Sports News
March. 31, 2008 - Promoter cancels spring football concerts
The Gridiron Bash, a series of concerts tied in to spring (i.e., exhibition) football games at some of the country’s largest universities, has been cancelled by its promoters after the NCAA pointed out that having athletes participate and giving them free tickets would be violations of its rules. The concerts had been scheduled to take place in April at Rutgers University, Pennsylvania State University, and the Universities of Alabama and Colorado, among others. Spring football games, long a low-key scrimmage opportunity for coaches and dedicated fans, have become major events in recent years. Alabama reportedly drew over 90,000 fans to its 2007 game, for example.
A columnist for the Birmingham News had this reaction:
“It’s OK for current student-athletes to appear in commercials to promote Pontiac, which is really what the popular campaign known as the ‘Pontiac Game-Changing Moment’ is ultimately designed to do.
“It’s all right for video of current student-athletes to be used to promote CBS’ programming and the products that advertise on CBS, which is part of why a television network pays $6 billion to televise the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
“It’s even acceptable for entire college football teams to become attractions to promote entire cities and be part of advertising campaigns that promote entertainment districts, restaurants and theme parks while on postseason bowl trips.
“But when it comes to having current ‘student-athletes’ take part in a pep rally on the eve of a spring football game before a concert as part of an event that promotes college football and guarantees hundreds of thousands of dollars to general scholarship funds, well, the sanctimonious NCAA says that violates its precious spirit of amateurism.”
January. 22, 2006 - Race and college sports
One in every four scholarship athletes in Division I were African-American, according to figures just released by the NCAA. Yet only 12 percent of coaches and just under 11 percent of athletics administrators in the division are black.January. 22, 2006 - Recruiting and the media
The Birmingham News has a story on how the Internet and newspaper have changed recruiting. Here in Atlanta, the local newspaper runs a daily column on football recruiting (here’s one) from late December through national signing day, on February 5th.
January. 11, 2006 - Promised Land for the Cowboys
Oilman T. Boone Pickens has given Oklahoma State U. $165 million for an “athletic village.”
January. 07, 2006 - A cheap shot or more than that?
Virginia Tech kicked Marcus Vick, the Hokies’ star quarterback, off the football team on January 6 for unsportsmanlike conduct during the Gator Bowl.
January. 05, 2006 - Bowl-game goodies are pretty good
A couple of weeks ago I was running down River Road in Athens, which connects the football stadium with the East Village dorms at the University of Georgia. I started hearing whooping and hollering behind me, and then 10 or 12 guys in football warmups came zooming past me on mountain bikes.
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Players get similar treats from their schools for bowl games and for conference championship guides, so if I were a UGa football player I’d be hooked up nicely by now. But is this legit? Is there a point--a certain number of dollars, or an amount of stuff--where the goodie bags stop being a nice little treat and start looking more like prize money?
January. 04, 2006 - Knight Commission poll find Americans are concerned about college sports
(WASHINGTON, JAN. 30)-- Americans are deeply concerned about the professionalization of college sports, according to a new poll conducted for the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. Concerns about how the increasing pressure to win and generate revenue impacts the athletes’ recruitment and subsequent experience prompted the commission to sponsor the first-ever Summit on the Collegiate Athlete Experience today at The George Washington University.
