Football season is here again. The casual greeting throughout the week is “goin’ to the game?” This is like asking “how are you” and expecting the reply “fine – you?” Any answer other than “sure – you?” stops people in their tracks. I delight in answering no, and waiting for it to sink in. “But – why?” “Because I can’t stand football.” I usually don’t actually say that because it takes too long to explain, but it is the way I feel. Not because I care about the game itself one way or another, but because mainstream college football with its present trappings is absolutely ridiculous. It’s not the only drawer of large crowds – certainly professional soccer and rock concerts are right up there, but it is the unrivaled hypocrisy that galls me. This is an activity that pretends to be associated with university life, which should be primarily the life of the mind including activities such as studying, thinking, considering, pondering, and discoursing. Instead it breeds and feeds on a very unsavory set of character traits.

I suggest the following changes to college football:
(1) No more football “scholarships.” College scholarships should be awarded to students with good grades in high school who could not otherwise afford to attend college. Period.
(2) No recruiting of high school players. If a student is in college and he is earning A’s and B’s, and he wants to play football in his spare time, great - let him do that.
(3) No time away from classes for football players. They should practice and play in their spare time. No pampering, special dorms, tutoring, etc.
(4) If the team wants to play a team from another school, all travel should be at the students’ own expense, not the schools’. Students should pay for their own uniforms and protective gear also. If there is any additional medical insurance cost, the student should also pay for that.
(5) Football game scheduling should in no way conflict with regular academics, including access to student, staff, and faculty parking.
(6) The football coach(es) salaries should be paid directly from the teaching budget of the university, and should be subject to all the rules and restrictions that pertain thereto.

With these changes in place, we would have something closer to true amateur athletics. Perhaps then a parallel career track would arise for gifted athletes, distinct from any association with a college or university, that would feed directly into the professional leagues. These athletes could focus on their sport, and not be hampered by having to pretend to go to college. If they wanted to earn a college degree also, they would have several choices, including night school, vocational / technical school, and online degrees.