"The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Looking for 3 good reasons...
Obviously, my summer internship is far and away less exciting than all of your summer associate-ships. And to think of the exponentially less wages I am earning. Sniffle.
Well, beware LYMA lawyers: money corrupts. Look no further than any news outlet in America. Every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of American sports seems to be hiding something awful, something corrupt, something greedy. The word "sports" fails to conjure up the memories it used to: "John Stockton from midcourt..." or the first year I snuck over to my friend's house to watch Superbowl XXV or cheering Sid Bream home during the 1992 NLCS. Nowadays the word "sports" takes me to a place where the greatest bicycle race on earth is now a traveling joke. A place where the all-time homerun record makes more people shake their head in disgust than excited. A place where one of the world's richest men electrocutes animals. A place where the mob - THE MOB!! - has tarnished the integrity of professional basketball. In short, sports are dead. I'm done. I haven't watched a single sporting event for 3 months. I was tired of the controversy last May. And recent events have only validated my decision. Can somebody please give me 3 good reasons to care again? I'll even accept suggestions sent from your Blackberries.
What do alligators, free-roaming horses, jungle cats, and an ancient Greek citizen have in common? Each represents a mascot for the winning college football team in last year's Bowl Championship Series. In the intervening 6 months since Florida "upset" undefeated Ohio State by 4 touchdowns, USC beat a disenfranchised Michigan team, Notre Dame surprised nobody by getting thumped by LSU, Louisville beat Wake Forest in the most forgettable game in history, and Boise State beat Oklahoma in one of the most exciting football games in history, the excitement and controversy surrouding collegiate athletics has been overshadowed by doping, dogfighting, gambling, and Barry Bonds' huge skull. But as the ESPN College Gameday crew begins their cross-country trek to Berkeley, California for Cal's opening day matchup vs. Tennessee, I'd like to reignite the fire.
College athletics, generally, are an interesting creature. Many programs provide an opportunity for like-minded and able-bodied students to learn teamwork, get exercise, and compete (like more expensive alternatives to the chess club). For many students, watching these spectacles is an inseparable part of the university "experience" and "culture." Most programs have a goal to turn a profit, but most struggle to just break even.
College football programs, specifically, are no different. Except for a very small handful of schools (those perenially ranked in the top 25), most schools are lucky to break even. BYU and the University of Utah are on the cusp. While both programs lost money in 2002-2003, they have fared better more recently. In 2005-2006, Cougar football generated just less than $10.5 million in revenue, but had over $8.5 million in operating costs. Add to the mix all of the scholarships, financial aid, and personal tutors and the program generated about $1 million of pure profit that year. The situation is similar at the University of Utah, although the numbers were smaller ($9.3 million in revenues, $7.9 million of expenses). Powerhouse programs like the University of Southern California, Ohio State at Columbus, and Florida University consistently generate almost $30 million of revenue each year, and more than $10 million in profits. Smaller programs like Tulsa, Utah State, New Mexico State, and Marshall in "mid-major" conferences like the WAC, the MAC, Sunbelt, and Conference USA lose money every year. And their future is not bright.
Much of the controversy surrounds the structure and rewards of postseason play. For many teams, a trip to a bowl game is icing on the cake. It's a chance to play on national television, show off for NFL scouts, and get a all-expenses paid vacation to a sunny destination in December (or January if you're lucky). Unfortunately, the financial rewards are less exciting. Travel and accommodations for close to 200 people usually eats up all (and sometimes more) of the bowl's payout. For too many schools, the "reward" of a bowl game is a line of red numbers in the budget. The exception, of course, is the Bowl Championship Series.
Five bowl games comprise the 9-year old BCS. Whereas non-BCS bowl games have payouts between $325,000 to $4.25 million per team/conference represented. Each BCS game, however, pays out $17 million to each conference represented (and an additional $4.5 million if the conference has 2 teams). There are a host of procedures for determining who qualifies to participate. For the official, comprehensive, constitution-like explanation of these procedures, click here. I'm curious what you (dormant) readers of LYMA think about the system. To lure you out of your non-blogging slumber, here is a list of 5 specific questions that I'd love your thoughts on:
1) Should college football teams remain attached to universities under the thinly-veiled guise that they are merely extracurricular programs that provide an outlet for otherwise studiously-minded college students?
2) Should college football programs secede from their university affiliations and form a semi-pro, for-profit developmental league?
3) Do the benefits of a multi-team postseason playoff outweigh the (not only financial) costs?
4) Should Congress have a mandate to intervene in the college bowl game (BCS and non-BCS) and/or a playoff payoff structure? Is this really an anti-trust issue?
5) Tennessee at Cal. Who wins? (Or if you insist on remaining Utah-centric: Utah at BYU on Nov. 24, what are the odds we see another 24-21 game?)
There is a post at The Gray Sheep about circumcision that got me to thinking about my role as a soon-to-be parent. The author of that post shares a similar sentiment with me: what kinds of decisions am I morally supported in making for my children before they are able to make decisions on their own? Beyond decisions related to their survival.
On the one hand, here is an empty canvas for my wife and me to use everything we've learned to create something we want. This is how it works with parents and kids - it's what defines parenthood and makes it special. We'll take him to Church, teach him primary songs, and read the scriptures together. This is our responsibility, no?
On the other hand, one of those things that I've learned is that agency and individual responsibility is the purpose of our life here, for better and for worse. And whereas I'm comfortable straying from this idea on issues that are important (to me) like the gospel, I don't know where I stand on other - more arbitrary - decisions. Like what toys he'll play with, or what sports he'll play.
An Oregon court ruled today that the church has to turn over its financial information (which it has long kept secret) to the attorneys for a man who is suing, claiming that his home teacher molested him. There is still some legal battling before the records actually come out. Basically the Plaintiff wants to be able to say to the jury, "Hey, these guys are really rich so you should give me a whole lot of money". That issue could be a post of its own, but that is not what interested me about this story.
Law school and working at a firm have changed the way I read a lot of news stories and the thing that caught my attention about this one is that having a lay ministry could be an ENORMOUS liability for the church. In this case the plaintiff is suing the church for something a home teacher allegedly did because the home teacher is acting on behalf of the church. Of course the church is saying that he was acting simply as a friend of the family, but imagine the possible slippery slope! Most LDS church members have a calling, most men in the church hold an office in the preisthood, if this legal tactic works a whole lot of what the members do could end up leaving the church liable. What if I am in my home teaching companion's car and we get in an accident? What if there is an accident at a playgroup that was sponsored or organized by the releif society? What if I go to give someone a blessing and catch what they have? What if I go nuts and assault a random stranger on the street and they sue and their attorney finds out that I am an Elder in the LDS Church? With the deep pockets of the church there would be no shortage of people wanting to make a claim. Hopefully not realistic, but kind of scary.
Maybe I better play it safe and not go home teaching this month.
