Winning At Any Cost?

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Winning At Any Cost?
By Don Wilkey, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Onaluska, TX

A few years back, I watched the Kansas State Wildcats play in the Big 12 football playoff game. The Wildcats were ahead and could walk away with the victory by sitting on the ball for the final few minutes. The All-American quarterback made a fatal mistake and fumbled the ball to opponents who stole the victory. Instead of playing for the national championship in Arizona with a pay off of $12 million, the team had to settle for a lesser bowl that paid $1 million. I surmised that one fumble cost the school in cash, $11 million. This is a lot of stress for a teenage student to handle.

Historically the ethical issues involved in athletics have seldom even been raised in Christian circles. A few decades ago, Jim Bouton wrote about the ethical issues of inside baseball in Ball Four. Dave Meggesy, a pro football player, wrote Out of Their League, which dealt with ethical problems in professional football. Both books raised important questions about items authors said needed to be dealt with in sports. Baptists countered with, What`s Wrong With the Game. The Baptist work virtually defended the game of football and failed to deal with the issues raised by these popular works.

To Baptists, the sports arena has often been a sacred cow to be left alone. East Texas Baptist churches openly changed their worship schedules to what was known as "Cowboy Time." This was the practice of an earlier service to allow the congregation time to get home to watch their favorite football team. Common legend had it that the stadium in Irving, Texas had a gap in the roof so that the Lord could watch His team.

Recent happenings at Baylor remind readers of how tails can often end up wagging dogs in attempts to ethically decide winning is more important than how one gets there. It was little noticed that the highest paid salary to any Baptist employee ($1 million per year), now goes to the university`s football and basketball coaches.

I was shocked to learn that no college athletic program at any major university pays its own way-even with TV revenues, bowl pay-offs, and high ticket costs. (Have you ever checked on the price for Big 12 basketball tournament tickets?) One reason is a court ruling regarding women`s athletics. There must be an equal number of programs for women as for men. This, plus the high cost of a few salaries, means that students must pay more in student fees to underwrite the programs.

Murray Sperber wrote a recent best seller called, Beer and Circus. In the book, Sperber charges that college sports are actually detrimental to education. The author claims student gambling, illegal contributions to athletes, and programs that spend more on stadiums than science labs are crippling modern education.[1]

Poor inner city athletes are often thrown into a college culture with affluent students. These athletes make millions for their college and have a much lower standard of living than most of their classmates. Major college athletic programs are now demanding a twelve-month participation in practices. Though not legal, players know team captains are watching and their failure to participate means it will be more difficult to please the coach who watches from distance.

A recent article on masking illegal drugs to athletes raises other ethical concerns. The article says there are multiple illegal drugs available and a much smaller number of tests to detect their use. The technology of those who produce these products far exceeds the pace of those seeking to monitor their use.

Baylor`s denominational counterpart in Texas is SMU. The Methodists have the only football program shut down in the nation for unethical practices. Allegations included paying for prostitutes for football recruits. The New York Times reports that players on the 2002 University of South Florida football team fathered as many as 60 children.[2]

Ethical issues of winning at any cost face school administrators. The pressures placed on school officials by fans raise other moral choices. Believers are often reminded that even though they want to win, they should not want to win the wrong way. The mixing of money, corruption and athletes is what the NCAA was founded to regulate. Christian colleges and universities need to uphold the Christian values upon which they were founded, especially in athletic contests. Winning at any cost just costs too much!

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[1] Murray Sperber, Beer and Circus (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2003, 24, 26, 209, 217.

[2] Kostya Kennedy, "College Sports 101," Sports Illustrated, Aug. 11, 2002, 29.