Viewpoint: ESPN has it all wrong with move
Money definitely makes the world go round. It couldn't be any different in the world of college football. ESPN flexed its almighty muscle once again this week, dangling anything and everything to get back in the national spotlight on Sunday nights. The victims are not only two Mid-American Conference programs, but also every student-athlete competing in the NCAA Division I-A for football. Northern Illinois and Miami hold the dubious honor of opening the Bristol, Conn.-based company's Sunday Night Football on Oct. 8. Unfortunately, the RedHawks sacrificed the traditional Saturday Homecoming celebrations to have the game televised on a network self-proclaimed as the “Worldwide Leader of Sports.” And already, the move has been highly scrutinized. One person inside Northern Illinois Athletic Department, who did not want to be quoted or identified, was disturbed by the move to Sunday. Sure the exposure is tremendous. There isn't a university out there that wouldn't bite at the chance to play in front of millions of people for the sake of promotion. There has to be a time where someone says enough is enough. College athletes have been prostituted around on television for numerous years, and ESPN solidifies that by moving college football to Sunday. The Mid-American Conference is equally to blame for not stepping in and saying no as well. Given the chance, the conference would most likely agree to having a televised football game on at any time of day, whether its at noon the day before Thanksgiving to when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Day. However, exposure - and money - comes at a cost. The MAC's decision to go along with ESPN could alienate its already small fan base. The absence of a Saturday Homecoming game against the Huskies now gives Miami just two Saturday home games. The university already has problems trying to fill Yager Stadium, which was the 100th best in the country in attendance last year with an average of 15,241 a game. But most importantly, the decision to play a day later has jeopardized university's bid in promoting the student in the “student-athlete” all because ESPN had to fill a hole left by NBC's outbidding for Sunday night NFL games. The move to Sunday will also put student-athletes behind the black ball, as programs like Northern Illinois will have to drive in the wee-hours of the morning in an attempt to get student-athletes back in time for their classes. It's a move that could backfire, and in a big way. The scheduling change will come back to haunt programs on the fringe of losing scholarships because of the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate. NIU has already been bitten by the bug, losing two scholarships in March. That is why the NCAA is flawed in hypocrisy. The NCAA will turn a deaf ear to the powerful sports company just so everyone can make a few dollars. Instead of stepping in and protecting student-athletes' rights to proper learning without disturbance, the NCAA would rather take scholarships away when those universities fail to meet certain criteria. The almighty dollar bill does goes a long way. Nick Gerts can be reached at ngerts@daily-chronicle.com.