Letters to the Editor
Buffalonian
Published Letters: 371 Editor's Choice: 74
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Been to England much?
[Read the article: Payback is a blast!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Golden Boy: I also think you vastly understate the threat of Islam. I consider Europe as a canary in the mine, a warning of what happens when Muslims reach a critical mass or (as in the case of England) sense the weakness of their host society. Murders of those who criticize Islam, riots and threats at any perceived attack on Islam.
Which murder are you talking about? Van Gogh? First of all, that wasn't England you know. Secondly, he's not everyone who criticized Islam. He was one person and his death was a horrible tragedy. Just was the murder of Dr Bernard Slepian in Amherst NY for providing legal medical treatment to women. However, we don't tar all Christians for Slepian's murder and we shouldn't slander a billion moderate Muslims for Van Gogh's.
Similarly, we don't blame all Christians for genocidal attacks on Bosnian Muslims, do we? Why not? Baptists in Georgia have as much to do with Serbian Orthdox Christians as Balinese Sunnis have to do with Lebanese Shias, right? The darlings of the Christian Identity movement like Richard Kelly and the Phineas Priesthood advocate murder of a whole range of dastardly people (interracial families, etc) in the name of the Bible, but we don't then say "See Christianity is an organized comprehensive movement aimed at destroying its enemies.".
Regarding your characterization of England: Have you been to England? I lived there for a good long while in a neighborhood in the East End which was 40% Bangladeshi, 40% West Indian and 20% Cockneys. If there was a threat to fabric of society, it was the Cockneys who poured out of pubs in mass numbers at closing time every Friday and Saturday night and beat the crap out of each other and anyone else who caught their eye in a funny way.
My Bangladeshi neighbors were all hardworking average folks who wanted the best for their kids, most of whom wanted to grow up to be David Beckham or -- possibly the Muslim cricket captain of England, Nasser Hussain. They were and are no more a threat to English society than my own Irish and Siciliian Catholic ancestors were to the US. They liked to keep their religion and their language and culture, but were also quite devoted to the UK. Remember there was a time in this country when being Catholic was a dangerous identity and Know Nothing commentators were just absolutely sure that they (we) could never be assimilated.
As for France, the most militantly secular country in the world, I think you are way off base.
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"A college racing stable makes as much sense as college football. The jockey could carry the college colors; the students could cheer; the alumni could bet; and the horse wouldn't have to pass a history test."
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here](1) If he took the money, he broke the law, not just NCAA rules -- The last time I checked it is illegal to receive $100K worth of anything without declaring it on your tax form. Who does this guy think he is? Jessica Simpson?
(2)"Revenue producing" does not mean "profit making"-- NCAA statistics show that most Div I-A, and all smaller, football programs are money losers. They do not even support themselves, much less support the other sports. They do not generate increased alumni giving, except for alumni who give directly to the atheletic department. They lose money not counting the costs of building stadia, special dorms, special indoor practice fields, weight rooms etc which are labeled "Capital Improvements". (cf, Sperber Beer and Circuses)
(3) All athletic scholarships are immoral -- If universities are actually academic institutions and there's money to give students to help with tution, it should go to students who are good at school, not manipulating a ball or hitting people really hard.
(4)All collegiate sports should be club sports -- I turned down Div I-AA football schools (Ivy & Patriot League teams) to take an academic scholarship to a non-football school where I ended up playing club lacrosse. We organized our own practice, arranged our own volunteer coaches, raised money for our own equipment and uniforms. The school provided us with transportation to games, insurance and the field (and goals, I guess). We devoted three days a week to it and it was fulfilling in every way and accomplished every possible educational purpose athletics nominally provide schools. College football was originally organized this way. Walter Camp had a regular job & was a volunteer coach at Yale.
(5)Stop the charade -- Let the NFL pay for their own minor league system and stop the charade of "student athletes". Rick Telander argued for a age-restricted professional league of football in his wonderful indictment of college football The 100-Yard Lie. Schools that wanted to, could sponsor teams. Schools which wanted to play amatuer sports could become in essence DIII schools.
The University of Chicago abandonned big time football decades ago because Robert Hutchins, then president of the University, said that a school could not compete without cheating and he refused to condone cheating. He also said "A college racing stable makes as much sense as college football. The jockey could carry the college colors; the students could cheer; the alumni could bet; and the horse wouldn't have to pass a history test."