“The love of money is the root of all evil.” — The Apostle Paul
“Money doesn’t talk, it swears.” — Bob Dylan
“Now y’see… That’s what’s wrong with this country…” — Ross Perot
“Pay attention… connect the dots… follow the money.” — Me
ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.
I really did love sports in bygone days, even the big-time stuff, like Major League Baseball, the NFL, college football, college basketball, etc. But like it does so often, big money ruined it for me.
Yet another example reared its ugly head this week with the news that a Big Ten football game between Penn State and Michigan State will be played on the day after Thanksgiving and televised by the NBC network. It will pre-empt the customary first day of the two-day high school football championship contests at Ford Field.
Big-time football trumps wholesome high school football… follow the money. As Stringer Bell explained in “The Wire,” television series, “It’s nothing personal. It’s just business.”
MSU and Penn State originally were scheduled to play the game at Spartan Stadium, but the lucrative prospects of a national television audience on the evening of Black Friday was just too good to pass up.
So the MHSAA caved and rescheduled the championship games to Saturday and Sunday that weekend.
Director Mark Uyl shared: “The MHSAA has enjoyed a long relationship with two of our best partners, Michigan State University and Ford Field. Our athletes have incredible experiences both on the Michigan State campus and Ford Field with our championship events.
“Given the unique opportunities of this fall, the MHSAA was proud to play a small part in making the puzzle work with Ford Field, Michigan State Athletics and the Big Ten Conference, while still preserving all eight of our games on Thanksgiving weekend at Ford Field.”
This is another fine example of doing the corporate public relations dance, sacrificing truth and integrity at the altar of greed.
Many of the teams that play in the championship games are Christian schools, and it’s against their religion to play on Sundays. And many of the schools’ players, coaches and fans travel great distances to play in the finals, so they’ll have to make a long trek back home on a Sunday night and then return to school classrooms Monday morning.
No matter… follow the money.
High school football is being inconvenienced here in a huge way. I am disappointed in the MHSAA, Ford Field officials and Penn State and Michigan State for opting for the bottom line of money rather than the traditional asset we’re told makes amateur high school football so wonderful.
Spot on David. College football is now all about the money. Coaches profess their school loyalty while concurrently negotiating and accepting bigger paychecks from their next employer. Athletes enjoy all-expense-paid trips to numerous schools, make their “commitments,” and then they de-commit at the last minute when a better NIL deal comes along. Schools require ever-increasing per seat “donations” from fans for the “privilege” of buying season tickets, and then their coaches complain when those seats are empty on game day. And forget college player development! High school recruits now expect to switch schools before becoming starters. And if they do stay, then they eventually lose their starts anyway to incoming players recruited from the Transfer Portal.
Today the rich bedazzle the ignorant and game the systems to buy college football teams, media shill columnists and pundits, Supreme Court justices, senators, and congressional representatives. The rich do so to ensure that their teams and their candidates win, that laws are interpreted in their favor, and most importantly, that legislation is passed to reduce their taxes, expand their portfolios, and sustain their control. Today’s “Christian” TV preachers guarantee salvation to their donors who “give” to subsidize the preachers’ performance halls and lavish lifestyles.
For the past few years I’ve enjoyed a weekly Zoom meetup with my old MSU roommate and five other guys who lived down the hall from us back in the day. We do remember those good old days, we’re routinely befuddled by today’s standards, and we completely agree with your position regarding this year’s Black Friday PSU/MSU game.
But we shouldn’t be surprised. It’s clear that many among us now happily regard the United States as “One nation, under the Almighty Dollar, with liberty, justice and guns for those who can afford them.” Today, money buys our championships, our tickets to Heaven, and our “good” government. Is there any doubt that it will also “Make American Great Again,” too?
Time will tell