What Price College Sports

Would you believe a human life in one case. The Oregonian reported in a lengthy Sunday story about the mistakes made in the search for James Kim. The direct supervisor of the search-and-rescue coordinator ignored a late-night call from her about the case because he was watching an Oregon State football game on television. She was overwhelmed by the demands of the search. She failed to call for help from the National Guard, which meant that heat-detecting helicopters stayed on the ground in the crucial two nights James Kim slept in the forest. I have always wonder why Americans are so fanatic about college football and basketball. After all, there are plenty of professional sports year round for people to watch (and to bet on). I always think that this is bad for the kids since we are sending them the wrong signal, as indicated by the increasing number of college athletes leaving school early, and the number of high schoolers skipping college altogether. But it looks like the cost is a lot higher in some cases.