Little Darlings

While watching the second of the three Cornell NCAA games last week, I ended up in a long conversation with a college basketball coach. That night Big Red was playing Wisconsin, and, if we won, we were going up against Kentucky, one of the top teams in the country. He filled me in on the "David vs. Goliath" view that most of college basketball felt. I was intrigued and so I followed up with some research. As I read about the public profiles of the two teams, it dawned on me that we were talking about a battle in a much bigger war.

No one can deny we are all living with the effects of capitalism and consumerism, but I was still surprised to learn that the coach of Kentucky has a four-year contract for $35 million. His job is clear: win at all costs. Kentucky has the fewest number of players graduating from college as compared with almost any other school. They even had titles revoked when follow-up research revealed that players didn’t meet the NCAA minimum SAT score requirements. When did college ball move from being about student athletes competing to a breeding arena for the NBA?

I am not writing this because I am bitter we lost to Kentucky. Our Cornell boys are smart and hard working and all of them will go on to graduate. Maybe one or two will play professional basketball, but the majority will have careers in engineering, medicine, or business. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to go? I am all for awarding scholarships, but it seems like a joke to blatantly ignore academic standards at a university just so you can build a team of gladiators.

There is talk that Big Red’s coach of 10 years will leave, as he is being recruited and will probably have an annual salary of at least $1 million dangled in front of him. I hope that he will think about the spirit of the school and balance the temptation for more money against the quality of life found in a small college town like Ithaca and make a decision to stay. I wouldn’t blame him for moving on but it sure would be an inspiration if he stayed.

Consumers demand entertainment and March Madness delivers. Who knows if any of the teams' fans really care if the players in the games go to class at their schools, or what happens to them after the tournament is over.

I know, I sound like a mom. Well, that's what I get for caring about the people in the game.

Don't even get me started on the cheerleaders.