The brawl at the end of the Kansas-Kansas State basketball game last evening was unfortunate but not terribly surprising. After all, a small but significant percentage of college athletes (especially in football and basketball) should not be in college to begin with.
Recruited to bring fame and money to the University, these very talented but ill-equipped players are stressed by the demands of academics, long practice hours, travel, rabid fans, sports pundits and national television audiences, all the while living on the edge financially. At times, as occurred last evening, they act out, resorting to the "street behavior" that characterized their pre-college lives.
While the violence of last evening cannot be condoned, a host of broadcasters and studio analysts declared that such behavior "has no place in college athletics." Perhaps we should admit that certain talented athletes have no place in college and acknowledge that the others should be paid for risking injury and bringing in millions of dollars to their coaches and University. Farm systems, long part of Major League Baseball, would seem to offer a better opportunity for many college-aged athletes.
Recruited to bring fame and money to the University, these very talented but ill-equipped players are stressed by the demands of academics, long practice hours, travel, rabid fans, sports pundits and national television audiences, all the while living on the edge financially. At times, as occurred last evening, they act out, resorting to the "street behavior" that characterized their pre-college lives.
While the violence of last evening cannot be condoned, a host of broadcasters and studio analysts declared that such behavior "has no place in college athletics." Perhaps we should admit that certain talented athletes have no place in college and acknowledge that the others should be paid for risking injury and bringing in millions of dollars to their coaches and University. Farm systems, long part of Major League Baseball, would seem to offer a better opportunity for many college-aged athletes.
