The Evils of Sports

December 02, 2003

Like politicians, television personalities, Interstate 99, and other elements of culture in America, sports have been the subject of scrutiny on numerous occasions in their history. Claims of scandal, corruption, and gouging run rampant, so why not contribute to the feeding frenzy?

Matt Hanley, student writer for The Daily Illini, a student newspaper at the University of Illinois: Urbana-Champaign, tells a gripping tail (sic) of money corruption within professional sports. Hanley, who seems to prefer working with fragments, reports that sports and money form a "permanently sealed bond that takes over the minds and actions of athletes." The article questions athletes' salaries which have risen in the face of plummeting TV ratings, and Hanley points out that sports cost billions of dollars while providing questionable benefits to the community.

The Drake Group, an independent agency dedicated to preserving college sports against forces of exploitation and commercialization, provides a litany of demands for colleges in their treatment of athletes and sports programs. These demands range from the elimination of the term student-athlete to reducing the number of athletic contests. The list is rather interesting to consider, especially following any discussion of the college sports complex.
 

Back to Weblogs Index

© 2006 Brian Troutman. All rights reserved. This site looks much better on a Mac.