The media attack on Nick Saban drew a response from the coach Thursday.
A member of the media admitted many sportswriters are jerks. But to be fair, many coaches are too. I’ve been very rough on the media’s coverage of Saban because in most instances, covering college athletics is an easy job compared to what many sportswriters must endure covering high school athletics.
Sportswriters who cover small town beats have a much more difficult job. I’ve known one writer who covered 8-12 different high school teams. Now, you’d think high school would be easier, but sometimes the smaller the venue, the bigger the coach’s ego. So, when some hotshot from the Montgomery Advertiser or a know-it-all from Sports Illustrated attacks Saban for not being nice, I see that in perspective of watching friends suffer through much more difficult jobs and finding a way to do it with class.
COLLEGE FINANCE
According to a study, college presidents and football coaches are getting richer, while college faculty aren’t. Guess what, the study mentions Nick Saban’s new $32 million contract with Alabama: The report also notes high-profile contracts for football coaches, such as the University of Alabama’s Nick Saban, who recently signed an eight-year deal worth at least $32 million.That’s about 10 times as much as Alabama’s entire need-based financial aid budget in 2004-2005.
STATE COLLEGE SCANDAL
The Birmingham News released a strongly worded and only partially correct editorial calling for an end to the practice of legislators and other state officials working for the state’s two-year colleges. Unfortunately, the editorial didn’t go far enough. Legislators should also be banned from working for K-12 or any other government institution.
The News gets the point: It’s a valid point that these legislators have an inherent conflict of interest, regardless of how legitimate their college jobs are. But the same point can be made for legislators who have jobs or contracts with four-year colleges, K-12 schools and with other state-funded entities – even state-funded private entities. But it stopped short of calling for ending the practice of legislators working for state institutions all together. Instead the News suggested: The next best thing would be for legislators to be forbidden from voting, lobbying or having any other involvement in legislation that directly benefits their employers, and that certainly should include budget matters.
That would be a good start to ending corruption, but we need more decisive measures to end the corruption.
Besides lawmakers, with their hefty new pay raise (over 60 percent), shouldn’t need the additional taxpayer money from these jobs anyway.