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by MatthewCCox

An Open Letter to Frank Beamer, Head Football Coach at Virginia Tech

November 11, 2011 in Leisure

Dear Coach Beamer,

I have a word of advice for you.

Retire.

Frank Beamer Virginia TechDon’t get me wrong. I really appreciate the work you have done building a storied football tradition at Virginia Tech. You have been there more than twenty-five years. You have won at least eight games for the past fourteen years. (That’s currently the longest streak in major college football.) You have given all of southwest Virginia something to cheer about on fall Saturday afternoons for a long time.

We are grateful.

Please retire.

It has been a good run. I remember when things weren’t so good in Blacksburg on fall Saturdays. I have been a Virginia Tech fan since an October day in 1971 when, as a ten-year old, a friend’s father gave us tickets.

I sat on the 45-yard line in Lane Stadium and watched Don Strock start the game, like he did every game, with a downfield bomb. On this Saturday afternoon, against William and Mary, the pass was intercepted. It didn’t matter. Strock would eventually lead the nation in total offense and have a career holding the clipboard for the Miami Dolphins. I always looked for him on that sideline and fondly remembered when I saw him play in Blacksburg.

The Hokies were called the Fighting Gobblers then. The south end zone, that now seats tens of thousands, was a grass field where a couple of cadets fired a cannon every time Virginia Tech scored.

That Saturday afternoon was cloudy. I remember the smell of cigars and brandy. My parents tolerated the weather, the game, and the atmosphere. (Mom spent the second half sitting in the car.) I loved it.

I didn’t go to school at Virginia Tech. The music program wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, so I went to East Carolina. I’m grateful the two schools play each other in football most seasons. That game was the excuse I used to get cable television years ago.

Again, I beg you to retire.

You have done a wonderful job of making Virginia Tech football relevant. Even though I live 2000 miles away from VPI – I’m sure you remember when Tech was called that – I watch the games every chance I get. I love explaining to my fellow New Mexicans what a Hokie is and the tradition of the lunch pail. It is reassuring to know I can watch your team play a bowl game every holiday season.

However, at some point, you will need to step aside for a new coach. The time is coming. You know it is.

Soon, someone somewhere will decide it is time. They will look at the longest tenured coach in major college football. They will see you have become an icon. They will think you are too big for the school. They will target you.

In fact, I bet someone has already put together a file. It may be an isolated incident that happened more than a dozen years ago with one of your former staff members or players.

When the time is right, they’ll release the details to the authorities and the media. There will be an indictment, maybe in the courts, definitely in the media.

The public will demand the resignation of the coach, the athletic director, and the university president. They will blindly think this solves the problem that you had little or nothing to do with and they will not be content until you leave.

Save us the heartache. Please retire before that happens.

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by MatthewCCox

The Message Behind the Instability of College Football

September 22, 2011 in Leisure

In a previous article, I stated that the NCAA was about to lose its revenue from college football. I was mistaken. This actually happened in 1984 as a result of a NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma decision by the United States Supreme Court.

In spite of this decision, the NCAA, as an overactive police enforcement division, continues to try to control the business that is college football. If you want to read more about this practice, I’ve spent several articles writing about it and October’s Atlantic Magazine features an article by Taylor Branch that thoroughly describes the history of college football and the NCAA. I highly recommend it.College Football

This subject remains a hot topic on sports talk shows as they debate how college sports should be run. This week’s focus is how colleges are looking for more money through realigning their conferences. The latest moves sent Pittsburgh and Syracuse from the Big East to the ACC. This morning I read that my alma mater, East Carolina University, applied to move from Conference USA to the Big East. I suspect more schools will move as soon as they figure out the best place to go. The situation remains fluid.

Said another way, the situation is not stable.

Instability is always the result when there is resistance to Universal laws.

In this case, the resistance is against the flow of abundance to the student athlete. Yes, it is about the money. When a person or institution makes significant money and does not fairly share this revenue with those who helped earn it, a buildup occurs. This blocks the natural flow of energy and causes instability.

Some say that a college education is enough reward for these athletes. I disagree. From my perspective, the goal of a college education is to prepare the student to live a successful life. I define a successful life as one where a person understands how to create revenue, and possibly wealth, through living within their passion and contributing to society.

