Sports Illustrated editor says colleges 'invaded' by athletics
Christopher Barrett
Issue date: 10/5/05 Section: News
10/05/05 - Sports writer Frank Deford spoke about the hype surrounding college athletics yesterday as part of the University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium exploring the place of sports in America.
"Sports are important to all cultures. It is something that seems to be in our DNA," Deford said. Deford is currently the senior editor at Sports Illustrated and a regular commentator on various sports shows.
Yet, the integration of sports and education in America is unique.
"Only here in America do we mix up sports and education," Deford said. "There are no prime-time soccer games between Oxford and Sorbonne."
As a result, the atmosphere here is much different.
"Even in the finest educational institutions in America there has been an invasion by sports," Deford said, who criticized college admission offices for giving preference to athletes.
"You'll find at all schools a greater devotion into getting athletes in than anyone else," he said. "I doubt there are any music faculty hanging around the admissions office saying 'Hey can you get this tenor from Missouri? All his grades are Fs right now and he's in jail but he'd be great in the glee club.'"
That attention, coupled with the possibility of scholarships, leads to problems for potential athletes at all levels.
"It is my own minority view that athletic scholarships are the original sin," Deford said. "They acknowledge that sports are different than every other extracurricular activity."
Deford said if he worked in a college admissions office he would give the same treatment to applicants who possessed skills such as playing an instrument, but until that day parents and young athletes will stop at little to win.
In response to a question about why parents today appear obsessed with seeing their children win, Deford said, "I think it's just we see the great sums of money and the Holy Grail."
He added, "It's a terrible thing and it seems to be spread throughout the country and it comes down to the parent's idea that my kid is going to be a superstar and put me on Easy Street."
"Sports are important to all cultures. It is something that seems to be in our DNA," Deford said. Deford is currently the senior editor at Sports Illustrated and a regular commentator on various sports shows.
Yet, the integration of sports and education in America is unique.
"Only here in America do we mix up sports and education," Deford said. "There are no prime-time soccer games between Oxford and Sorbonne."
As a result, the atmosphere here is much different.
"Even in the finest educational institutions in America there has been an invasion by sports," Deford said, who criticized college admission offices for giving preference to athletes.
"You'll find at all schools a greater devotion into getting athletes in than anyone else," he said. "I doubt there are any music faculty hanging around the admissions office saying 'Hey can you get this tenor from Missouri? All his grades are Fs right now and he's in jail but he'd be great in the glee club.'"
That attention, coupled with the possibility of scholarships, leads to problems for potential athletes at all levels.
"It is my own minority view that athletic scholarships are the original sin," Deford said. "They acknowledge that sports are different than every other extracurricular activity."
Deford said if he worked in a college admissions office he would give the same treatment to applicants who possessed skills such as playing an instrument, but until that day parents and young athletes will stop at little to win.
In response to a question about why parents today appear obsessed with seeing their children win, Deford said, "I think it's just we see the great sums of money and the Holy Grail."
He added, "It's a terrible thing and it seems to be spread throughout the country and it comes down to the parent's idea that my kid is going to be a superstar and put me on Easy Street."
