Buzz Bissinger Why College Football Should Be Banned

Buzz Bissinger: Why College Football Should Be Banned - WSJ.com 8/27/12 12:34 PM

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SPORTS Updated May 8, 2012, 10:47 a.m. ET Why College Football Should Be Banned The costs are high, the benefits to students are low, argues Buzz Bissinger. And academics pay the price

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By BUZZ BISSINGER

NCAA Photos The average student gets nothing from football programs that remain sacrosanct despite tuition increases.

In more than 20 years I've spent studying the issue, I have yet to hear a convincing argument that college football has anything do with what is presumably the primary Available to WSJ.com Subscribers purpose of higher education: academics.

That's because college football has no More Regulators Rethink academic purpose. Which is why it needs Ditching a Playoff to Save the Rose Bowl: Pre-IPO Chatter Why the Big Ten and Pac-12 SHould Secede to be banned. A radical solution, yes. But From College Football's Postseason necessary in today's times.

Football only provides the thickest layer of distraction in an atmosphere in which colleges and universities these days are all about distraction, nursing an obsession with For Spain's Jobless, the social well-being of students as opposed to the obsession that they are there for the Time Is Money vital and single purpose of learning as much as they can to compete in the brutal realities of the global economy.

Who truly benefits from college football? U.S. to Discipline Soldiers in Afghan Photos: A Legacy of Scandal Alumni who absurdly judge the quality of Incidents their alma mater based on the quality of the football team. Coaches such as Nick Apple Victory Shifts Saban of the University of Alabama and Power Balance Bob Stoops of the University of Oklahoma http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304743704577382292376194220.html Page 1 of 5 Buzz Bissinger: Why College Football Should Be Banned - WSJ.com 8/27/12 12:34 PM

Power Balance Bob Stoops of the University of Oklahoma who make obscene millions. The players themselves don't benefit, exploited by a system in which they don't receive a dime of compensation. The average student View Slideshow doesn't benefit, particularly when football Associated Press More in Sports Main programs remain sacrosanct while tuition North Carolina football coach Butch Davis costs show no signs of abating as many Roger Federer Actually Likes Tennis governors are slashing budgets to the Follow the Money—But Where? bone. Lance Armstrong's Unfinished Road

If the vast majority of major college football programs made money, the argument to For Murray, Slam Win Won't Be Easy as 1, 2, 3 ban football might be a more precarious one. But too many of them don't—to the Introducing the Los Angeles Red Sox detriment of academic budgets at all too many schools. According to the NCAA, 43% of the 120 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision lost money on their programs. This is Most Popular the tier of schools that includes such examples as that great titan of football excellence, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers, who went 3-and-9 last season. The Read Emailed Video Commented athletic department in 2008-2009 took in over $13 million in university funds and student fees, largely because the football program cost so much, The Wall Street Journal 1. The Secrets of Your iPhone and iPad reported. New Mexico State University's athletic department needed a 70% subsidy in 2. Apple Victory Shifts Power Balance 2009-2010, largely because Aggie football hasn't gotten to a bowl game in 51 years. Outside of Las Cruces, where New Mexico State is located, how many people even 3. Health Care Shift Raises Cost know that the school has a football program? None, except maybe for some savvy 4. Opinion: Cheesecake Factory Medicine contestants on "Jeopardy." What purpose does it serve on a university campus? None. 5. He Left Big Footprints on Moon, Earth Audio The most recent example is the Buzz Bissinger stopped by The Daily Wrap University of Maryland. The president Most Read Articles Feed from The Wall Street Journal and discussed there, Wallace D. Loh, late last year his views with host Michael Castner. announced that eight varsity programs would be cut in order to produce a leaner Latest Tweets 00:00 | 04:18 athletic budget, a kindly way of saying WSJSports: He's a trendy US Open pick, but Andy that the school would rather save Murray's probable path make the odds long: struggling football and basketball http://t.co/KwM1bKEM @WSJ 26 min ago programs than keep varsity sports such as track and swimming, in which the vast majority of participants graduate. WSJSports: In Soccer, Follow the Money-But Where? @Marcotti on how maddeningly opaque European teams can be w/ cash: http://t.co/uT42bWIX @WSJ If you want to establish a minor league system 1 hr ago that the National Football League pays for— WSJSports: RT @WSJ: Roger Federer Actually which they should—that is fine. Likes Tennis: @tomperrotta Fed at the happiest “ point of his career http://t.co/mA0cGSZJ @WSJ 1 hr ago

Part of the Maryland football problem: a $50.8 million modernization of its stadium in ScottCacciola: RT @TomPerrotta: And here's the ” long version of our Federer interview from this which too many luxury suites remain unsold. Another problem: The school reportedly weekend: Federer on Tennis and Everything Else paid $2 million to buy out head coach Ralph Friedgen at the end of the 2010 season, http://t.co/RYr4KbqM 1 hr ago even though he led his team to a 9-and-4 season and was named Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year. Then, the school reportedly spent another $2 million to WSJSports: 7: # of times since 1990 2 MLB teams hire Randy Edsall from the University of Connecticut, who promptly produced a record of had a scheduled Sunday off during the regular season. Rays, A's rested due to Convention prep in 2-and-10 last season. Tampa 2 hrs ago In an interview with the Baltimore Sun in March, Mr. Loh said that the athletic department was covering deficits, in large part caused by attendance drops in football Follow WSJ on and basketball, by drawing upon reserves that eventually dwindled to zero. Hence cutting the eight sports. Do You Need Cash Now? This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are the medical dangers of football in general Instant Approval - Up To $1500 By Tomorrow - Bad Credit OK WePayFast.com caused by head trauma over repetitive hits. There is the false concept of the football student-athlete that the NCAA endlessly tries to sell, when any major college player will http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304743704577382292376194220.html Page 2 of 5 Buzz Bissinger: Why College Football Should Be Banned - WSJ.com 8/27/12 12:34 PM

student-athlete that the NCAA endlessly tries to sell, when any major college player will Soccer Jerseys Sale Cheap football/ soccer jerseys sale at wholesale price. fast tell you that the demands of the game, a year-round commitment, makes the student shipping. half of the equation secondary and superfluous. There are the scandals that have beset www.niceorders.com

programs in the desperate pursuit of winning—the University of Southern California, Manage your Team Online! Ohio State University, University of Miami and Penn State University among others. Simple and powerful sports teams management. 100% Free! www.teamsnap.com I can't help but wonder how a student at the University of Oregon will cope when in- state tuition has recently gone up by 9% and the state legislature passed an 11% decrease in funding to the Oregon system overall for 2011 and 2012. Yet thanks to the largess of Nike founder Phil Knight, an academic center costing $41.7 million, twice as expensive in square footage as the toniest condos in Portland, has been built for the University of Oregon football team.

Always important to feed those Ducks.

I actually like football a great deal. I am not some anti-sports prude. It has a place in our society, but not on college campuses. If you want to establish a minor league system that the National Football League pays for—which they should, given that they are the greatest beneficiaries of college football—that is fine.

Call me the Grinch. But I would much prefer students going to college to learn and be prepared for the rigors of the new economic order, rather than dumping fees on them to subsidize football programs that, far from enhancing the academic mission instead make a mockery of it.

—Mr. Bissinger is the author of "Friday Night Lights." He will participate in a debate Tuesday evening at New York University, sponsored by Intelligence Squared, in which he and Malcolm Gladwell will argue that college football should be banned. (See Ideas Calendar)

Corrections & Amplifications An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the University of Oklahoma as Oklahoma University.

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