The Most Important Article Ever Written About College Sports*

The Shame of College Sports, by Taylor Branch

http://tinyurl.com/43s7pzm





*According to Frank Deford.

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/romenesko/145976/frank-deford-declares-atlantic-piece-the-most-important-article-ever-written-about-college-sports/

 

I just read it. It's an incredible and educational read, if you have 30-45 minutes to spare.

 

Baron Scicluna will be in the bathroom for approximately 45 minutes.

 

Yeah, I don't know about most important ever, but it's an incredibly well-researched and quality article on the subject.

 

A waste of time.

 

I'd say my evening has been booked solid.

 

Thanks for the insight. Be sure to pass back through once you've read it.

 

Awesome article. Could be expanded into a book.

 

Agreed. I'd say it's definitely worth the read, though.

 

It will effect no change.

 

Wow! I can't believe I read the whole thing, but great, great, great article. I'm jealous I could not write something like that. It hits on everything I believe about college athletics, and much, much, much more. Well done.

 

OK, finished it. I'm not sure if this article will have an effect, but put it this way: If it doesn't serve as a call to arms, nothing will. The parts that pissed me off the most were not football or basketball but about the baseball players who got jacked around because they dared to have an agent talking with teams about contracts. And then that "restitution" rule, which is just the NCAA's official method of blacklisting, that's downright scary. Meanwhile the NCAA has a $1 million budget for private jet use by its staff.

I do quibble, though, that he didn't address any concerns related to gender equity and how minor sports would be funded.

But that's a small quibble in an outstanding piece. It's the kind of thing that, had it appeared in Sports Illustrated in the 1970s, could have changed the world.