Hello Loyal Readers and Listeners,
When I’ve not been able to produce a Bacon Blog, I’ve done a poor job of letting you know, instead just going AWOL. Well, last night, I finished the fourth draft of the upcoming book, “Fourth and Long: The Fight for the Soul of College Football” — which, of course, comes in at twice the desired length. So, we still have some work to do. But, given this, and fresh from a train out of Chicago, I was not able to get to the Bacon Blog this week — and naturally there was plenty to talk about.
But last week I did finish two pieces for Michigan Today you might like, the first on U-M law school alum Branch Rickey’s bold decision to bring Jackie Robinson up to the majors, and the second on Fred Wilpon, a U-M alum, protege of Rickey’s, and current owner of the New York Mets.
They are linked here: http://www.michigantoday.umich.edu/story.php?id=8593#.UXE8k4WhX4g
Hope you like them, and see you next week!
-John
Finish the book. I can pass up a blog or two.
The sellout of college football, led by that institution in South Bend, started when ND decided to go it alone and sign a separate TV contract with NBC. Once the rest of the hogs found out about the money trough, the stampede was on.
Using Title IX as an excuse, Division I universities became the unpaid farm teams for professional sports.
Pimps (not a nice word, I admit) , in the guise of university administrations, rushed off to sell their wares to the highest bidder with money in his pocket.
Eddie Robinson and the small colleges that preached “education first” and graduated the likes of Willie Davis, were left standing by the wayside while the men and women that they used to recruit went off to
find the highest paying coach/booster.
The athletic heroes and schools of my youth are no more, captured by 30 pieces of silver.
bomberjohn5
Well said.