THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 12, 1994 TAG: 9406120202
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
DATELINE: 940612 LENGTH: Medium
``The good thing is,'' he says, ``Florida State University has nothing to do with this.''
{REST} Bowden sounds like a coach who hasn't seen the films.
But if Bowden isn't willing to accept some of the blame for his players' shenanigans, there are still plenty of us who should.
Let me be the first to say, then, that this is my fault. I take the responsibility, part of it, anyway, for what's happening at Florida State.
As a sports writer, I accept my fair share of the blame for anything illegal, unethical or embarrassing that takes place inside any college athletic program.
Throw the book at me. Intentionally or not, I've given college athletics an importance they do not deserve.
But if I've got to give myself up, I'm taking others with me.
Alumni. School presidents. Coaches. Agents. Athletes. Fans. Television. Other writers. They are my co-conspirators. All of us have a hand in perpetuating an environment that permits higher education to be a willing victim of corruption and deceit.
Let's not kid ourselves. We all wink at what goes on in college athletics. We wink at the fibs told by coaches and university presidents. We wink at each other, lest anyone miss the joke.
Big-time college football appears more susceptible to widespread abuse than other sports. In any case, it cannot flourish unless a lot of us operate in a state of permanent denial.
With straight faces we parrot the pieties about the student-athlete. The best of us figure that college, at the very least, helps socialize defensive backs and no-neck linemen.
This is how we rationalize allowing kids to major in sports. In truth, they are in college for our amusement. To provide entertainment. Wink if you get my drift.
Already, I can hear people saying, ``What takes place at Florida State and some other schools are isolated incidents.''
This is another fib we love to tell ourselves. But wherever people worship college sports - especially big-time football - compromise goes on with the approval of everyone at the university. Could anything be more obvious?
As for those ``isolated incidents,'' in many cases the only thing isolated are the athletes. They are isolated from the student body, from a true education, and from a realistic view of their futures.
For now, the heat is on Florida State. Because of the Foot Locker shopping spree by Seminoles players, people are calling FSU ``Free Shoes University.''
That's funny. Yet, in one way or another, the shoe fits at other football factories as well.
The deviousness associated with all scandals is a direct result of the cynicism that's created when athletes are not really students.
Can we live with this reality?
Apparently not.
Even the media, the cops on the beat when a problem surfaces, quickly knuckle under to the time-honored fantasies once the smoke clears.
Nobody wants to be a killjoy all the time, so we in the writing and broadcasting wing of sports promotion go along, just as the college presidents go along.
But now that I've turned myself in for my part in the FSU scandal, you can count on me to be different. I've seen the light. I'm a changed man.
No, that's not a wink you see. There must be something in my eye. Pollen or sand. I'm not winking. Honest.
by CNB