College Sports

                                          Find more information on Baltimore-area college sports at these links: Coppin State University Loyola University of Maryland Morgan State University Stevenson University Towson University UMBC

Each week, The Baltimore Sun publishes a Q&A with a college lacrosse player or coach to get you more acquainted with the player and his/her team. Today's guest is Johns Hopkins sophomore attackman Wells Stanwick, who leads the team in assists with 22 and points with 45. The Baltimore native and Boys' Latin graduate entered the week ranked fourth in Division I in shooting percentage (.500). After Saturday's 8-4 loss to then-No. 7 Loyola, the No. 13 Blue Jays (8-5) are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1971, the debut of the event.

It starts at the top Joseph Schwerdt Sun Sentinel First of all, Nick Saban questioning the integrity of sports agent rings hollow in South Florida, where four years ago he stared stone-faced at the Miami Dolphins' fan base and flatly said: "I'm not gonna be the Alabama coach." Right. But we digress. Who has ruined college sports? Agents. Coaches. Athletic directors. School presidents. Boosters. Networks. And others. Slice up the blame pie and give each an equal piece.

For full disclosure's sake, I am a 1968 graduate of what is now Towson University (and a 1974 graduate of Morgan State University). I taught high school for 14 years and founded an advertising agency that has a sports specialty. Our company has done sports ticket sales campaigns for 43 university programs in 24 states over a 30 year period - including Towson - as well as several pro teams, including all of the local franchises. To say that specializing in college athletics is not a way to build a big media billing agency is an understatement.

CHICAGO -- Lou Holtz wrote a book. So did Bo Schembechler and Barry Switzer.All of those books became best sellers, which says something about America's fascination with college sports.Murray Sperber also wrote a book about college sports, which was released this fall. It hasn't become a best seller, and that's too bad.It seems the public would rather read stories about Holtz's motivational methods or Schembechler's relationship with Woody Hayes. Switzer's book, "Bootlegger's Boy," is worth reading if only for sections on his wild and turbulent upbringing.

Give PBS points for timeliness in airing "Sports for Sale" tonight -- smack in the middle of "March Madness," NCAA basketball tournament time."Sports for Sale" is a 90-minute documentary with Bill Moyers about the madness, badness and business of college sports and what Moyers calls the "myth of the student-athlete." It airs at 9 on MPT (Channels 22 and 67).The report says some things that have needed to be said for a long time.Moyers asks, for example, what kind of message ABC and ESPN are sending students with the case of basketball coach Jim Valvano.

The "March madness" surrounding the National Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament reminds us that college sport, whether we like it or not, is commercial entertainment.The NCAA recently signed a $1 billion contract with CBS for the rights to the men's basketball tournament through 1997. If a football team is selected for the Rose Bowl, it receives $6 million, which is shared with other league members. The most successful schools approach $20 million budgets for their sports programs.

WASHINGTON -- A congressional agency will turn the tables on the NCAA by making the powerful sports organization the subject of an investigation, it was announced today.The National Collegiate Athletic Association, the major governing body in college sports, is widely known for the investigations it conducts into alleged misconduct by member schools.The General Accounting Office -- an independent, investigative arm of Congress -- has agreed to probe the finances of college sports, said Rep. Tom McMillen of Maryland.

WASHINGTON -- A report on college sports released yesterday shows that coaches are stubbornly resisting reforms that most Americans and almost all of the academic community believe are desperately needed."

For years, Representative Tom McMillen has been assailing college sports for ignoring the needs of college athletes. Now, he's proposing to do something about it.McMillen, D-Maryland, yesterday introduced legislation in the Congress that would streamline the way the National Collegiate Athletic Association adopts rules and might radically redistribute the riches generated each year by college games.In the bill, titled the "College Athletic Reform Act," McMillen calls for creation of a Board of Presidents, a 33-member panel of college heads who would have broad powers to alter the rules and relatively little concern about their initiatives being reversed.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to allocate $300,000 in taxpayer money to save Towson University's baseball team came under fire Wednesday from some legislators and key fiscal policymakers for being unprecedented and unfair to other college sports programs. Comptroller Peter Franchot said the money, recently included in the governor's 2014 budget, is a "bailout" that rewards bad financial decisions by a university. Towson President Maravene Loeschke decided last month to eliminate the university's baseball and men's soccer programs because of insufficient funding and a lack of gender equity in the university's sports.

