So, I don't care about any sport or any game of any kind.
I play a few computer games on Facebook, but I won't allow myself to obsess over them. I play them to unwind my brain at the end of the day, not to fill time. I used to like playing kickball and soccer in elementary school, but I was never athletic, and I was always picked for teams near the tail end. I was always destined to be...more...academic.
For a few short years, I enjoyed the Tour de France, but that was before I realized how completely out of the realm of possibility it was that these guys could actually climb a mountain on a bike without chemical assistance. I still have my very favorite French cyclist that I want to believe is clean, but I know that this is just denial on my part.
I know a lot of people who are obsessed with different sports and teams, and they spend a great deal of their time following them. I'm not going to lie, I find it annoying. Until this week, I was content to keep my feelings about sports and games to myself. For one, who really cares what I think? For two, is any of this really hurting anyone?
I'm perfectly fine with nobody caring what I think, but to be honest, after this week, I really do believe that all of this is hurting people.
As the reports from Penn State have flooded the media, something I've often thought but never voiced seems to be screaming at me. Football at Penn State was so important to the university and the community that instead of protecting children from abuse, these incidents were swept under the carpet and ignored. The value of football was greater than the value of these boys. It makes me really sad, and it speaks volumes about a wide reaching problem in our society.
As kids grow up and play games, sometimes, their very futures are tied to the success they achieve in relation to the ball by their foot, or the one hitting the rim of the net. Some kids have no hope of being able to afford higher education without scholarships associated with games. Sadly, when they get to school, they often struggle to balance purpose. On the one hand, they are in college to pursue an education and create a better future for themselves, on the other, they are there to play ball and bring dollars to the schools they represent.
In recent months and years scandals have rocked several athletics programs. Kids barely have enough money to pay for food and essentials, they can't receive additional gifts or funding, but universities are welcome to watch the dough roll in for ticket sales, concessions and merchandising on the backs of these young men and women. I recently heard an interview with a former college athlete who mentioned not having any groceries in his fridge during a radio interview. He got in trouble because someone gave him a bag of groceries and this infraction was discovered. Now, I'm not saying college kids should be paid to play basketball or football for their schools--or any sport for that matter, but I don't think it's ethical for schools to benefit so greatly as their athletic scholars struggle to make ends meet.
I also understand that not every student riding in on a football scholarship has the commitment and intent to complete any degree. Many are hoping to be scouted out for professional teams and going to college is just a pit stop on the way to bigger, better things. I wish the financial benefits for schools were not outweighed by their original purpose--educating people. It makes me sad that "students" like these get a full ride scholarship while a non-athletic 'B' student has to saddle themselves with student loans or settle for community college in order to get an education.
At the end of the day, I think alumni and fans forget that universities were founded for something other than games. I often wonder what sacrifices other programs have to make in order to financially support this addiction that is completely unrelated to education. And I know some people will say that team sports impart a kind of education. They help those who truly are committed develop discipline, work ethic and a sense of teamwork, but I can think of a thousand other ways to instill those lessons that don't require a coach to be paid a million dollar plus salary. And I certainly don't think it's required that these individuals should be so valued by their communities that when they fail to protect a child and are fired for it that we should all be outraged.
Professional sports aren't any better.
I mentioned cycling, but many other more popular sports are dogged by allegations of substance abuse. The public's hunger for stronger, faster, longer, tempts athletes to inject themselves with steroids, growth hormones, testosterone and a whole host of other things. Some are so obsessed with winning and beating the tests designed to catch them, that they will go to insane lengths.
We delight in giant, fat men pounding into each other like mountain goats during mating season--probably in hopes that we will see one of them fall and potentially suffer horrible injury. I know that sports can lead to injury and these athletes choose to play professionally, knowing full well the possible consequences, but if we didn't watch, they wouldn't be paid millions to have the crap knocked out of themselves and their brains scrambled. I used to blame the athletes--after all, if they are arrogant enough to think that they can receive concussion after concussion and not suffer long term health concerns, they're the fools. But without the blood, where's the show?
When you think about it, all of this sports spectating isn't all that different from the "fun" of another arena--the Roman arenas. You know, the ones where gladiators hacked each other to bits and slaves and Christians were fed to animals? All in the name of entertainment.
What kills me about all of this is the fact that it isn't killing anyone else. Nobody is looking at what happened at Penn State and asking the important question: When did money and entertainment become so important that the safety of children, the education of our students, and the well-being of our fellow humans became an after thought, and are we going to do something about it?
I realize that I might be picked last for this team, but from a purely academic standpoint, it seems to me that addressing this issue at its core is a no brainer.
Games Without Frontiers--Peter Gabriel
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