Originally Posted by
OldSchool
His point of attack, that schools like Ohio State spend too much money on football and Duke too much money on basketball, when those funds could be better spent on academic pursuits, is grossly misleading -- those programs are net revenue generators, creating revenue that would not otherwise exist and available to subsidize the non-"big time college sports" this professor claims to love or to spend it on whatever the university wishes. Further, the existence of prominent sports programs serves as a focal point for alumni loyalty and good-feeling about the school and undoubtedly has a positive effect on alumni giving. So this is essentially a dishonest argument the professor is making about "big time college sports" sucking up funds that could otherwise go towards building new libraries, etc. There are certainly grounds to criticize the way big-time sports is run at major universities, but his particular argument is wrong.