(KRT) - Only three weeks 'til the Patriots open training camp.
That day can't come soon enough.
Because haven't you had much more than enough of the Machiavellian machinations of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East Conference? Aren't you sick and tired of all the shifting alliances and back-door maneuverings, of the accusations and recriminations, of the posturing and the hypocrisy perpetrated by what we like to refer to as our institutions of higher learning, where any discussion of ethics clearly does not apply to the athletic department?
After seeing what's gone on over the last two months, how can you possibly look forward to watching college football?
So it's time now to turn our backs on all that and turn our attention to pro football, where everyone knows - and readily admits - that, yes, it is all about the money.
The NFL, where they play for pay. Where the cash is very clearly on the table, for all to see, and everyone knows what's at stake.
The NFL, where the game is unashamedly big business, and no one pretends otherwise, unlike those oh-so-phony college presidents and athletic department toadies who should be ashamed of themselves for talking about academic opportunities for the student-athlete when all they're really interested in is the opportunity to reap more revenue from athletics.
Bring on the NFL, where nobody cares whether your SAT scores were 1600, or 820, or 420. Or even whether you took them yourself.
The NFL, where you don't have to pretend to attend classes in which you obviously have no interest. Where you don't have to write papers, or have someone write them for you. Where you don't have to read any book other than your playbook.
The NFL, where no one cares if you graduate with a degree that isn't worth the paper on which it's printed.
The NFL, where you're drafted, not recruited. Where you get a paycheck, not handouts from overzealous boosters.
The NFL, where it doesn't matter if you can barely sign your name on a contract you can hardly read, and can't possibly understand, as long as you can hit the other guy hard enough so that he can't remember his own name.
Which is as it should be.
It's professional football. Not semi-pro, like the NCAA.
It's the NFL, where the players are trying to win games, not a Rhodes Scholarship.
And isn't that refreshing?
Haven't you had your fill of all the phoniness that is so abundant, and so obvious, in so much of big-time intercollegiate athletics, where conferences once based on similar values, interests, and geography are being scuttled in favor of affiliations with the best television markets; where academic standards are sacrificed for the sake of won-lost records; where schools now have "programs," rather than teams; where coaches are paid much more than the best professors?
Aren't you disgusted by the behavior of just about everyone involved in the bitter, convoluted, ACC-Big East imbroglio? Especially that of the university presidents who, as was the case at Georgia and St. Bonaventure this past basketball season, brought embarrassment to themselves, and the universities they lead?
Embarrassment in the NFL, on the other hand, is pretty much limited to the Cincinnati Bengals.
So bring on pro football, where there is a certain purity in the quest for success, in the zealous pursuit of as many dollars as can possibly be gleaned from its fans.
Bring on the NFL, where greed is good, and there is no pretense otherwise. Unlike those double-talking phonies in intercollegiate athletics.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/6221968.htm
That day can't come soon enough.
Because haven't you had much more than enough of the Machiavellian machinations of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East Conference? Aren't you sick and tired of all the shifting alliances and back-door maneuverings, of the accusations and recriminations, of the posturing and the hypocrisy perpetrated by what we like to refer to as our institutions of higher learning, where any discussion of ethics clearly does not apply to the athletic department?
After seeing what's gone on over the last two months, how can you possibly look forward to watching college football?
So it's time now to turn our backs on all that and turn our attention to pro football, where everyone knows - and readily admits - that, yes, it is all about the money.
The NFL, where they play for pay. Where the cash is very clearly on the table, for all to see, and everyone knows what's at stake.
The NFL, where the game is unashamedly big business, and no one pretends otherwise, unlike those oh-so-phony college presidents and athletic department toadies who should be ashamed of themselves for talking about academic opportunities for the student-athlete when all they're really interested in is the opportunity to reap more revenue from athletics.
Bring on the NFL, where nobody cares whether your SAT scores were 1600, or 820, or 420. Or even whether you took them yourself.
The NFL, where you don't have to pretend to attend classes in which you obviously have no interest. Where you don't have to write papers, or have someone write them for you. Where you don't have to read any book other than your playbook.
The NFL, where no one cares if you graduate with a degree that isn't worth the paper on which it's printed.
The NFL, where you're drafted, not recruited. Where you get a paycheck, not handouts from overzealous boosters.
The NFL, where it doesn't matter if you can barely sign your name on a contract you can hardly read, and can't possibly understand, as long as you can hit the other guy hard enough so that he can't remember his own name.
Which is as it should be.
It's professional football. Not semi-pro, like the NCAA.
It's the NFL, where the players are trying to win games, not a Rhodes Scholarship.
And isn't that refreshing?
Haven't you had your fill of all the phoniness that is so abundant, and so obvious, in so much of big-time intercollegiate athletics, where conferences once based on similar values, interests, and geography are being scuttled in favor of affiliations with the best television markets; where academic standards are sacrificed for the sake of won-lost records; where schools now have "programs," rather than teams; where coaches are paid much more than the best professors?
Aren't you disgusted by the behavior of just about everyone involved in the bitter, convoluted, ACC-Big East imbroglio? Especially that of the university presidents who, as was the case at Georgia and St. Bonaventure this past basketball season, brought embarrassment to themselves, and the universities they lead?
Embarrassment in the NFL, on the other hand, is pretty much limited to the Cincinnati Bengals.
So bring on pro football, where there is a certain purity in the quest for success, in the zealous pursuit of as many dollars as can possibly be gleaned from its fans.
Bring on the NFL, where greed is good, and there is no pretense otherwise. Unlike those double-talking phonies in intercollegiate athletics.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/6221968.htm
