As I kick back in my mother’s fantique (fake antique) Decartesian map-like, almond armchair waiting to get that phone call from my pops telling me how to fix the lawnmower, I have to marvel at what has become of UK athletics fandom. Yes, I know that was a fantastically ridiculous intro to any kind of piece, but work with me as I try to paint a portrait of an average college kid hacking away at journalism as a fallback career option.
As it were, I hope this is simply a case of summertime sportshounds frantically scrambling for some hint, in the midst of dried up watercoolers, of the arrivals of the tragically far-off college sports seasons (translation: college sports fans with little to talk about). It pains me to see this collegiate sacred ground that outsiders fatally refer to as “Fayette County,” “Lexington,” or “horse country” become a mega-dramatic, sports-taken-out-of-context war zone. And folks, if you don’t follow, take a step back with me.
In just the last week I’ve seen PETA take arms against this state’s second-fiddle like bunker busters in Baghdad, university president Lee Todd poke his business-head in the recruiting practices of a man who’s life consists basketball and basketball, fans urging for the resignation of said president, and an online petition go up calling for the lifeblood of a man going slightly beyond the call of his job description be forcedly removed. Don’t know who that last fellow is? Here’s a TIP: most believe he has an active agenda against that with which his profession depends on for success: UK basketball. On top of all this is hearsay drama, conspiracy theories, and wannabe media stars attacking their peers for a leg up.
What does it all boil down to? Money. It’s taking over. What has always made college sports so special is the historical absence of incentives. College sports, unlike the pro leagues, is all about the team, what the team represents, and performing above and beyond for a cause greater than ones self. At least, that’s what it was. But as we can see so clearly even in our own town, which is merely a microcosm of the greater movement, money is taking over at a frantic pace. As a college sports fan, this gets at me like drowning, burning, or a lack of oxygen: I know the end is near, and the closer it gets the more it pains and constricts.
I’ll separate this soliloquy from picking at how money and professionalism is at the heart of all the aforementioned occurrences here in the bluegrasss, but as a general trend it has taken the spirit away from collegiate athletics. It has broken the business-wall between the school’s academics and athletics (supposedly two separate institutions outside of the phenomenon of the taken-for-granted scholarship). Athletics desicions are more and more being made by the schools’ trustees and alumni based on how it may or may not affect the university, not how it may simply affect the team. Sports media has lost its unbiasedness, the cornerstone of successful journalism. Stories are made not out of fact, truth, and natural occurrence, but out of opinion, half-verified claims, and an interest to glorify a story only to pull in subscriptions or web site hits. Recruiting has become a battle of who can give the most, not who fits the most. Kids rarely pick schools based off childhood obsession for a team, proximity to loved one’s, or that “inner calling” to go. It is based off what school will get them to the money (the league) the fastest or who will let them accept that Range Rover without telling anyone. It can probably be seen most glaringly in coaching, where the difference between $3 million and $3.5 million has somehow become a huge ordeal worth uprooting life and family to travel across America for. And there are growing arguments for players to be paid and allowing boosters to go unrestricted. All while fans can’t stand the growing price of tickets.
It’s just nuts. No. It’s collegiate sports in a world of professionals, where only money matters. Heart counts for nothing but what a doctor would make from transplanting one, spirit counts for nothing but what the Sci-Fi channel can do to reel in more viewers, and drive counts for nothing but what State Farm makes off it’s boring insurance commercials.
Collegiate sports have officially been drafted and signed and I’m depressed. High school sports just aren’t quite as entertaining.
