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NCAA Vs. AAU
Long ago, in a seizure of cynicism, I developed the
technique of looking with careful scrutiny at every so
called worthwhile endeavor to ascertain who might be
making money from it.
This is a legitimate inquiry which any truly
eleemosynary organization can not only tolerate but
should welcome. Accordingly, for some years I have
been wondering without discernable light whence the
long and continuing struggle between the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Ama
teur Athletic Union (AAU).
Each of the organizations wishes to dictate the
regulations and policies under which amateur athletes,
particularly track performers, may participate in
international events.
The record teems with unbelievable examples of
petty jealousy and downright misrepresentation on both
sides. It was so embarrassing to see the foggy old men
who run both organizations showing their posteriors to
the world that President Dwight Eisenhower appointed
General Douglas Mac Arthur to arbitrate. There was
considerable rhetoric, but no progress; the war contin
ues to this day.
AAU Financial Status
Of course I am not privy to the financial status of
the wheels who run amuck purporting to boss the AAU.
Apparently they do not suffer, but then again there is
not much likelihood that they are digging in the Mother
Lode.
The NCAA is run by college professors, which
explains a good deal about its confusion and insatiable
thirst for power. The professors are too busy publishing
to avoid perishing to be in the office every day, so they
employ some professionals who are not unlike their
counterparts in the AAU.
But still, there doesn't seem to be enough money
floating around to make anyone, even a college
professor, put up such a struggle for supremacy.
Therefore, when one reads about the nauseating
rulings which the NCAA has made in an effort to keep
college athletics from participating in international
events, (me must recognize that the NCAA has its own
self aggrandizement at heart much closer than it does
the welfare of the individual athlete, or the relative
position of the United States in the world of sports.
The AAU is equally guilty, for it would like to
control all track as well as basketball, swimming and
whatever else it may grab.
Craving For Power
Why? If it isn't money, then the obvious answer is
the craving for power. Do not underestimate the
temptation of power, for it was this craving which
motivated Caesar, Alexander the Great, Bismarck,
Napoleon and even Hitler.
As a matter of fact, most politicians are driven by
their desire to exercise power over people and lands. So
the fuddy duddy fringe, feeling the same longing to be in
command, and lacking the grit and gaU for war or
politics, sneaks into such areas as the NCAA and the
AAU.
In these sanctuaries where nothing more hurtful
than a few measured phrases of invective is ever
thrown against the other side, the struggle may be
pursued in safety.
The only losers are those splendid young men who
have been the victims of these organizations' efforts to
protect the pristine purity of amateurism.
What constitutes an amateur, nobody can say with
certainty, and both organizations bury their heads in
the hypocritical sand when the need arises. So a pox on
both of them!
Since the Federal Government is taking over
everything else, why not amateur athletics? The staff
for the new bureau is ready-made. The confusion
already exists. All that's needed is tax money, and then
there will be enough loot around to motivate somebody
new to move in. It might help. It certainly couldn't be
much worse.
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