National Collegiate Athletic Association |
CommentNovember 9, 1998
Guest editorial -- Basketball warrants additional attention
BY KENNETH A. SHAW
Created by the Board in August after a recommendation from the Management Council, the working group is composed of 29 members. The group is a diverse collection of educators and administrators who bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and passion for higher education and intercollegiate athletics. It is tempting when groups or committees such as this one are formed to look for the core problem to be addressed. Certainly, there are some issues that have gained significant media attention over the past few months, and all of those will be reviewed by the working group in due course. But it is important to note that this working group has not been formed to right any universally acknowledged wrongs. Intrinsically, Division I basketball is no more important than any of the other 21 sports in which the Association conducts championships, but as a fiscal asset, it is appropriate for special attention. According to a recent internal study, Division I men's basketball accounts for 93 percent, directly or indirectly, of the Association's annual revenue. Frankly, it is good business to periodically examine those activities that are most essential for the continued fiscal viability of an organization. For the NCAA, that is basketball. The popularity of the sport has grown many-fold over the last 15 years. Television has brought increased attention not only to the men's and women's tournaments, but to regular-season competition as well. Attendance has steadily climbed at all levels. The revenues from television rights fees for and attendance at the NCAA Men's and Women's Division I Basketball Championships have dramatically increased the Association's ability to attend to the welfare of student-athletes throughout college sports. Largely because of these assets, the Association provides a catastrophic-injury insurance program for the 330,000 student-athletes in all three divisions, guarantees championships and program funds for Divisions II and III, earmarks more than $25 million annually specifically for Division I student-athlete special assistance and academic enhancement, and provides financial assistance for every Division I school and conference to help maintain participation opportuni- ties. It is appropriate and essential to give a thorough review to "all issues that have significant impact on the sport," as the working group's mission states. Already identified as issues for examination are these:
We also have sent a survey to the Division I membership, asking for feedback on these and other issues important to the sport. In our first meeting, we heard from representatives of the men's and women's basketball coaches associations, as well as the Collegiate Commissioners Association. They gave us important opinions and shared information about their perspective of the sport. At our next meeting December 10, we will hear from representatives of the shoe and apparel companies, the AAU and the National Federation of State High School Associations. Over the course of the next year, we expect to hear also from the professional leagues and players associations, the junior college community, student-athletes and representatives of the media. I don't know what recommendations will emerge from this study. I've encouraged the working group to enter the process with an open mind. It is important for us to see the issues as our constituents see them. That will likely give us a number of perspectives to the same problems, and when we have thoroughly reviewed the issues, we'll begin looking for areas of agreement about any recommendations we want to forward. What I can say with certainty is that the members of this working group are uniquely suited to undertake this study. Kenneth A. Shaw is chancellor of Syracuse University and chair of the NCAA Division I Working Group to Study Basketball Issues. Comment -- NCAA award provides a special experienceI am the father of one of the NCAA Woman of the Year state winners, Katy Masselam from Vermont. I just wanted to applaud and thank the NCAA for the attention they paid to her and for the respect and care that was shown during the Woman of the Year ceremonies in Indianapolis. What a very, very powerful evening it was -- so professionally and so beautifully done. Katy had run a marathon that morning so that we were able to come to the ceremonies only that one evening. I know I'm a proud father and all that, but I go to many events such as this one, and I was very impressed with everybody, all the way from Cedric Dempsey, Robin Roberts and Summer Sanders to the folks who met Katy at the airport to the people who were there at 5:30 the next morning to help us get back to Boston. It clearly felt to us as a "labor of love." I wanted to communicate my thanks to all of those who worked on this wonderful event. Their effort was deeply felt. Thank you also to Rawlings for its support of the evening. It's a memory Katy and I will never forget, and it's because of the quality, attention and sensitive care that were provided by the NCAA.
George Masselam
Opinions -- College athletes more scrutinized than other students
Chad Pennington, football player "Student-athletes have to walk a fine line. There's a certain responsibility you have to accept being an athlete. Sometimes, the negative pressure is unfair on and off the field. We get pressure from fans and from society in general to perform on the field and then act in a certain way off the field. But we're human and we're capable of making mistakes off the field.... "The extra pressure helps us become more mature. It teaches us not to panic and not to get frustrated at certain things."
LaVorn Colclough, football player "The day you become an athlete, people look at you different. You're the center of attention. I've always had my head screwed on straight, so it never bothered me. But you have to be smart about what you do in public. You're the first guy people notice."
