Football in Trouble?

[Minimalist]

When Penn St. got slapped down because of the Sandusky scandal one of the penalties imposed by the NCAA was the loss of some 20 "scholarships" ( 60 rather than 80.)

I got to wondering how many scholarships were available in the Physics or Biology Departments...and decided I was probably better off not knowing. It could only spark rage.

[Tonus]

I agree that a lot of college football coaches are overpaid, but the programs also bring in lots of money. It would be nice if they spent more of it on the kids who risk their health to generate it, instead of making a national issue of whether someone got money for signing autographs. But the NCAA needs to maintain its image of integrity, or something. :/

The college sports (that can lead to a career in one of the major professional leagues) strikes me as a form of a lottery. A lot of young men are putting themselves at risk in the hopes that they'll make it to the pros and a big payday, and many of them don't have a backup plan. Guys like Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson (who went to college for an engineering degree) seem like the rare exceptions who make sure to have a viable option in case they don't make it. And the ones who do often spend the money they earn with no consideration for their future. There are too many Andre Risons out there and too few Carson Palmers.

[Minimalist]

I agree that a lot of college football coaches are overpaid, but the programs also bring in lots of money.

Great point. I'd love to set a team of forensic accountants loose on those books to see where it goes.

[Minimalist]

Another example of the "invisible hand" of the market in action.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/18906-pro...ke-conduct

For more than a year, public television’s award-winning investigative journalism series FRONTLINE had been collaborating on a new documentary about brain trauma in pro football with journalists from ESPN, the giant sports network. The title: “League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis.”

A hard-hitting promo for the investigation upset ESPN President John Skipper. “Over the top” was his description - too “sensational.” He was so “startled” - his word - that he pulled the plug on ESPN’s partnership with FRONTLINE. The network has had a reputation for solid, even bold reporting of controversy and scandal in pro and amateur athletics. Not this time.

You have to ask, what was the actual reason for ESPN’s decision? Could it really be what John Skipper claims? Or is it that NFL games are, as The New York Times recently wrote, “probably the most valuable commodity in televised sports.” ESPN is paying $15.2 billion - billion! - for the rights to telecast “Monday Night Football” for 10 years through the year 2021, but it then reaps a fortune in advertising and subscriber fees.