by Robert Tippett

Created on: February 03, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I want to state clearly that my decision is based solely on the present situation, the way college athletics are run these modern days. Long gone are the days of jalopies, felt school pennants, saddle oxford shoes and funny hats on students rooting their team to victory on fall Saturdays. Today season tickets are sold-out before the season begins, at the major football colleges, with contributors of $5,000 or more (to the school's athletic fund) getting primo tickets in return. A "gift" from the institution to the giver. Funny thing is most of those contributors are fans and not alumni, who write off the $5,000 as a charitable donation on their income tax.

Recently, at the University of Arkansas, one of their stellar performers, who came from an impoverished background, was investigated for driving an expensive car he certainly could not afford to pay for. Such a marque player cannot hold down a part-time job, go to school and still memorize playbooks and practice. There was a possibility that the NCAA would not let this player play in the school's bowl game. In the end, the player played in the bowl game, then immediately filed for the NFL draft as a junior, foregoing his senior year of college eligibility. This means Arkansas lost a player because he was tired of all the hard work, for no pay (at least pay that we know of).

Meanwhile, the bowl games and television revenues paid to the NCAA are in the hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars, each year! With these funds we see great new additions to the stadiums at these major football colleges. Most no longer seat a measly 40,000 fans and students, they seat 80-100k. This is so they can get more contributors in the seats. Add to that the schools also use the TV money for special box seating, for the school's really big contributors. Sky boxes and the like afford the VIPs waitresses, who bring them drinks and snacks so they don't miss a minute of football. Ordinary folk have to stand in long lines for a hot-dog at halftime and we won't mention the bathroom luxuries sky boxes afford those people who really have to go bad.

I read on-line that in the 2006-7 season, when lite-weight NCAA Division 1 school Boise State finished undefeated (13-0) and won the 2007 Fiesta Bowl (against perennial powerhouse Oklahoma), the athletic department for Boise took home a check for nearly $3 million. That is after (bold print) all their expenses were paid. Their total prize for winning was $4.5 million!

A report said that most of that

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