Because football has provided so much pleasure to me over the years and because of the opportunities given to me as a result of the time spent at the Fayetteville campus of the University or Arkansas, football is very dear to me, I do not feel a single article can cover my concerns, so this will probably be the first of two articles.
I acknowledge I am a lifelong football fan. We played football in the street (in Springfield, Mo.) as kids, using an oatmeal box for a football. An oatmeal box doesn’t spiral very well; because of the fl at end of the box, a long pass barely made the line of scrimmage. We used this substitute until one of the fathers bought his son a real football. That was over 65 years ago so I can claim “lifelong” because I still love the game.
A second point is pertinent. This month I celebrate the 50th anniversary of my undergraduate degree (engineering) at the U of A, Fayetteville. During my years as a student, we seldom missed a home football game. The game is still important to me but my desire to attend the game in person is nil. If they offered me free tickets in a private box, the trip to Fayetteville, finding parking, walking to the stadium and dealing with the crowd would prompt me to decline. Watching on the television is adequate for my participation at my age of 78. It is my opinion that the game is no longer an event played to keep the student body on the campus over the week-end , but for the enjoyment of the alumni and the television revenue.
What follows is an opinion, based on my experiences since I finished classes in August 1963. The time in the Air Force, as well as my work, provided me many opportunities to study people in many different settings; that is the basis of this article. The desire for fame and fortune affects all of us whether it be in the sports world or the business community.
Being able to handle the responsibilities that go with it is the hard part.
High school athletes are young men and women with unique abilities and a willingness to work hard to develop their skills beyond the average young person.
Depending on the sport, the rewards can provide opportunities for education, fame and long-term financial compensation.
Many youth are not prepared emotionally nor mature enough to deal with the opportunities presented to them at the age when observant adults recognize the young person’s potential. If they do not come from a family which has helped guide them to make good, long-term decisions for their lives, or futures, they can easily become victims of a world that may be endless in opportunity but is also frequently self-serving in its attitude. We frequently hear of the personal price paid by young persons in the entertainment fields and their situation is not dissimilar to what I fear we are doing to young athletes.
A newspaper article concerning compensation for “expenses” of athletes stated that the commissioner of the SEC (Southeastern Conference) was promoting the idea. Far be it from me to challenge the commissioner, but doesn’t that open up a whole new area of recruiting benefits that can be easily exploited by adults? It looks to me as if we are creating a vicious cycle with athletes being the pawns in the game. Television revenue provides more money for the program, seating capacity increases, more alumni get involved; more money is raised, facilities are improved, the level of athlete recruited increases, more games are televised, and more revenue means more expensive recruiting efforts. The U of A, Fayetteville, is part of the most powerful athletic conference in the nation, so television revenue increases etc.
The publicity given the football player and the assurance he is somehow going to be treated differently is a potential problem.
And, generally he is treated differently if he is an exceptional, widely recruited athlete. It takes a really stable young person to keep everything in perspective.
If they allow extra financial compensation beyond those provided as scholarship, don’t we run the risk of adding additional pressure to the athletes during their college career?
Numerous people tell me the athletes are already being paid but it is not done openly. And, a serious case can be made for opening up the payment of the players - much like making marijuana legal. It does not make it healthy to legalize it. No, I do not have an issue with those who want to legalize marijuana but the legislation of other drugs will follow.
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Editor’s note: Leo Lynch is an award-winning columnist. He is a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at prtnews@nwaonline.
com.
Opinion, Pages 4 on 08/07/2013