Cotsas NOW on college athletics

If you haven’t caught it yet, check out the episode on Costas NOW that’s currently running on HBO. It includes a fascinating look at the issues surrounding academic integrity for big-time college athletes.

Both Donna Shalala (University of Miami president) and Myles Brand (NCAA president) come off looking like weak-kneed apologists who consistently deny that there is a serious problem. It’s interesting that they each produce arguments from the same fallacious playbook that either spins statistics or claims they don’t exist.

At one point, Billy Packer argues that few of the athletes would have been admitted if held to the schools’ admission standards for non-athletes, and Brand responds by citing a completely unrelated statistic. At best, he did not understand Packer’s point; at worst, he is in complete denial.

Watching the piece feels like trying to reach an alcoholic (or two) being led to admit that he or she has a problem. Until high-profile college administrators like Brand and Shalala can admit something is wrong, there’s no real hope of anything more than a superficial discussion of the problem.