I agree with both of you. I used to work for a guy who was a raving University of Michigan fan.
He never studied there and the only time he stepped foot on campus was to head to the stadium. That didn’t keep him from spending everything he had on blue and yellow stuff, including a customized van.
It was insane and a lesson I learned early in life about idolatry.
Colleges that are wrapped around their sports programs are doing a disservice to the actual students.
My son goes to a small engineering university. Virtually every student is there solely for the academics. There is no sports program unless you count the intramural ultimate Frisbee team which has an annual budget of $400. My son is team treasurer.
The school has virtually zero behavioral issues. The Dean of Students reports that their biggest problem is one or two cases of plagiarism a year. Joe Biden would love the place.
I do tend to agree that big time sports ruins the academic environment and the big sports guys are given way too much adulation and latitude, which in their minds justifies this heinous activity.
The real problem is that it promotes a party atmosphere to a student body that is too immature and energetic to learn to control their high spirits and basically, the party environment causes these brats to become even crazier.