For example, a student with the passion for football, who wants to continue in the sport professionally, contributes to society by producing a product of games that provides entertainment. The funds for this student’s revenue come from those who are willing to pay to watch him live within his passion. He may do this as a player, coach, equipment manager, trainer, or any other of a large number of professions associated with the sport.

If this student had a passion in any other field of study, he could study it, get a job in it, and learn how to acquire revenue within that field. However, this is not possible for the student athlete. According to the NCAA, it is illegal for the student athlete to get paid for his profession. Therefore, he does not receive an education that adequately prepares him for life outside college.

I believe the current situation with college football will not be resolved until players receive a reasonable share of the revenue generated through the sports they play. I base this comment purely on the fact that nature uses the flow of energy to produce abundance. When that flow is blocked, the result is instability.

As we say on the Leisure Page, our recreational activities demonstrate the society we have created for ourselves. In college sports, we currently have a corporate controlled environment, using underpaid or nonpaid workers, creating significant revenue, and working out of harmony with basic Universal Laws. We have the same thing in society.

In college sports, like in our society, we see a shift towards unity that allows everyone to reap the rewards. College sports will remain in upheaval until this situation is resolved. Society will too.

Do you think it is time for college athletes to get paid something other than a scholarship? Why or why not?

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by MatthewCCox

Play for Pay

September 16, 2011 in Leisure

Tony Kornheiser’s idea of the BCS Schools leaving the NCAA would solve many of the issues facing college football. It would allow these programs to thrive without the hindrance of the NCAA’s core purpose hanging over them.

In addition, it could allow the game to reward those who create the product on the field by paying the players. I realize that these student athletes receive scholarships for free education. However, we’ve already established that this pseudo education system (PEE) doesn’t adequately prepare the student athlete for life, especially in the area of finances. Therefore, something else must be done.

By the way, if there is any doubt that the NCAA is attempting to destroy the more successful programs through the use of PEE, take a look at how they punished Boise State University. BSU is a relatively small school that has figured out how to run an amazingly successful football program. Their team has competed with the larger schools for several years and it currently ranks as one of the top five programs in the country.

The NCAA took away nine scholarships from Boise State and put them on three years probation. What was their offense? They allowed incoming freshman players to sleep on the floor of current students and gave them some fast-food meals. There was no competitive advantage earned by BSU. They just broke a rule that, had the students not been athletes, wouldn’t have mattered to anyone.

There is evidence to support the playing of players. A recent study by the National Football MoneyCollege Players Association documented the value of each college football and basketball players at more than six figures. This is far more than the value of those players’ scholarships.

Any other student may, in his or her spare time, work and get paid for their work in their field of study. In some cases, these jobs are provided by the university in the form of work-study programs and fellowships. However, because of the time commitment necessary for football, participants often don’t have the opportunity to do this. Therefore, they leave school without an understanding of how to manage finances.

Is it time to level the playing field for these students and let them get paid for their work too? If college football is a successful business, shouldn’t the employees get paid for their contributions?

I believe the answer to these questions is yes. I’ll explain why I think this in a future article.

What do you think? Leave your responses below.

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by MatthewCCox

It May Be Time for BCS Schools to Go Their Own Way

September 10, 2011 in Leisure

In my writing and seminars, I teach about The Law of Abundance. This is a universal law that works without exception. As part of that teaching, I demonstrate that when something resists the flow of what is naturally taking place, this resistance will eventually be overcome. If the one resisting moves into the flow, life continues peacefully. However, if the resistance persists, the energy flow must build up until it is strong enough to overcome the resistance. This usually results in violence and possible destruction of the one resisting.

One example of this is how a dam blocks water. The dam must have a way to release water. Without this release, the water will overflow the dam. Often, this results in the dam being destroyed.

In the situation with the NCAA and college football, the NCAA is the dam and college football is the water. The NCAA sees the water coming and is attempting to hold it back through numerous investigations. If the NCAA continues to do this, it may be destroyed.

In previous articles, I described the money generated through college football. If you read carefully, you noticed that I gave the numbers for only the top 120 schools. These large programs are called BCS schools because they are eligible to play in the Bowl Championship Series.

However, more than 300 schools have football teams. The numbers for the rest aren’t so lucrative. In addition, except for football, basketball, and a couple other sports, college sports programs often don’t turn a profit. In other words, the NCAA needs the revenue from the BCS schools to operate.

