Air Ball: American Education's Failed Experiment with Elite Athletics

Courage

234 There is really only one thing that requires real courage to say, and that is a truism. —G. K. Chesterton In the movie Casablanca, there is a scene where Louie, the chief of the localFrenchpolice,isorderedbythecommanderoftheoccupying German army to shut down Rick’s Café, a nightclubcasino frequented by French nationalists during World War II. Rick, played by Humphrey Bogart, protested. “On what grounds?” he asked. To which Louie replied, “I am shocked—shocked to discover there is gambling going on in here.” No sooner had he spoken than a casino runner approached him, hand extended furtively, muttering, “Your winnings, sir.” While humorously depicting the hypocrisy of publicly stated ideals versus actual practice, the scene could very well be describing the behavior of higher education leaders regarding the role and impact of Division I athletics on our colleges and universities. Unfortunately, such behavior , which serves to erode higher education’s integrity and credibility, is anything but funny. Louie’s feigned “shock” at the existence of a corrupt and unlawful activity in his favorite nightclub is played COURAGE 235 COURAGE out on a regular basis by the media, higher education and athletics leaders, and the general public when it comes to the issue of the professional sports model of athletics on campus. Whether it is sex for recruits at the University of Colorado, academic fraud at the University of Georgia or St. Bonaventure University, the murder of a basketball player at Baylor University, or the abysmally low graduation rates of far too many March Madness basketball teams, the fact is, while we feign shock, we have come to accept such transgressions as the norm. Just as gambling in Rick’s Café, though not openly acknowledged, was an accepted part of the nightclub’s business, so too have corruption , hypocrisy, and scandal become a part of the business of professionalized college athletics. The fact that such abuses no longer shock us is the most damning indictment of the current state of college sports, for it confirms that such corrupt practices can no longer be explained away as isolated incidents, a short-term crisis , or a situation-specific transgression. Rather, corruption and hypocrisy have become the very nature of the system. The abhorrent has become the norm. When such actions can no longer be denied or explained away it means that the system itself is the problem. Or, to cite another classic movie, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” The Wizard of Oz has been revealed as a fraud. FACING OUR FEARS Change is difficult. Change, particularly the fundamental change advocated in these pages, can be frightening. Despite 236 COURAGE widespreadagreementthatathleticsreformisnecessary,fear of the unknown that such reform may bring causes us to settle for tinkering around the edges rather than pursuing bold, progressive reform. Any act of reform, no matter how modest , satisfies our need to feel that we are acting responsibly in addressing a flawed system while not assuming any significant risk. At the heart of our fear is the risk that aggressive reform will “kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.” The problem, however, is that we know the goose itself is sick. While it is still laying eggs, those eggs are rotten. The evidence is becoming startlingly clear. It is not simply that professionalized college athletics has failed to meet most of the goalsandpurposesforwhichitwascreated.Moredamaging is the fact that the entire system is based on a lie. We claim it is about education when we know it is really about athletics and winning. We say it is “amateur” when we know it is built on the principles of the professional sports model. Fear makes it difficult to gather the courage to pull the trigger on fundamental change. If we can not envision or imagine what change will eventually look like and lead to, we are inclined to stay with the familiar. Unless there is a measure of comfort with what fundamental change will result in, it will likely never occur. We fear what we cannot see or imagine. But, in the case of eliminating our departments of professional athletics, this fear is unfounded. SAME AS IT EVER WAS On one level, eliminating the departments of professional athletics by restructuring the scholarship agreement will 237 COURAGE profoundly change not only college athletics but also higher education and our society. Declaring that it is not appropriate for higher education...