What do you mean, Paul, college sports aren’t “professional”? At least, that’s kind of the impression the NCAA had about Clemson football in 1982, after the Tigers went undefeated,?won the national championship,?and?made it possible for Woody Hayes to self-destruct on the sidelines of the Gator Bowl. Even after two tough years in the tuba section of Tiger Band, my colleagues and I could still gather at exam week and sing Probation Carols:
Oh, the weather outside’s displeasin’
We’ll be home this Christmas season
Violations got us in a hole —
No more bowl! No more bowl! No more bowl!
Hmm, maybe that’s a bit too current to be funny.
Actually, I’ve wondered why colleges with powerhouse athletic departments don’t offer a “professional sports” major … maybe along the lines of “music performance” degrees. No matter if most graduates end up coaching high school or rec league teams; a degree is never a guarantee of a job, unless you go to a service academy. It would be a frank acknowledgement of why some student athletes are in the halls of Academe at all, and it might give future major leaguers better management skills for handling megabuck contracts. I’ve heard worse proposals.
