Chapter 19 College Sports MegaInc. Versus Undergraduate Education

Chapter 19 reveals how students truly feel about their Big Time Universities and how sports and undergraduate education compete with each other.

I love how the author involves real people and the studies he has done to make this book true and get real feelings from students who go to these universities. One comment I like is from a Clemson males senior talking about sports over education:

“Rooting for out teams teaches me a lot more than I’ve ever learned in the class. I’ve seen coaches and athletes do great things, and I’ve seen the same people cheat and steal. College sports has introduced me to the real world and, thanks to the Tigers, I’m ready to leave this place and enter that world.”

This comment is funny but disturbing because it shows how people can do something bad and get away with it. The actions done by the coaches and players create a false perception of how things work outside of college. The four years that student is in school he see’s administrators cheat and lie, I call that a bad influence.

When students come home from break and tell people where they go to college the first thing that comes out of someone’s mouth is about the sports team. All of the frequently asked questions from people about the coaches, famous players, and the chants at games. A student then complains about how new athletic facilities were put up right next to an undergraduate building with ceilings falling and old furniture. Also, questions about fraternity parties, such as kegs on the frat houses lawns during football weekend. “I hear that beer flows like water at Wisconsin.” It is interesting to read the questions that come from people. But the perceptions of the schools are given by the media and the many students who come back home to tell stories of the circus they go to instead of class. Sports and everything attached to it overshadows everything else at a university and if someone knows nothing about the school but knows everything about their basketball team then that will be the first thing that comes out of their mouth.

Students apply to schools where they thought they would get a good education but they find out that they have been ripped off and are extremely upset about it. A student at the University of Kansas felt lied to when she read in the Yale Insiders Guide that the school had a very good and serious architecture program. But she finds out her classes “suck” and K State is way down the list of good schools.

The undergraduate responses to the survey for this book indicate very shallow support for big-time college sports among a large part of the undergraduate population. The responses from students make me believe more that the issues of undergraduate programs are real and a big concern.