Forbes Writer Calls For Removal of College Football From ALL Universities

Let me be the first to say that I am an avid college football fan and I wouldn't trade my Saturday afternoons between August and December for anything. I love the sport and see no inherent issue in that fact.

However, Steven Salzberg (a contributing blogger for Forbes) feels college football is driving academia to its death:

"...The culture of football in American universities is completely out of control. It is undermining our education system and hurting our competitiveness in technology, science, and engineering. If we keep it up, the U.S. will eventually be little more than the big, dumb jock on the world stage—good for entertainment on the weekend, but not taken seriously otherwise.

Too harsh? I don’t think so. I think we need to eliminate football entirely from our universities if we want to maintain our pre-eminent position as the world’s scientific and technological leader."

Oh boy, where to begin? Let's state the obvious here, first: playing, watching, attending, or following college football is a choice. No one is forced to pledge their allegiance to any one team and the mere notion that the sports' presence at a university plays a significant role in the dumbing down of our society is, at best, an irresponsible inference.

The educational system is a wreck all by itself—what with the standardized testing models made necessary by the presence of "No Child Left Behind—and removing college football won't change that one bit.

Quite honestly, if Salzberg's hope is to see the United States "...maintain our pre-eminent position as the world’s scientific and technological leader" then his efforts to make that change should start much earlier than college. He should encourage more reform at the elementary, middle, and high school levels first—as that is where his message is likely to be the most useful.

Mr. Salzberg goes on to imply that,

"...If football disappeared, we could get our entertainment from another sport, as we do every year after the football season ends. But if we stop producing scientists, other countries will make the discoveries that solve the technological, medical, and engineering problems of the future, and that form the basis for great civilizations."

Let me just say that there's a certain amount of ignorance that goes into such a statement because it seems to suggest that sports fans are not unlike drones—sitting around waiting to be entertained by whatever option is presented them.

As a college football fan I say, with confidence, that I don't enjoy all sports with the same passion as I do college football. So, to say that eliminating it is okay because, well, I (and countless others) could just find some other sport to follow is a touch insulting.

Even more, who's to say that simply by ridding society of college football, more scientists would be produced? That seems like a big jump to make. Is he really willing to stand behind the notion that the only reason college students aren't able to reach their maximum potential is because college football exists?

If that's his aim, he's reaching.

Quite honestly, the more I read his points, the more his rant seemed aimed at his current employer—the University of Maryland, than anything else,

"The football-industrial complex has too much power over our universities. Nothing else can explain how we spend so much money and time on football, which contributes almost nothing to students’ education, while academic departments are cutting faculty and staff. The culture of football worship has gotten so out of control that I think the only solution is to get rid of it entirely."

College football is the cash cow at many universities and, regrettably, that means that some academic departments are forced to play second-fiddle to the athletic department. Is that wrong? Perhaps, but those same dollars are often used to upgrade facilities, build better buildings, and pay for programs meant to enhance the academic experience of the student body (via study abroad programs, guest professors, etc.) as well—whether those individuals follow football or not.

Are all universities using their money in an even-handed way? Of course not, but the college football fan isn't writing or cashing those checks, and it's up to each university's president to advocate that the monies earned be divvied up in  such a way that it both sustains their athletic programs and uplifts the academic ones.

If that fails to happen, that's not the fault of college football, it's fans, or the athletes that play the sport.

In the end, Mr. Salzberg's ire and concern are coming from a good place, but his anger is misdirected and his message needs tweaking.

You can read his entire article here.