 Editor:
Dave Uphoff
As a graduate of the University of Illinois, I want to congratulate the
'Fighting Illini' for giving Illinois an exciting season of basketball.
Their superb teamwork illustrated the way basketball should be played.
The player's unselfish play and the grace shown by their coach Bruce
Weber should make us all proud to be Illini.It
is unfortunate that Illinois lost the NCAA championship game to North
Carolina. However, the Illini had an off game in the most important
game of the year. I felt that the referees failed to call fouls on the
mammoth Sean May who bowled over Illini defenders while putting in 3
foot bank shots. Conversely, the Illini defenders were called for a
foul if they even breathed on May. Nevertheless, their 37-2 record is
the best record of any team in the last 15 years and they tied for the
most wins ever by an NCAA Division 1 team. Without
sounding like sour grapes, I take pride in that Illinois had 4 starters
from Illinois while the University North Carolina should have been
called the University of the United States as none of their players
came from North Carolina. This fact illustrates the importance that our
colleges place on producing a title winning team. Players are recruited
from all over the country, not just from the state the school
represents. Let's face it.
College basketball is a business and has nothing to do with education.
The basketball tournaments in March, appropriately referred to as
"March Madness", provide entertainment and an escape from the dreary,
gray days of March. I believe schools should cease pretending that the
players on their teams are students representing the school. Why not
pay these players just like professionals? They bring in revenue and
provide entertainment just like the professional teams. In addition,
many of the players come from a deprived background and could use the
money. I think it is time that we tell it like it is. The University of
North Carolina's basketball team does not represent North Carolina as a
university. They represent a sports team just like the New York Yankees
represent New York as a baseball team. Why doesn't each state fund a
basketball team that is completely removed from the education process
and then play each other as professionals instead of using the facade
of a university to represent each team?
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People
were reportedly paying up to $1000 for a ticket to the final four.
Coaches receive compensation in excess of $2 million dollars a year.
Millions are spent on season tickets, huge lavish arenas and sport
clothing. But we still cannot fund education for our children. Is there
not a limit to what we are willing to spend on this madness? This whole
sports craze seems to me like the stock market bubble of 5 years ago.
Maybe this sports bubble will burst and we can return to local sandlot
games with local players and free admission. While
on business this week in South Carolina, a person told me that when he
was attending the University of South Carolina one of the players on
the basketball team was named to the first team All-American. The
university later named a street after the player and awarded him
numerous other recognitions. That same year the university produced its
first Rhodes Scholar and this person's achievement was not even
mentioned in the local papers. This summarizes our fascination with
sports and our indifference to education. I
am proud of the basketball team that represented the University of
Illinois. But I am even more proud of the University of Illinois as an
excellent school of higher education. However, CBS or ESPN is not going
to hire an idiot like Dick Vitale, the basketball court jester, to
promote academic excellence. It doesn't sell tickets, it doesn't
entertain us and Budweiser will not sponsor it.
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