Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early • Hacker News Board

Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early

#31

Post by frogpelt » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 5:10 PM UTC

partialrecall wrote: post #3

It's not at all clear to me why we allow American football and universities to have such a perverse relationship, when it's plain to see that football itself has nothing to do with education, except insofar as it's an activity that many students enjoy (but there is no shortage of other non-academic activities that many students share, such as baseball...) And in cases like this, where students are leaving the game ea…

Your question seems to indicate that you aren't from the United States.

College football is just one sport among many popular college sports in the U.S.

It began as a club-type extra curricular activity but as it became more popular universities likely saw it as a way to market their school and attract customers (students).

The top 30-40 programs produce $100 million in revenue which is usually enough to be self-sustaining and help pay for all the other sports teams on campus.

College basketball, baseball, football, track and field, and even hockey in some places are de facto minor leagues. The power and influence of the NFL is probably more to blame for the lack of a proper minor league in football.

Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early

#32

Post by sizzzzlerz » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 5:11 PM UTC

Saban could fire off pistols like Yosemite Sam down the main street of Tuscalosa while hammered drunk and the university would just smile and say "He just better beat Auburn". Why would anyone think he shouldn't get away with a little violation of privacy?

Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early

#33

Post by magduf » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 5:11 PM UTC

partialrecall wrote: post #16

linuxftw wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is college baseball. I'm firmly in the camp that sports have nothing to do with education, and there should be no association of organized sports and public educational institutions whatsoever. Gym class is one thing, but after-school sports have nothing to do with receiving a basic education.

Compare the proportion of MLB players that came from the university system, and the proportion of NFL players that did. Most MLB players come from minor leagues operating independantly from the university system. I'm not suggesting that universities ban sports clubs. I object to university systems become the primary feeder for corporate professional leagues. American Football and Basketball do it. Baseball and normal…

>American Football and Basketball do it. Baseball and normal Football do not.

It would be so much easier if they just called American Football "handegg".

Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early

#34

Post by EpicEng » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 5:11 PM UTC

qws wrote: post #22

impendia wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why can't the American football industry run itself more like the American baseball industry? I am a very strong opponent of the overwhelming sports culture at American universities, and of the absurd sums of money spent to sustain it. (Example: Dabo Swinney was just given a $93 million contract to remain the football coach of Clemson.) This >Defenders of the current system will often claim that football is profita…

Is it really still profitable in e.g. that case of Dabo Swinney landing a 93 million dollar contract?

Clemson pulls in about $50M / year from football alone, not counting any tangentially related revenue it may generate.

Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early

#35

Post by harryh » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 5:12 PM UTC

ramphastidae wrote: post #20

partialrecall wrote: post #3

It's not at all clear to me why we allow American football and universities to have such a perverse relationship, when it's plain to see that football itself has nothing to do with education, except insofar as it's an activity that many students enjoy (but there is no shortage of other non-academic activities that many students share, such as baseball...) And in cases like this, where students are leaving the game ea…

If one simply takes the behavior of the vast majority of universities in the US at face value it should be quite clear. Their priority is not education, it is profit. That's really it. Believing otherwise is like believing the priority of health insurance companies is public health or the priority of for-profit prisons is rehabilitation.

The vast majority of universities in the US are non-profit institutions.

Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early

#36

Post by magduf » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 5:13 PM UTC

ramphastidae wrote: post #20

partialrecall wrote: post #3

It's not at all clear to me why we allow American football and universities to have such a perverse relationship, when it's plain to see that football itself has nothing to do with education, except insofar as it's an activity that many students enjoy (but there is no shortage of other non-academic activities that many students share, such as baseball...) And in cases like this, where students are leaving the game ea…

If one simply takes the behavior of the vast majority of universities in the US at face value it should be quite clear. Their priority is not education, it is profit. That's really it. Believing otherwise is like believing the priority of health insurance companies is public health or the priority of for-profit prisons is rehabilitation.

Exactly.

America just needs to add a new section to the Constitution, and call it the "Rules of Acquisition".

Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early

#37

Post by tlrobinson » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 5:13 PM UTC

Alternative less-clickbaity headline: Alabama incentivizes students to stay at games by offering improved chances of getting playoff tickets.

When I first read the headline my mind naturally jumped to the most extreme interpretation: Alabama was using some sort of involuntary tracking technology to lower students' GPAs if they don't attend football games. Obviously very far-fetched, but knowing how much Alabama loves their football, not completely implausible.

Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early

#38

Post by babalulu » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 5:14 PM UTC

shujito wrote: post #2

is there a way to read nytimes articles with javascript disabled? (other than archive.is, I use cloudflare DNS)

If you're using Firefox, there's an add-on called |Disable JavaScript that allows you to just click a switch on the toolbar to turn js on and off.

Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early

#39

Post by partialrecall » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 5:14 PM UTC

phil248 wrote: post #28

partialrecall wrote: post #3

It's not at all clear to me why we allow American football and universities to have such a perverse relationship, when it's plain to see that football itself has nothing to do with education, except insofar as it's an activity that many students enjoy (but there is no shortage of other non-academic activities that many students share, such as baseball...) And in cases like this, where students are leaving the game ea…

Given the increasing public backlash to football-related injuries, specifically brain injuries, this is likely a problem that will solve itself over time. There's an increasingly small pool of parents who are willing to let their children play a sport where there's a very slim chance of professional success but a pretty high chance of permanent brain damage.

Unfortunately under the current system, parents are motivated to let their kids play the game not just by the prospect of professional success, but also by the prospect of admission into a school.

If football were brought into line with other college club sports, the pressure to pick football in particular would be diminished. People looking for academic scholarships could instead choose to play something less hazardous, without worrying that they were limiting their opportunities.

Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early

#40

Post by journalctl » Fri, Sep 13, 2019, 5:14 PM UTC

aphextim wrote: post #24

partialrecall wrote: post #3

It's not at all clear to me why we allow American football and universities to have such a perverse relationship, when it's plain to see that football itself has nothing to do with education, except insofar as it's an activity that many students enjoy (but there is no shortage of other non-academic activities that many students share, such as baseball...) And in cases like this, where students are leaving the game ea…

There was push-back a while ago to where the schools were using the student's identity for college based video games and profiting off the student's names, and the students never saw anything from it. There was a suit and the college kids won! https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/18/sports/ncaa-video-game-la...

College football players need a union. The upper echelons make millions, and the students get a free ride and traumatic brain injuries. Hardly a fair deal.