Sports Illustrated columnist and sports writing legend Frank Deford loves sports, but isn't blind to the economics, greed and corruption of the industry that seems to become more pervasive every year. Little League World Series, anyone?
A journalist for more than 40 years, author of 14 books and a weekly commentator on National Public Radio, Deford delivered his trademark thinking man's sports fan viewpoint to The Town Hall of Cleveland in October with a theme he's explored throughout his career: 'Sports: The Hype and the Hypocrisy.'
'Why should athletes get [college] scholarships and a piano player shouldn't?' Deford asked the receptive audience of hundreds of business executives, educators, as well as high school and college students in the Ohio Theatre. '... It serves to foster a more anti-intellectual atmosphere.'
Although Deford gibed college athletics for its shameless corporate and booster profiteering, he did praise schools for sharing the wealth by adding more women's teams.
'That team experience carries over throughout life,' Deford says. 'Boys learn to take care of each other on a team early on,' adding more team-oriented school sports for girls and women will help them 'catch up in the workplace' later in life.
Although there are benefits, Deford worries about the trend of female student athletes who descend into the same bad grades, behavior and sports obsession of their male counterparts.
'The irony of Title IX is that it shows sometimes you achieve equality by stepping down,' he says.
