Sports Fans in the Playground!

[AMFV]

Ok sports fans; a philosophical question.

I just watched Alabama crush another opponent. It is the premier college sports program in the country. Year after year Alabama rakes in money for the University & the state. Yet, Alabama as a state is about 47th in the country in education.

Coach Saban makes $11 MILLION dollars each year and has several assistants making over a million.

Would the people of the state be better served by putting that public money into labs or for other academic purposes rather than football?

Without going into politics I can say this. Pumping money into education does not always improve education, and often not in the ways that you would except. There are very few problems that can be solved by setting money on fire, so I would be be very wary of anybody suggesting that "more money" is going to magically solve this problem (or any other similarly complex problem).

[Scarlet Knight]

Money alone cannot solve every problem, however money is almost always a needed tool to solve problems.


Let me reword the question to avoid politics.

My alma mater, Rutgers, will be getting Big 10 money in 2020.

Since most college sports programs lose money, my fear is that we will spend all that money to compete with the football factories like Ohio State and Michigan, and then have to pull even more money away from other departments, just to fund the losing football team. Our coach, who is not very good, is already the highest paid state employee at several million a year.

Rutgers has played losing football for over a hundred years. I figure we can lose within a budget rather than lose both on the field and economically.

Help me see some silver lining.

[ForzaFiori]

well, here's a possible silver lining from my Alma Mater. When my mom was growing up, Clemson University was unknown outside of the SE. It was a small regional school, and had about 10,000 students. In 1981, Clemson wins the National Championship in football for the first time. For the first time ever, Clemson was suddenly a name everyone had heard of. In less than a decade enrollment went up 50%, and has continued climbing. Winning that championship turned the university from a regionally known school to one that pulls students from every state and like 40 nations. Nowadays Clemson has over 20,000 students, and the extra money from those students has gone into new buildings and programs. Heck, alot of Clemson's football is paid for by itself or by IPTAY (the booster club for Clemson).

Or, to put it another way, Who knew who Appalachian State was before they beat Michigan in 2007? For a school that doesn't have the academic reputation of places like Ivy Leagues, Cal Tech, Georgia Tech, etc, football is a way to get your programs name out there, and get people wanting to come to the school.

Also, if it weren't for Clemson Fooball, no one would beat Alabama

[Peelee]

well, here's a possible silver lining from my Alma Mater. When my mom was growing up, Clemson University was unknown outside of the SE.

Speaking as someone in the SE, who is Clemson? Yeah, I'm back baby! Sending everyone I can to the burn unit.

[ForzaFiori]

If you have any friends in Tuscaloosa, I'm pretty sure they've heard of us It's like the Auburn of South Carolina. It's the "other" major state university beside the one named after the state. It's more STEM focused than liberal arts, but was formerly an ag/mech school, and prior to that a military college.

On the sports front, it's the only football team in the country that has the ability to beat Bama.

[Scarlet Knight]

Congratulations, Clemson! Well played!

[Peelee]

If you have any friends in Tuscaloosa, I'm pretty sure they've heard of us

A.) I avoid Tuscaloosa like the plague. It's bad enough when there's no football games on.
2.) On the bright side, I no longer joke about not knowing who Clemson is, they certainly got pretty famous. Ya know, beating Bama and all.

[Sobol]

I'm a chess fan and have a crush on Magnus Carlsen.

Also, I hate sports I like lifting heavy things.

[Scarlet Knight]

I'm a chess fan and have a crush on Magnus Carlsen.

Also, I hate sports I like lifting heavy things.

It sounds like you would like boxing-chess.

[Sobol]

It sounds like you would like boxing-chess.

I know about it, but hitting people isn't my thing. Wrestling is much better.

[jwhouk]

Rams win it in OT. I think their kicker rolled a natural 20 on that winning FG.

[Scarlet Knight]

Woooo! Rams in the Super Bowl!

Revenge for 2002! Punishment for Belicheat!

[Scarlet Knight]

Ok guys , big day sunday. Who's visiting, who's hosting, and what are your traditions.

Me, I usually just watch with my immediate family, a habit created from working too many years on Sundays, eating junk that I know is bad for my and washing it down with stuff that's bad for me.

Well, bad for my body but good for my soul....

[ForzaFiori]

I'm actually going to be away from all the traditions this year. It's the super bowl since I moved away from home, and I have too much going on to go home. I guess this is how new traditions get made lol.

Also, Ram's fans, I'm very upset with your team for forcing me to choose between pulling for a team that regularly cheats subtly, and one that had refs blatantly try to hand them a game.

[Scarlet Knight]

Good sir! Despite the questionble call, the team from New Orleans had the lead.

All they had to do was stop the Rams from tying the game. Or failing that, score when they got the ball first in overtime.

The fact that a Ram intercepted the ball while lying flat on his back proves that the Lord Almighty wanted them to win.

And who am I to argue?

Oh by the way, here is a joke that was not appreciated in another thread...

Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, and Tom Brady walk into a bar. After a few rounds, Brees gets up and says: "I'd better get home and get some rest. Gotta take care of the Moneymaker" and he pats his arm. Russell gets up and says "I better go too. My Money Maker needs care" and he pats his legs. Brady get up and says "I'd better go home and take care of my Money Maker". Brees asks "What Money maker? Your memory?" Brady pats his groin and says "Giselle".

