{"id":32385,"date":"2023-08-11T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/apathy-or-outrage-is-truly-your-call\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:56:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:56:51","slug":"apathy-or-outrage-is-truly-your-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/apathy-or-outrage-is-truly-your-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Apathy or outrage is truly your call"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FARMINGTON \u2013 The headlines over the course of the past few days in the outside sports world have been, for lack of a better term, interesting.<\/p>\n

There are other adjectives I could use here, but that would mean you\u2019d probably stop reading this, and I feel the need to vent. And I want you to come along.<\/p>\n

In the past week, I\u2019ve read stories about several nationally known collegiate athletic programs deciding to flee their current conferences and head to supposedly greener pastures.<\/p>\n

In the past several months, we\u2019ve read stories of college athletes abandoning their current schools in favor of other schools, again to supposedly greener pastures.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s more to come, on both fronts.<\/p>\n

The recent conundrum between the US-based PGA Tour and its dealings with the breakaway LIV Golf and the DP World Tour, which ended last month with a merger between the factions, has caused fans and media to question their allegiances to larger corporations and how they do business.<\/p>\n

Or has it?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been trying to find the selective outrage which often comes with businesses making questionable business decisions. I\u2019ve been searching for the selective outrage which often comes with athletes stepping away from their roles as simply athletes to do things or say things which fall outside the role of being an athlete.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m just not seeing it.<\/p>\n

The Pac-12 Conference, which is on the verge of losing several schools in the coming year, may be a thing of the past within the next three to five years.<\/p>\n

\"The
The newly formatted Big Ten Conference map (Big-10 Conference)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

With news last week that the University of Colorado, along with Arizona State, the University of Arizona and the University of Utah are all headed to the Big-12 Conference, while USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington have opted to flee the Pac-12 and head to the Big Ten Conference, there is serious doubt that one of the most influential conferences in college sports may seek to exist in a short amount of time.<\/p>\n

We, as fans of sports, whether it be for the means of escape from the \u201creal world\u201d or for more important reasons, have chosen to be outraged over very selective things.<\/p>\n

We get outraged when athletes speak their minds. We get outraged when teams choose to do business with factions that don\u2019t sit well with our collective ideas and ideologies.<\/p>\n

For crying out loud, we get outraged over the color of a beer can and a movie about a doll.<\/p>\n

So when the very fabric of college sports, which many fans take seriously enough to buy merchandise and spend money to travel so they can attend games, is about to be altered significantly, where is the outrage?<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have just learned how to not trust anyone anymore,\u201d said Chuck Hayes, a syndicated radio talk show host and USC graduate. \u201cIt\u2019s all running downhill now and sports is the next thing to go down that road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professional sports may be the next slippery slope, according to Hayes.<\/p>\n

Leagues like the NBA, which are involved in international marketing campaigns with nations where human rights violations are well-documented.<\/p>\n

Other professional sports organizations, like the PGA Tour as well as the UFC and the English Premier League, which is commonly understood to be the most popular football league in the world, have been heavily invested and funded by international outfits which conflict with many of our national ideals.<\/p>\n

Grant Liberty, an English-based human rights organization<\/a>, cites in recent reports an effort referred to as \u201csportswashing,\u201d which has emerged with Saudi Arabia investing significantly in sports like boxing, golf, football, tennis, horse racing, motor sports and professional wrestling to divert attention from human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

While reported figures offer insight into the magnitude of these deals, undisclosed amounts remain hidden, potentially underestimating the true extent of investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re already seeing it, with the NBA dealing with China,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cAnd for these businesses to make these deals, it\u2019s always been that way. Someone is always going to feel left out while someone else makes the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collegiate sports, which remained largely unchanged for more than a century, has experienced unprecedented change over the past couple of years with much of that change coming in the form of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals.<\/p>\n

In June 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the NCAA could not limit education-related payments to student-athletes. What followed were slews of endorsement announcements, from Nike deals to local restaurant and car dealership partnerships as well as signings with agents and ad campaigns through social media platforms.<\/p>\n

\"Deion
Deion Sanders speaks after being introduced as the new head football coach at the University of Colorado during a news conference Dec. 4 in Boulder. Sanders left Jackson State University after three seasons at the helm of the school's football team. (David Zalubowski\/The Associated Press)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI think it comes down to societal differences nowadays compared to what it used to be,\u201d said Aztec High School head football coach Hank Strauss. \u201cThere\u2019s not the tradition there used to be. Kids get into trouble, and they can simply go somewhere else and play there.\u201d<\/p>\n

But again, where is the outrage?<\/p>\n

When Deion Sanders met with players just days after being hired as the new head football coach at the University of Colorado last December, Sanders told members of his roster that they could \u2013 and should \u2013 seek playing time elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be change,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cSo I want you all to get ready to go ahead and jump in that (transfer) portal and do what whatever you\u2019re gonna get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether Sanders proves to be a genius with those words or leads the Buffaloes to a New Year\u2019s Day bowl game, the implication is that the college football standard we as fans have been accustomed to for decades now, simply doesn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n

Strauss, entering his second season as head coach of the Aztec Tigers, has some experience dealing with players and coaches at the collegiate level. Following his playing career at Aztec, Strauss went on to play college football at both Cabrillo College in California and Chadron State College in Nebraska. After that, Strauss served as an assistant coach at both the high school and college levels before returning to Aztec as an assistant in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Sanders) is going to burn it down simply to create his brand,\u201d Strauss said. \u201cHow many of those kids had a father who played there in the past? So the tradition of college sports is gone and it\u2019s very possible that the school bit off a lot more than they could chew.\u201d<\/p>\n

We choose our outrage selectively. What we can control, we\u2019ll fight for to the bitter end it seems. When it comes to the things we think we don\u2019t have a say in, we\u2019ll shrug our shoulders and move on.<\/p>\n

But we do have a say. We\u2019re reminded of that with so-called fan boycotts and social media posts where fans express their displeasure with a team or a player, be it by burning a jersey of a player or protesting outside a stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you worry about every entitlement that comes these players way, it\u2019s going to drive you crazy,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cThe athletes and the schools and the elites all got their money and they don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe the silence is a regional thing. Maybe you\u2019re not affected by what happens to the Pac-12 Conference or what happens on the PGA Tour or whatever professional sports organization you follow.<\/p>\n

But the shift in the way sports conducts business these days \u2013 if it continues \u2013 will inevitably cross over to a place or a school or a team you do care about. By that time, your selective outrage or apathy may come too late to make a difference.<\/p>\n

By then, most likely there will be something else to be angry about.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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