Kansas City Editor Dishes Out Doses of Reality to NCAA Conventioneers

The concept of big-time college sports as amateur athletics “is pure fiction,” and those who believe the NCAA is winning the war against illegal recruiting will be disappointed, a newspaper executive said Monday, in remarks that appeared to startle many in attendance at the NCAA convention.

“These young men are athlete-students,” not student-athletes, said Joe McGuff, vice-president and editor of the Kansas City Star and Times. “In a college or university, everything should be subordinated to education. I don’t think anyone can look at the facts and figures . . . and say that is happening.”

McGuff also took issue with NCAA Executive Director Dick Schultz, who told delegates Sunday night that the NCAA “is turning the corner” in the war on cheating in recruiting.

McGuff, a longtime sports editor and columnist of the Star and Times, was more critical of the collegiate system than any speaker at any NCAA meeting in memory, said one veteran delegate.

“I’ve never heard anybody knock things like that before, and this is my 43rd NCAA convention,” said Wayne Duke, retiring commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. “I think a lot of people in this room would tell you that he gave a very welcome message.”

Del Brinkman, faculty representative from Kansas, said, “Some people appreciated what he said, including me, but not as many people appreciated it as should have.”

McGuff was one of four panelists discussing the results of an exhaustive study the NCAA commissioned on the experiences and problems of college athletes. He and others noted that, among other things, the study indicated that football and basketball players in successful programs generally have lower grades than those whose teams are less successful.

The other panelists--NCAA President Will Bailey, San Jose State President Gail Fullerton and Indiana President Emeritus John Ryan--conceded there are problems in athletics, but drew more positive readings from the study than McGuff.

Bailey noted that college and football players reported more physical and mental abuse than other students.

“But physical and mental abuse, like beauty, may be in the eye of the beholder,” Bailey said.

Fullerton noted that the study indicated fewer than one-fourth of the senior football and basketball players anticipate a professional sports career.

“We’re frequently criticized for encouraging student-athletes to think they might achieve a career in pro sports,” she said. “But I never hear the fine arts department criticized for encouraging their students to try to become actors.”

Ryan urged delegates not to make hasty decisons regarding the survey.

“If we are prudent, we can take actions good for intercollegiate athletics, good for higher eduation and good for the secondary school system of the United States,” Ryan said.

McGuff noted that many college administrators and coaches have lauded the study.

“The press has put a different spin on the report,” he said.

He drew scattered laughter and applause when he said, “Bob Verdi of the Chicago Tribune wrote that it is mind-boggling that the NCAA is spending $1.75 million for this study and added, ‘One would think the NCAA has been around too long to be so naive, but we should never underestimate the ability of this organization to out-dumb itself.’ ”

Many of the roughly 1,800 delegates who seemed bored and inattentive to previous speakers gave McGuff their full attention.

“I see the study as a starting point,” he said. “But I will offer this warning. If the spin the presidents choose to put on it is to say, ‘My, look how good things are,’ then instead of a starting point it will be a dead end.”

McGuff emphasized that he was not an opponent of college sports.

“I enjoy college athletics,” he said. “I think the personal benefits of athletics are enormous.

“But the picture that emerges is one of the big-time football or basketball player who is less gifted academically; who comes from poorer circumstances; devotes more time to sports than to academic pursuits; has substantially more academic problems and more problems living up to his academic potential; feels more isolated and has more mental, physical and personal problems than those in other sports and in extracurricular programs.”

McGuff said he does not foresee signficant changes.

“I am not naive enough to think radical changes can be made in big-time college athletics,” he said. “There is too big a structure in place, too much money at stake and too much alumni pressure in support of the present system.”

In conclusion, McGuff took direct issue with Schultz’s remarks that the NCAA was “turning the corner” against illegal recruiting.

“On Wall Street, in the defense industry, in the Olympics and in college athletics, as the financial stakes rise, so does the pressure to cheat,” McGuff said. “The financial stakes keep going up in college athletics and so does the size of the rule book, the size of the enforcement staff and the severity of the penalties. But those who think tough enforcement in support of a severely flawed system is the final answer will be disappointed.”

He likened the NCAA’s enforcement efforts to a farmer whose truck got stuck in a ditch.

“A passerby noticed the farmer had tied a little dog to the front bumper and said, ‘You’re not counting on that dog to pull your truck out of the ditch, are you? The farmer said, ‘Don’t worry--I have a whip.’ ”

Delegates will begin Tuesday voting on 147 legislative items, including several that would change the controversial “Proposition 48” freshman eligibility standards.