It may lose that revenue.

As I explained previously, the business of college football at BCS schools goes against the NCAA’s Core Purpose. If the NCAA is going to survive, it must figure out a way to ride the flow of BCS revenue without opposing it. It has been unsuccessful at this task. Therefore, the BCS schools may be creating their own system.

Tony Kornheiser of ESPN believes this new system will have four super conferences: BCS Logo with wingsone on the west coast, the PAC 12; one in the southeast; the SEC, one in the east coast and northeast; a combination of the ACC and Big East, and a fourth in the middle of the country, the BIG 10. Each conference will have 20-24 teams and they will end the season with a playoff series, possibly using the current bowl games, to determine a national champion. These BCS schools will leave the NCAA and take their revenue with them.

His idea sounds radical until we look at what has happened with conference realignment over the past few years. The PAC 10 has 12 teams and is now the PAC 12. The Big 10 has 12 teams and remains the Big 10. The Big 12 has 10 teams and five of those teams are talking about leaving. I wonder if they will still use the name “Big 12” when they only have five teams.

I think Kornheiser’s idea will remove much of the resistance to the Law of Abundance in this situation. What do you think?

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by MatthewCCox

The Business of College Football

September 6, 2011 in Leisure

(Part three in a series about Division I college football)

The previous articles in this series detailed why the NCAA is attempting to destroy college football. NCAA Versus College FootballThe short answer is that college athletics is too competitive for the NCAA’s taste. In fact, the NCAA’s Core Purpose is to create fairness and equity. Towards this end, it believes a “Pseudo Educational Experience (what I call PEE) is more important than the real-life educational experience that teaches student athletes how to thrive after they leave school. Therefore, the NCAA, in spite of the fact that its operational budget comes from sports-related revenues, attempts to destroy college football. In fact, it attempts to destroy any sport that is successful in terms of money and popularity.

Let’s look closer.

College sports produces huge amounts of money. In 2010, the cost of football tickets at the largest 120 Division I schools averaged $40. The average attendance at those games was 50,000 people. Simple math shows that each of the season’s 775 games produced 2 million dollars in ticket revenue. Parking fees and concessions added another half million dollars per game.The revenue doesn’t end there. There are dollars for advertising, booster fees paid for the privilege of being able to buy tickets, and lucrative broadcast deals. The total is measured in billions of dollars.

Other college sports produce substantial revenue too. Men’s basketball games, including the “March Madness” tournaments, bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition, woman’s basketball, men’s baseball, and lacrosse all draw large crowds for their national tournaments.

It is enough to make the academic experts at the NCAA cringe. The most competitive events draw the biggest crowds. This popularity stands in the way of the NCAA Core Purpose of fairness and equity. The NCAA can only throw investigative darts at the business that has become college sports.

This business is experiencing The Law of Abundance. I teach about this law in my book, Living the Southwest Lifestyle and in The Peace of Mind Training Institute Seminars that will be available later this month. This universal law works without exception. It is apparent in nature. It is apparent in college athletics.

As we say on the home page for the Leisure Category, what society does during leisure time is an indication of what is taking place on a spiritual level. This is especially true with college football and the NCAA. This lucrative business is creating revenue and enjoying the results of The Law of Abundance in what is being called an economic depression.

Those who resist this are struggling. In fact, if it isn’t careful, the NCAA may experience something destructive in its stance against the natural flow of abundance. As NCAA laws cut off the flow of funds to the players who help produce revenue, other efforts are made to reward players. The NCAA investigates these efforts. Those on the outside see the NCAA’s hypocrisy. Some are moving to correct it.

I’ll explain those corrections in an upcoming article.

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by MatthewCCox

It’s the Core Purpose

September 3, 2011 in Leisure

(Part two in a series about Division I college football)

In Thursday’s article, I said, “The NCAA is trying to destroy college football as we know it.” I realize it doesn’t make sense for the NCAA to destroy its most lucrative and most popular sport. At least, it doesn’t make sense if the goal is to promote college athletics. It doesn’t make sense if the goal is to generate revenue through sports. It doesn’t make sense if the goal is to build a fan base.

However, the NCAA has none of these goals.

