Ban College Football?

Tonight there was a debate on PBS (yes, I'm addicted to channel 8) regarding the issue of banning college football. The defending side said that football produces too many injuries, and that more importantly football has no place in the higher education system. The other side argued that college football indeed has a part in the university system, because it gains them more notoriety, provides athletic scholarships to students who may not otherwise have had access to a university education, and provides a cohesiveness and sense of pride for students.

What do you guys think?

During my time in the UK, I couldn't get away from football. University administrators kept asking me questions such as, "what provides ASU's cohesiveness?" "What prompts a sense of loyalty to ASU?" "Why do alumni donate for years after their ASU experience is over?" and I had to answer that football was way up there. The Europeans were confused. "Why?" And that, I couldn't answer. Their systems do not include a football program. They don't have mascots or school colors (can you imagine ASU without Sparky or the pitchfork?).

I couldn't imagine ASU without the football games, tailgate parties, alumni parties, marching band (ho! no marching band!), and maroon and gold. They are inseparable. Sure, we have other traditions such as painting the "A" and Lantern Walk, but I don't think anyone would deny that football brings the most students together. The best solution I could find for my UK university was to find something that instilled that sense of cohesiveness in their students, since they didn't have football. They didn't grasp the interconnectedness between sports and academics, and what place a sports program had in a university setting.

Is it because American universities are run like businesses, and people want football and will pay for football so they get football? I think that is a big part of it. But does that mean football belongs in the higher education system? Personally, I think it does. It was a huge part of my college experience. I was in the marching band, for crying out loud, and how well our team performs does affect our psyche of how great a student body we are. There are winners and losers in life, and that's just a fact. No company is going to give all of their job candidates jobs for showing up to the interview; there will be one person awarded a job. Hard work and determination are the hallmarks of being an American, and football showcases that. Is there corruption in it? Of course. I'm not talking about ASU, but the whole college system as a whole. Anywhere there is freedom and money, there is some corruption. Would it be beneficial to keep developing better helmets for our players, and ways to keep them safe? Yes.

But do we need to ban it? Why can't we just reform it some?


What do you guys think: ban completely or reform?