Exit plan a must Teddy Greenstein Chicago Tribune Mark Emmert needs to go. His rogue enforcement staff has heaped embarrassment on a group that already might have been less popular than Congress. And it's not as if the botched Miami case is the exception. How about Shabazz Muhammad? And Cam Newton? It's bad enough Emmert allowed schools to hire staffers to bombard recruits with unlimited phone calls and text messages. Did he not consider the ramifications on 15- and 16-year-olds who should be focused on homework and listening to their coaches?

Health Maryland to host panel discussion on risks of playing sports Maryland's Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism will host a panel Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. to discuss the risks of playing sports, from children to professionals. Panelists include Dr. Stephen A. Haas , a retired physician for the Washington Wizards, Capitals and Nationals; Sean Sansiveri , staff counsel for the NFL Players Association; Rick "Doc" Walker , a commentator for ESPN-980 and Comcast SportsNet; Olympic field hockey player Katie O'Donnell (Maryland)

Time will tell whether self-described "bully" Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah Winfrey can repair the good name he lost when the United States Anti-Doping Agency revealed the truth behind his carefully crafted "narrative" of survival and sports glory. For me, to forgive Mr. Armstrong or not isn't the issue. Instead, Mr. Armstrong's fall illustrates how effectively we regulate Olympic movement athletics in the United States, and how that model for regulation can enhance the integrity of college and professional sports.

Leaving college sports conferences seems to be widespread these days ("AD optimistic about team, Big Ten move," Dec. 1). The University of Maryland president says his school will take in much more money in the Big Ten. The athletic director assures student athletes the department will continue to support them. Is it too much to hope the university will reinstate funding of the seven varsity sports that were dropped due to lack of funds? Frederick E. Knowles, Chestertown Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

When it comes to college athletics, it's time to speak truth to evil. You might think evil is too strong a word for what's going on in college athletics, but consider how Webster's Dictionary defines evil: morally reprehensible; causing harm; offensive. That pretty much sums up the state of big-time college sports today. The inane move of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten is simply the latest example. Here's the current reality of college sports: •NCAA Division I sports - especially at Football Bowl Subdivision schools - has nothing to do with education.

WASHINGTON -- If Rep. Tom McMillen, D-Md., has his way, the reform of college athletics will start with the NCAA.McMillen yesterday unveiled the "Collegiate Athletic Reform Act" designed to restore the balance between athletics and academics at colleges and universities across the country. The bill takes aim at what McMillen considers the core of the problem -- the escalating role of big-time money in the big-time college sports, football and men's basketball.The new legislation would restore to the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption for football and basketball, a privilege that was taken away by the Supreme Court in 1984, for a period of five years, giving the NCAA the power to negotiate all television contracts.

Almost daily since the Knight Commission Report on Intercollegiate Athletics shone like a beacon in the daylight a couple of months ago, stories of the continuing corruption on campus have flowed unabated.The results of special admission surveys benefiting the athlete in outrageous fashion have combined with tales of interest-free loans to the perspiring artists, lousy graduation rates, the usual assortment of police-blotter indiscretions and the bi-weekly announcements of the NCAA looking into yet another aspect of the way business is conducted at Nevada-Las Vegas.

                                          Find more information on Baltimore-area college sports at these links: Coppin State University Loyola University of Maryland Morgan State University Stevenson University Towson University UMBC

Spare me. Spare me the calls to abolish Penn State's football program in the wake of findings by former FBI Chief Louis Freeh that Coach Joe Paterno and other men in power hid the crimes of child rapist/assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Spare me the NCAA's ominous warning that they "will determine whether any additional action is necessary on its part at the appropriate time. " Spare me the self-righteous rage of sports writers who spent decades burnishing the Paterno legend and now rush to tear it all down.