Balance

Always captivating Gregg Easterbrook, aka TMQ on ESPN.com writes in his article about the manic coach firings in College Football:

a university exists to educate; winning football games is a secondary concern

Probably a sentiment that make BCS officials choke on their breakfast, but an important point nevertheless.

College football is now completely removed from the "amateur" status - in 2007 Forbes calculated the Notre Dame football programme's financial worth at $91m. ND receives $9m annually from NBC alone, far more than any other programme, and of course amplified by ND's independent status, allowing them to keep their income for themselves and not revenue share with other conference teams.

Clearly that financial issue, combined with ND being 21 years removed from it's latest national championship caused Charlie Weis, the former Patriots co-ordinator, to walk the plank after 4 years. Weis' first season (9-3) was a moderate success, but after a 10-2 second season his bck to back 6-6 seasons were not enough to save him.

However, Notre Dame's academic standards have also been considered markedly higher than other school, prompting Easterbrook to point out:

Notre Dame was among the few prominent holdouts, insisting its football players be students too. This generated a recruiting disadvantage -- and a recruiting disadvantage caused by high standards, not Weis suddenly forgetting how to coach, is the reason for the recent records of Notre Dame football. Notre Dame alums and boosters should have been proud that high standards keep the school from going 12-0!

With more than 10000 players in the NCAA div 1 and only 256 players drafted by the NFL each year, the odds are better than winning the lottery....but not by much.

As entertaining and as passionate college football is, shouldn't the universities be able to strike a better balance between academics and sports?

If not, isn't it time to start paying the "student-athletes"?