The NCAA website says, “THE NCAA’s CORE PURPOSE IS TO NCAA Logogovern competition in a fair, safe, equitable, and sportsmanlike manner, and to integrate intercollegiate athletics into higher education so that the educational experience of the student-athlete is paramount.”

This core purpose explains why the NCAA is so interested in investigating the football programs that have the most success. They want to create an educational experience for the student athlete. On the surface, this is a worthy goal. However, the manner in which the NCAA does this creates a “pseudo educational experience” (PEE) that is outside the rigors of everyday life. To fulfill its core purpose, the PEE must be fair, safe, equitable, and sportsmanlike.

This is difficult because athletic competitions, like many things in life, are not fair, safe, or equitable. Some coaches are smarter. Some have more experience. Some athletes are faster. Some are stronger. Some schools have more tradition. Some have more money. This is a consistency of life. Some people have more of one attribute. Some have more of another. This creates unfairness, produces risky situations, and causes inequity.

In addition, sportsmanlike is usually defined as not beating an opponent by “too many points.” Athletic events inevitably result in “blowouts” where, because of situations resulting from unfairness, risk/reward decisions, and inequities, one team scores substantially more points than the other team. Therefore, for the NCAA to govern competition in a fair, safe, equitable and sportsmanlike manner, it must destroy the current edition of college football.

The NCAA says it does this because it has in mind the best interest of the student athlete. I assume this means preparing the student athlete for life through the teaching of knowledge and life skills. However, the PEE created by the NCAA does not allow a student athlete to receive money for providing services that help the school create revenue through athletic events. It judges the PEE more important than life experience. Therefore, if a student athlete receives money or a benefit other than the PEE, the NCAA opens an investigation with the intent of punishing everyone who dares stray outside the system.

Those who run the NCAA have lost touch with the fact that the strongest educational experiences have little to do with the classroom. In the process, they are elevating the PEE over life educational experience.

This explains why the NCAA is attempting to destroy college football. Is there a solution to this issue that works for the student athlete?

I invite you to leave your suggestions below.

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by MatthewCCox

Does the NCAA Want to Destroy College Football?

September 1, 2011 in Leisure

 

(Part one in a series about Division I college football)

NCAA FootballCollege football kicks off a new season in the United States tonight. By the time the weekend is done, most of the nation’s teams will have played their first game of the year. This will happen in spite of the efforts of the NCAA to disrupt the game in the name of education.

The financial success and popularity of college football is obvious to even the casual observer. A football fan with access to cable television and the internet may watch dozens of games every week, each taking place in a stadium filled with at least 50,000 people and, in some cases, as many as 110,000 screaming athletic supporters.

College football is the most lucrative sport for the NCAA and its member institutions. It produces the most television money. It has the largest attended events. It has the highest ticket prices. As a result, the NCAA is trying to destroy it.

This may seem like an exaggeration. It is not. Just look at the NCAA’s actions over the past few months. Almost every successful Division I college football program has been investigated. No fewer than fifteen college football teams are currently under investigation and each one is on the road to significant success or improvement.

Some of these investigations have resulted in players not being allowed to play and coaches being fired. Others have resulted in schools spending significant taxpayer dollars to defend the actions of one or two employees, students, or boosters.

On the surface, these investigations appear to be about cheating. Rivals of the schools being investigated suddenly think the reason they always lose to those schools is because the winners cheated. University of Michigan fans cheered when one recent investigation cost Ohio State University its starting quarterback and head football coach because players traded signed footballs and other memorabilia for tattoos. University of Florida fans exulted when another investigation revealed University of Miami players received illegal benefits.

Look closer and you will realize that tattoos can’t produce athletic success. Even the most creative mind would have trouble finding a connection. Check the record at the University of Miami and you will discover that the team actually lost more games as the illegal benefits rolled into the program. In fact, look at the details of all fifteen schools on the investigation list and, with the possible exception of Auburn, you will see that the so-called “cheating” did not translate to winning games.

This raises some questions:

  • If the cheating doesn’t produce wins, is it really cheating?
  • If the activities do not produce an unfair advantage, then why does the NCAA care?
  • If it isn’t about cheating, then why is the NCAA investigating these issues?

Because the NCAA is trying to destroy college football as we know it.

I’ll explain why in a future article.

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