Universities make scheduling sacrifices not just for the lucrative contracts but also because few visuals build the brand better than an appearance on ESPN’s road show "College GameDay." (In November, it had John L. Hennessey, president of Stanford, out on the Oval at daybreak working the crowd.) The school spirit conveyed by cheering thousands — there were 18,000 on Francis Quadrangle at the University of Missouri, Columbia, on Oct. 23, 2010, for "GameDay" — is a selling point to students choosing colleges. When Missouri first started recruiting in Chicago a decade ago, few prospective students had ever heard the university’s nickname, "Mizzou," according to the admissions director, Barbara Rupp. "Now they know us by ‘Mizzou,’ " thanks in part to "GameDay." "I can’t deny that," she said.
This from a SHOCKING BREAKING NEWS piece in the New York Times reporting that [GASP]... athletics have become a big deal at universities. I'll let you pause to pick up the pieces of your blown mind.
The linked story includes the requisite dose of intellectuals who are shocked and appalled just to make sure it fits the template of the other 75 stories exactly like this one that are published annually.
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Ah, the NYT
I can only assume they have a whole staff of editors whose whole job is to take otherwise well-written articles and inject the requisite dose of condescension and smugness before it goes to copy. That’s the only possible explanation for the consistency and uniformity of those qualities in their publications.
(I was tempted to include something about how their articles never fail to make me want to pimp-slap the author for being a condescending douche. But that would only further convince them that I am the under-educated, meth-addled redneck they already think I am.)
by Damnatio Memoriae on Jan 23, 2012 9:07 AM CST reply actions
We have some graduates at the Times
that reporter is not one of them
by jschooltiger on Jan 23, 2012 9:10 AM CST up reply actions
In fairness...
The Times is nowhere near being alone here.
RockMNation.com (@rockmnation)
Fighting mob mentality since 2007
Newsweek, Time....
And a few select writers from the ManEater. It’s a great newspaper, but one specific writer last year was something awful, at least in my opinion
Oh, I know
But if you want to stay on top of national/world news, you almost have to read the NYT. They do some very, very good research and writing, and their name and reach gets them access to places other publications can’t get to. In most cases, if you don’t like a publication’s tone and style, you can ignore it; but if you want to be well informed and you live in America, it’s hard to ignore the NYT.
by Damnatio Memoriae on Jan 23, 2012 9:34 AM CST up reply actions
I'd append...
That if you want to be simultaneously well informed on some topics and horrendously misinformed on others, and never know which is which, then you have to read the Gray Lady.
I have no trouble ignoring the NYT
since Jayson Blair.
"Gentlemen, this is a football."-Vince Lombardi
"Slow down coach, you're going too fast."-Max McGee
by MUJD on Jan 23, 2012 8:06 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I suppose I'm in the minority again
…but I don’t think the article is all that bad. Sure, some of it is tired old ground, but I also learned some things.
Also, I can verify that Division I status is a huge deal at Vandy, Wake, Duke, etc., from our recruiting visits. Smart kids want good sports teams and especially school spirit too.
I don't mean to frame it as horrible...
But the next truly enlightening quote I see from a professor about this topic may be the first.
“Oh, the free market has decided to place value in college athletics? I have a moral objection to this and will therefore discuss it with an education reporter from the Ivy League.”
RockMNation.com (@rockmnation)
Fighting mob mentality since 2007
Never mind that
At Mizzou, the athletic department is self-sufficient and at Texas, it actually gives money back to the University.
"You have to remember, basketball to the University of Miami is like football to the University of Kansas." - Kim English
This is true, but MU and UT are outliers in the Div 1 world
by jschooltiger on Jan 23, 2012 11:48 AM CST up reply actions
I know, but it's a nice stat to through out when the haters get going.
The huge freshman class following a Cotton Bowl win is a good one too.
"You have to remember, basketball to the University of Miami is like football to the University of Kansas." - Kim English
and at Rutgers the athletic department bleeds $24 mil a year out of the general fund and student fees
…which to me is a much bigger scandal than any Ohio St. tattoo nonsense. It does seem like, post-Quin anyway, Mizzou does a good job of gaining the benefits of big-time athletics without having them be a huge financial or PR disaster, but that isn’t true universally.
Really, it seems to me that the true debacle is at the lower half of the schools in D-1 football that have absolutely no business believing that the thing will ever pay for itself—here I’m speaking of the non-BCS schools, and also some of the BCS schools (like Rutgers) that aren’t from areas with a big tradition of college football, and so even when they do well the programs won’t make money because people’s first sports love is still the Yankees or the Eagles or whatever. I guess one reason I’m in favor of something like four 16-team super-conferences is that it might force some of these second-tier schools to acknowledge that they’re throwing good money after bad with their athletic programs, and they aren’t ever going to hit the Boise St. lottery ticket.
by Professor Chaos on Jan 23, 2012 12:58 PM CST up reply actions
That's it! I now have to get off this sports blog and go find a education blog
I am also going to inform the paper and TV/radio news that there is no interest in sports nor any money. ( not knocking education but..)
by McZou on Jan 23, 2012 11:08 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
It's almost like having big sports games to attend/watch is fun and entertaining!
Not afraid to nitpick
When I was interviewing for work back in 91 on the east coast
there were a few times that an interviewer would ask me or comment on our fine basketball team and Norm Stewart once they learned I graduated from Mizzou. They liked them some basketball back there. A few summers ago I was in the FloraBama bar at Orange Beach wearing a Chase Daniel jersey and had all kinds of people talking to me who were fans of Chase Daniel and knowledgable of our football program. A couple of college aged girls even addressed me as sir and wanted to get their picture with me and the jersey because they were fans of his and said their roomate has a big crush on him. We always wear Mizzou apparel when we take our road trips and vacations.
Here's a great article with the opposite point of view
Well, it’s a small portion of the article, starting with “In other sports news” about 9 paragraphs down.
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