John Nieman
I’m not quite sure about the driving force behind the existential trend in my recent offerings in this space. I figure it’s either my old age and my observations of my grandchildren or—more likely—the drastic changes in the organization of sport, particularly in this country, particularly in college.
For a variety of reasons, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the most basic “Why” of sport. That is “Why do we play sports?”
Unlike many I know, I didn’t get into it because of any encouragement from my parents. Even though my father was a college football player at Villanova of some renown, he was always one to let me take my own path, even as a child. I got into playing sports at the beginning just because I liked the camaraderie and the play. Never really thought or cared much about the winning or the losing or even my own performance.
It was just to play. To be around teammates. Probably explains why I wasn’t ever very good. Just happy. I was always, through no effort on my own, usually bigger and stronger and faster than most, able to at least make the team and that was pretty much enough for me.
There was a time in my thirties, after divorce and career disappointments, that I played with a lot of anger. I wish I could say I regretted that time, but playing sports got me through it. That, and the help and support of wonderful teammates who endured my tantrums, calmed me, and made me happy. Playing sports is just a remarkable remedy for so many maladies. Certainly that was the case for me and for so many others that I have known.
But I recognize that for many, if not most, the object of sport is to win, to overcome, to achieve. I understand and really admire that in players. In college, I even felt envy and regret because I didn’t have that same fire that my friends who played—actually played as opposed to sitting on the bench or the stands like me—possessed in such abundance.
Of course, it is that perspective that I lack that allows me to keep playing now. As I’ve expressed here before, I’m just so grateful to the teammates I have, who clearly put a value on winning, who are able to put it to the side and let me play. Because I am really, really bad. And I honestly and sincerely don’t care about winning or losing. I just really love being out there with the team.
So, in the spirit of this existential contemplation, why do we play college sports? I get it that the teams want to win. But is there not a component that should serve some greater purpose for an educational institution than merely providing victories? How can one one reconcile transfer portals with a mission to educate and support student-athletes?
And in this regard, I’m not questioning a student’s right and opportunity to change schools, but rather the school’s recruitment of students from other schools. Is the reason for this recruitment that the other school is not providing the type of education the student wants or needs? I sincerely doubt it.
And in the name of all that is good and holy, how can we possibly justify expanding the Atlantic Coast Conference to California and Texas if the goal of playing sports in college is to educate and support the student-athlete? Road trips that would last a day or two are now 4 or 5 days. Or most likely even longer, as teams—particularly non-revenue sport teams —look to make West Coast trips and play several games. All of this during the school year.
Because, as the old adage goes, the answer to all of your questions is money. And who or what benefits from this money? Is it being poured back into the universities for the greater good of all students? Is it merely to expand and perpetuate the teams? If so, does it benefit the non-revenue sports? It clearly isn’t going to the student-athletes, because we have to have NIL.
So what are we left with? College sports teams populated with players who have virtually no incentive to go to class and who, in their own best interest, are constantly looking at the possibility of going to another school.
Are we going to lose that special bond of watching players who share that common experience of attending class, walking through campus, participating in the many activities a college affords? That, much like our local professional teams, the only bond between the players, the team and the fans is location and team name.
So tell me, since we already have lots of sports professional teams to cheer on (Martha and I had a wonderful time at the home opener of MLS Next Pro team in High Point), why do we play college sports?
Unfortunately, if the “why” I play is to maintain a healthy weight, I am failing miserably. Fat Boy Index: 289.