[Erloas]

Once against I'm going for "Not the Patriots" which is my picked at the start of every year.

Given that I don't actually have any way to watch the game, I'm not going to watch it. But even if I did, I just don't think I could bring myself to care about another Super Bowl with the Patriots enough to give it the 4 hours.

I'm not the only one, read an article that even in Boston there isn't a lot of celebration or fanfare going on about it.

[Kyrell1978]

Wow. So, I just checked the score after game night (Pathfinder currently) and I'm super glad I missed that game.

[Gnoman]

It is the type of game that I would have enjoyed with other teams. Since I despise the Patriots, I didn't even bother with it.

[Persant Lamorak]

I watched the game at a friend's house last night. I'm glad it was a competitive game and not a blowout even if it was low scoring.

[Bartmanhomer]

That Super Bowl from last night was very embarrassing. My older brother and I watch the whole game and we were upset that the LA Rams didn't win last night.

[Iruka]

I have to admit, what upset me the most is that they did not actually play 'Sweet Victory' during the show.

[jwhouk]

I watched the game at a friend's house last night. I'm glad it was a competitive game and not a blowout even if it was low scoring.

For varying values of "competitive." The Patriots owned the first half, but couldn't get out of their own way. The Rams struggled just to tie the game, but the Pats scored the only TD to basically seal the game.

That has to be, in the some 42-odd times I've watched the Super Bowl, one of the worst games on both sides of the ball ever.

[Peelee]

I heard a quality joke on why the game was so bad, but it's not repeatable here.

[Scarlet Knight]

Ooooh my head hurts. I feel like something died in my mouth. What day is it? I started drinking Sunday night & I guess I never stopped...

[Persant Lamorak]

For varying values of "competitive." The Patriots owned the first half, but couldn't get out of their own way. The Rams struggled just to tie the game, but the Pats scored the only TD to basically seal the game.

That has to be, in the some 42-odd times I've watched the Super Bowl, one of the worst games on both sides of the ball ever.

I say it was competitive as for most of the game one big play could have led either team to victory. Even though the Patriots defense dominated the Rams offence, an interception return for a touchdown or a spectacular kickoff return could have turned the tide for the Rams.

[Scarlet Knight]

The following is a rant against stupidity. It is not intended to mock the disabled. Read at you own risk.

Spoiler

Show

"Heeding the words of disability rights advocates, Major League Baseball renamed the roster designation for players recovering from injury. Formerly known as the disabled list, MLB will now call it the injured list, the league confirmed this week.

'The principal concern is that using the term ‘disabled’ for players who are injured supports the misconception that people with disabilities are injured and therefore are not able to participate or compete in sports,' Jeff Pfeifer, MLB’s senior director of league economics and operations."

This drives me crazy! Reading this I can understand how so much of America hates Liberals. What are we stupid? For over a hundred years we used disabled and only the most idiotic morons on this green planet would confuse "injured" & "disabled". Fans who speak of a DL also know the stories of Dummy Hoy, Pete Gray, Three Finger Brown and Jim Abbott! While words matter, people know that Jim Abbott is always disabled but only goes on the DL when he's injured!

Disability rights advocates wasted everyones time with this. The Times just had an article on the problems of access for the disabled. But this is what they worked on? We went from cripple to disabled to special, and did it change anything? No. Way to go, Baseball! Screw fixing PEDS! Forget price gouging! Forget stopping players from delaying the games due their velcro EVERYTHING! Lets fix the name of the DL! And MLB wonders why they lose fans.

[Peelee]

Disability rights advocates wasted everyones time with this

Who's time did disability rights advocates waste other than their own? My time certainly wasn't wasted. Hell, I'd bet five bucks you wasted more of your own time writing that than reading about it. For the vast majority of people (and I really, truly mean vast here. Let's be generous and say a thousand people in MLB weighed in on this. That's 0.0003% of the population), it wasted a negligible amount of time, if not absolutely zero time. This is easily the pettiest, most ridiculous complaint I've heard in a long time.

[Iruka]

I like that change, because it makes it more precise. Those players are injured, not disabled in the way the word is currently usually used.

I do agree however that this is the kind of easy change big companies like to make for brownie points while leaving other stuff unadressed. The reason being that other stuff makes money for them or makes money for people they do not want to anger.

[MikelaC1]

Would the people of the state be better served by putting that public money into labs or for other academic purposes rather than football?

The Alabama football program makes money. Over and above what is spent on them. In fact, the football program brings in enough money to fund ALL of their other sports programs, male and female, and some other university projects. Whatever they spend on football, they make back. So technically, there is no public money being spent on them or rather, everything they spend comes back.

[Peelee]

The Alabama football program makes money.

Yeah, I'm gonna need sources on that. College sports are famously unprofitable for the vast majority of schools.

ETA: Just thought it might be considered gauche if I didn't hold myself to that same standard, so literally the second hit under the Google search, "does college football make money: : short answer, no. Second hit because it seemed like a much more reputable source; fun fact, the first hit also said no.