NY Times Article

[FredFan7]

Originally posted by jfurdell
I agree with him, that often too much money and attention is focused on sports over education.

That's really the only reservation I have with working football games: I don't want to be contributing to an environment where we place 17-year-olds on a pedestal and make them into stars based solely on athletic ability. That's not what being in high school should be about. When the adults in the community do that, they're focusing on the wrong priorities.

I'm actually glad that I DON'T work in Texas. I love football as much as anybody, and I like seeing it well-supported, but putting so much focus on it the way they do just doesn't sit well with me. High school football is a good thing when it teaches the participants how to have the discipline to be successful in life and how to work with others as a team. It's bad when it teaches them that statistics, titles, and fame are more important than academic self-development, and that athletes are more important than non-athletes.

Players who make all-district teams are always going to get their pictures in the paper, rather than valedictorians; that's just the way it is. But building multi-million dollar stadiums for these kids sends the wrong message.

Can't add any more to that than, "yep."