Religion and sport
Joy DeSensi, professor "I talk a lot about religion and sport, about people who believe sport is a religion, and in the South football practically is a religion. There's a lot of ritual and fetishes about it.... "And people may scoff at the notion of some African country's soccer team hiring a witch doctor to perform magic for their benefit. But these bonfire pep rallies, where a player from another team is burned in effigy before a cheering throng, what does that say? What kind of ritual is that similar to?"
Shoe companies
Editorial "With an eye toward high-school players' amateur status as well as their youth, high-school athletics associations should prohibit players from having direct contact with shoe companies. And certainly those companies shouldn't be able to 'buy' a kid for their camps by bribing his school with athletics equipment (though companies insist there are no strings attached, of course)....(A) ban on summertime recruiting by college coaches also would undercut the leverage of the camp-sponsoring shoe and apparel companies. "It doesn't help that college coaches, many of whom have become rich with shoe contracts, have set a poor example for coaches and players on the high-school level, where the purity of the amateur, extracurricular athletics program should be protected. But high schools must resist that example, and they can and should act to stop the companies' intrusions. Professional profit-makers should not be allowed to control high-school sports in the same way they've gained a dominating voice in college sports. The latter doesn't justify the former, and it never will."
Facilities
Discussing the expansion of football stadiums at several Division I-A institutions: "In this day and age, you have to keep up with the Joneses. It is an established fact that playing in a top-notch place decides who wins and who loses. In the end, a nice stadium not only benefits the fans, it gives us an edge in recruiting."
Tom McMillen, former congressman "The whole picture seems out of bounds. It is troublesome because colleges are going down the commercial lane....You are going to have a big earthquake at some point. Players will want to get paid. The Internal Revenue Service will want to start taxing this income. Women will demand equity. It's a hot football, so to speak."
Jim Kier, director of sports architecture "It's all about competing for the entertainment dollar. Alumni supporters want the same accommodations on the college level as they do in pro venues."
Title IX
Lynette Labinger, attorney "My mindset is preserve opportunities and increase them, not cut them in the name of paper compliance. That creates hard feelings and it causes people to assess blame, and that's always bad."
John Marinatto, director of athletics Discussing program cuts at his institution: "We are like most schools and we struggled with how we can become compliant.... "I think its (Title IX's) intent is fair. I don't think the intent was ever meant to take opportunities from men and give them to women. The litigious society we live in .... (is to blame)."
Gene DiFillippo, director of athletics "When the law was written, back in 1972, the emphasis was to increase funding, and to be fair. "My philosophy of gender equity is fairness. Fairness with regard to participation and opportunities for women athletes. But there are different interpretations of the law."
Myriam Marquez, columnist "What a difference 26 years have made. Thanks to Title IX, schools must give girls the same opportunity as boys to participate in sports, hone their athletics abilities and compete with the best. "And now we have the WNBA, professional women's basketball, coming to Orlando. "We have American women kicking lots of international butt at the Olympics. We have arrived, and the ones roaring are the approving crowds of men and women, moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas. "Tell me we didn't need a law, and I'll tell you to pull your head out of the Florida muck. "Nevertheless, as much as women have advanced in sports, there are other areas -- particularly in new technology and the sciences -- in which old thinking limits schoolgirls' chances of success. Consider these U.S. Department of Education findings: "Girls use computers more than boys until the middle-school years, when they start tuning out technology. "More and more girls are matching the boys' rate of enrollment in advanced math and science courses in high school, but a gap persists in physics. "By the time college rolls around, women are much less likely than men to major in engineering, physical sciences or computer science. "The National Coalition of Girls' Schools says there's no reason for a disparity if girls are encouraged early to excel in the sciences and given the opportunity -- as they have been given in sports, I would add -- to explore the possibilities.... "There's growing evidence that teachers' and parents' heightened awareness about the gap between the sexes in math, sciences and technology is starting to result in more girls becoming interested in pursuing lucrative careers in those fields. "It ought not have to take a federal law to get girls excited about pursuing high-tech careers -- a good bit of cheering by parents and teachers may be all that's needed. Any soccer mom -- or dad -- knows that."
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The NCAA Division I Working Group to Study Basketball Issues had its first meeting October 13 in Chicago. That began what is expected to be a year-long effort to examine all issues that have a significant impact on the sport of Division I basketball. The group is also charged with making appropriate recommendations -- legislative or otherwise -- that will be reviewed through the Division I governance structure and eventually sent to the Board of Directors.