The sports drain on our schools
- At a teach-in for the March 4 Day of Action to defend public educations, students talked about how sports teams siphon money away from other programs.
- College football is very taxing
- Today's American sports culture is out of bounds
Dave Zirin, SocialistWorker.org
On March 4, I was proud to take part in a student walkout at the University of Maryland in defense of public education. It was just one link in a National Day of Action that saw protests in more than 32 states across the country.
I am not a student, and haven't been since those innocent days when Monica Lewinsky mattered, but I was asked to come speak at a post-walkout teach-in about the way sports is used to attack public education. It might sound like a bizarre topic, but it's the world that students see every day.
At the University of Maryland, as tuition has been hiked and classes cut, football coach Ralph Friedgen makes a base salary of 1.75 million bucks, which would be outrageous even if the team weren't two steps past terrible. Friedgen also gets perks like a $50,000 bonus if none of his players are arrested during the course of the season.
Related:
College football is very taxing, Neal McCluskey, Star Tribune | MN
And not just in terms of hours spent in front of the TV -- these bowl games literally hit taxpayers where it hurts.
Today's American sports culture is out of bounds, Bill Gallo, New York Daily News
It's not enough to simply say that today's American sports culture is out of bounds. Somebody has to do something about it before it goes clear out of the arena.
