What's Wrong with College Sports? - Frank Deford

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/06/23/Frank_Deford_on_Sports_The_Hype_and_the_Hypocrisy

Acclaimed sportswriter Frank Deford criticizes college athletics programs for frequent scandals, and for awarding scholarships to athletes over academics.

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Frank Deford, senior contributing writer at Sports Illustrated and commentator for National Public Radio, delivers a lecture encompassing a wide swath of the world of sports from the Olympic Games to college athletics.

Frank Deford is a six-time National Sportswriter of the Year, Senior Contributing Editor at Sports Illustrated, commentator on NPR's Morning Edition, and a correspondent on the HBO show RealSports with Bryant Gumbel.

In addition to being the author of more than a dozen books, he has been elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters and has been awarded both an Emmy and a Peabody.

Sporting News describes Deford as the most influential sports voice among members of the print media and GQ simply calls him the world's greatest sportswriter.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• university
• athletics
• ncaa
• division
• colleges
• football
• basketball
• sports
• programs
• athletes
• scholarship
• scandal
• teams
• foratv
• fora.tv
• fora
• tv

[Economist0]

you are really a great channel fora tv, well done to all the team, keep up the good work.

[ForaTv]

Thanks Economist0, we appreciate your support!

FORAtv

[cochranexyz]

I enjoy Frank Deford's columns a great deal. He calls it like it is.

[hameed]

@mavaddat thats why I go to a research university with little to no sports teams. The tuition is a little higher than I'd like but i'm there for education, first and foremost. I don't want to go to a school that wastes hundreds of scholarships on people who aren't even there to study. Disgusting

[hopstop3721]

umm Frank deFord DOESNT have a "breathing problem" his daughter, Alex, died when she was 8 from Cystic fibrosis!

[Wolverlean]

#1 There are music scholarships. #2 Music is reward enough #3 Deford was still right #4 Deford has a medical breathing problem or was on a binge.

[phippsed]

The tennis player does not attract money for the school. That was his point. The only sports that operate at a profit are football and basketball (and only at the big schools). His point was that if two people have a special gift that doesn't relate to academics and doesn't make money for the school, they should be treated the same. Why doesn't this happen? Its a perfectly good question with no good answer.

[Steadno]

MONEY>

[mavaddat]

It's quite simple: The tennis player attracts money for the school, the pianist does not.

Universities are, as a matter of fact, first and foremost money-making ventures. It's a shame, but it's true.

This is not a justification, only an explanation of the obvious.