention.
8
"Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt".
18
Thank God, we can stop working about ISIS.
In a nation in which football "adds to the quality of life" there is no danger of that barbarian horde streaming cross our borders; the barbarians are here.
In a nation in which football "adds to the quality of life" there is no danger of that barbarian horde streaming cross our borders; the barbarians are here.
38
So why don't all those corporate leaders/contributors who want a football team be ause it "benefits the community", just all get together and form a comunity-based Triple A team, much as they have in baseball. It would free the university to get back into the business of education, and would eliminate the farce of the "student athlete" (you know, who can barely spell and write. I know, I have tried to teach some of these kids.)
36
Or persuade the university to restructure the athletic department as a concession. And then take it on, lock stock and jock.
While university administrators too often "buy into" the kind of logic for keeping a football team expressed here, the big culprit here is the business and alumni community which see universities as sports empires and not as educational institutions. On the other end, has funding of universities by state governments increased or decreased? I don't know the specifics of this at UAB but the trend has been toward the latter. Where's the business crowd and alumni on making up that gap?
As someone in academia for 30 years, the emphasis on the playground over the classroom, lab and library demonstrates the American value system to a T.
As someone in academia for 30 years, the emphasis on the playground over the classroom, lab and library demonstrates the American value system to a T.
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The Birmingham business community says a city should have a major college football team. B'ham already has one, the Crimson Tide, located just over a half hour away at the flagship campus of the University of Alabama. It's doubtful any amount of money can make UAB competitive in football with Alabama or Auburn. And even if the initial $30 million or so is raised by Birmingham's business community, will that level of giving be sustained ad infinitum? Doubtful.
1
Many of us recognize the underside of a system that exists to entertain students, locals, and wealthy alumni, as well as the absurdity of pretending that college football has any relationship to the academic mission of a university -- or enhances it. Some of us have also now watched the one hour version of Ohio State's win over Alabama more times than we'd admit.
21
Clark Kerr, once president of UC Berkeley, said that he worried about three groups of critics: the students, who complain about the food, the faculty, who complain about parking, and the alumni, who complain about the football team.
1
I love football. I've played it, coached it and enjoy watching it at all levels. But... if the money is not there then it should not exist and be a detriment to the education programs. At least in this situation the local city (Birmingham and some of its citizens, a.k.a. Birminghamsters, have come up with the needed cash. This could be a model for other universities that are not in the NFL farm program.
32
Education before Football?
The very idea doth appall!
Those who are yielding
And no Team are fielding
Are displaying gallons of Gall!
The very idea doth appall!
Those who are yielding
And no Team are fielding
Are displaying gallons of Gall!
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