"There's a disconnect between big-
time college sports," Duderstadt
claims with conviction. "Michi-
gan is not competing so much with
,Ohio State commercially. They are
competing with the Detroit Lions.
I mean, we're competing for broad-
casting dollars, for paying specta-
tors. I think we're beginning to push
the limits of that."
Duderstadt comes from an educa-
tion background. He was - and still
is - a professor at the University and
shows, even today, an unparalleled
-interest in the students of Michigan.
He was an athlete himself, playing
on the football team while at Yale for
undergraduate work. Even though he
played collegiate athletics, Duder-
stadt still managed to graduate near
the top of his class.
He sits, hair receding but main-
taining its dirty blond tint, in his
office on North Campus - in a
building aptly named the Duderstadt
Center. Out of this office, the former
president of the University helps run
the Millennium Project, a laboratory
designed to bring students and fac-
ulty together in an environment in
which they can try to work through
new ideas.
But it is also from this office that
Duderstadt discusses the importance
of a nationwide paradigm shift in
college athletics and the importance
of bringing education back to the
student athlete.
"We're in show business," Dud-
erstadt says calmly. "We're not in
providing opportunities for students.
If we were really in the business of
providing opportunities for students,
we'd be investing in intramural ath-
letics. That's for students."
Yet even with his reservations
about the growing problem of the
corporate takeover throughout col-
legiate athletics, it was Duderstadt's
signature that led to what is now the
athletic department's biggest licens-
ing agreement. At the time, he was
skeptical, but he trusted Roberson.
Duderstadt hired Roberson in Sep-
tember 1993 in part because of Rob-
erson's education background. He
wanted someone who he could trust
to put the values of the student ath-
lete first - and he thought he had
found that in Roberson. Roberson
said the two were so close and so
similar that people told him many
times that he had to prove he wasn't
"Duderstadt's man."
"It stunned me because, first of
all, he was president of the Uni-
versity and, secondly, he appointed
me," Roberson said. "It was pretty
clear that we must have had some
compatibility. ... I worked for him,
I respected him, and, if you want to
call me his man, then call me his
man."
They are still good friends today,
but one of the few things that they
disagree on is the signing of the
Nike contract.
Duderstadt says now that the Nike
contract was a mistake - and one
that he would not make if he were
to do it all over again. In his eyes,
the contract sent Michigan down
the wrong path and set the school's
priorities in the wrong place - with
POINT COUNTERPOINT
What should we do about Lloyd
With Batman and Superms
Justice desires three things: honesty,
bravery and a goddamned bowl win
every few years.
Now I completely understand
those cooler heads who would sit idly
by, making no criticisms of the Uni-
versity's head football coach. You are
a cowardly lot, just as easily spooked
by vengeance sweeping through
the night as you are of strong, well
thought-out opinions.
Well I've got news for you all: Bat-
man is sick of Lloyd Carr and more
than willing to take on all comers.
Perennial recruiting classes arrive with
a handful of future NFL starters scat-
tered amongst men who will still make
All-Big Ten rosters by the end of their
careers. Ridiculous financial resources
and global reach that would render
Wayne Enterprises envious isn't just a
leg up, it's both feet over the fence.
But what does us in? Namby-
pamby play-calling and an ethos of
"we'll get em next time." I'll say
what must be said:
Lloyd Carr needs to go.
The era of "Michigan Men" has
ended. People talk of Michigan as
if the team is a walking ghost, con-
sumed with the past, living off past
victories like a feeble king. Carr
seems too clean a man to exist in the
dirty, dirty pool of college football
these days. Michigan is not Harvard,
the "successful" student-athlete is a
myth and victory is the only true
badge of accomplishment.
Power comes from winning, from
championships and crushing oppo-
nents with a modern onslaught of
spread passing attacks, crushing tack-
les and a bloodthirsty game plan.
Until true, uncompromising
greatness assumes the mantle of
football leadership, the voices of
dissension will not cease. Reriem-
ber complacent "fans," the eyes of
the night are upon you.
B8-superman
Oh, oh, such a big surprise
to seeBatman hating on Lloyd.
It honestly makes me sick that
Bfatman - fucking Batman -
of all people is complaining.
He needs to worry about
Gotham City and keeping Robin
happy: (yeah, wink wink fellas,
we all know you're just "liv-
ing" together), not the Michigan
football team.
Batman is the same guy who
once struggled defeating Mr.
Freeze and The Riddler. Like
he's one to talk of not living up
to expectations.
The man is given anything
he wants and needs, plus a lit-
tle sidekick, and he still can't
keep his city safe. This is the
ultimate pot calling the kettle
black. Lloyd's definitely done a
much better job than you, twin-
kle toes.
Carr is 97-27 in 10-plus sea-
sons here and by the way, he's
won Michigan football's only
national championship since
1948. Yup, read that again, one
in more than 50 years.
He also has five 10-win sea-
sons and five Big Ten champi-
onships. Is that not good enough
for you, Bruce Wayne? He also
RYAN WEINER/Daily
Nike provides $1.2 million worth of equipment every year for the University's 25 varsity teams.
a
money and not with education.
"The difficulty right now is that
college sports is caught between one
extreme - to provide highly com-
petitive opportunities for student
athletes - and on the other hand to
pay for it through highly commer-
cialized activities," Duderstadt says.
"And my own sense is that the com-
mercialization of it is now calling the
shots and has destroyed it. It has not
only taken universities farther and
farther away from what universities
are all about, but are also completely
damaging universities by exploiting
student athletes for all of the stan-
dard concerns. And I don't see any
signs that it's getting better."
Logically, Nike pays more money
to schools that are more success-
(And you don't want to leave your room and computer?)
(What can be any easier? You'll never need a paper menu or a phone again')
Duderstadt says now that the Nike contract
was a mistake - and one that he would
not make if he were to do it all over again.
ful - or at least more prominent.
For example, Nike signed a con-
tract extension with Clemson ear-
lier this summer that agreed to pay
the school approximately $200,000
per year in cash and give the Tigers
$125,000 worth of equipment every
year. By comparison, Michigan's
contract from 2001 is worth $2 mil-
lion in cash and provides $1.2 mil-
lion worth of equipment every year.
The same way executives at Nike
root for a winning softball team in
order to be associated with winning,
corporations all around the world
are willing to spend more money to
be recognized as supporters of suc-
cessful sport programs.
Duderstadt's worry is that it is
coming at the expense of the stu-
dents. The vast majority of athletes
at an athletically dominant school
such as Michigan become profes-
sionals in areas other than sports.
With the pressure mounting to
win, the idea of a student athlete
gets thrown out the window.
"I think it's hurting," Duderstadt
says. "Nike is most inclined to sup-
port winning programs, and there-
fore puts even more of a priority
on having successful programs.
You get successful programs by
recruiting outstanding athletes,
whether they can succeed academ-
ically or not."
"The urge to win
at all costs"
n 1989, the Knight Commis-
sion for Intercollegiate Ath-
letics was formed as a way to
get a handle on the increas-
ingly out-of-hand world of
intercollegiate athletics.
During the next three years, the
Knight Commission released three
reports outlining its concerns. The
reports proposed "a new model for
intercollegiate athletics."
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