Machiavelli, Sportsmanship, and College Football

Rivalry week of college football has just concluded. After seeing a few of these games and hearing about some of the events that historically have given this week of football it’s name, I am questioning sportsmanship’s place in college football today.

Perhaps one of the best-known rivalries in college football.

In our current collegiate sport environment, where athletic departments are under more and more pressure to win, and win often, there is an ongoing discussion asking “at what costs”. Niccolò Machiavelli, in his famous book, The Prince, outlines many components of successful leadership and power. I believe that college football programs have began to embrace a Machiavellian approach. Although this has led to a more competitive program, it has begun to remove the element of sportsmanship from the game.

Social Media by John Stuart Mill

Social Media: the use of virtual communities and digital networks to communicate.

Some of the most popular social media outlets used by my generation.

According to the Pew Research Internet Project, it is estimated that 74% of online adults use social networking sites. This statistic clearly portrays the incredible popularity of social media today; so why do so many people use these various social networking sites? As a user of Facebook and Twitter, I would argue that people have a fairly wide range of reasons they choose to use social media. A few of the big ones that come to mind include long-distance relational connectivity, a source of current events and news, and as a medium for personal expression. Focusing on the last reason, I wonder just how effectively social media encourages this self-expression.

Hobbesian College Rivalries?

Two weekends ago, (the weekend of the Michigan vs. Michigan State game), I visited a few friends at Michigan State University. Since it was the weekend of the big game, we were naturally sporting our Michigan gear. My older sister graduated from Michigan State and I have quite a few friends  who are currently attending. For this reason, subconsciously, I was under the impression that this was a “friendly” in-state rivalry. Reflecting retrospectively, this was probably naïve.

Video’s like this were found all over social media leading up to the big game.

American Sports and Pastimes

If we observe the sports and pastimes that we could define as “American”, very few would place soccer in this category. Perhaps this is justified; a majority of the world refers to this sport as football, or some variant thereof.

American “football”; A much more common choice for an American pastime

We are heavily in the minority in referring to the sport as soccer, choosing to reserve the term football to denote a much more prototypal “American” sport and pastime. So why have I chosen soccer as an American sport and pastime worth discussing? Many would scoff at this notion: saying that baseball, football, basketball, or possibly even lacrosse are much more “American” than soccer ever will be. But if we examine the more recent history of soccer in the US, we could argue that recent developments make soccer nothing but American.

Menand’s Missing Link

Where does these students’ experience fit into Menand’s three theories?

Louis Menand – an American writer and professor, best known for his book The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America, which chronicles the life and works of a selection of thinkers deemed by Menand responsible for pragmatism – wrote an article in the New Yorker describing what he sees to  the purpose of higher education. Menand outlines three theories in his article summarized as follows: His first theory claims that college is a sorting mechanism. Just like we measure athletes on their 40-yard dash time, we need a way to sort our society’s most intelligent out so that we can utilize their talents appropriately. His second theory is more democratic in foundations. This theory says that higher education serves to create better future citizens by exposing them to information that will “enlighten and empower”. As Menand’s first theory is to sorting, his second theory is to socializing. Menand’s final theory pertains to the students pursuing their higher education outside of liberal arts. This third theory explains the instances in which higher education serves as a vocational preparatory institute. I feel like there is a type of student that doesn’t fit in Menand’s three theories – student athletes. As I alluded to briefly in my previous blog post, I find this relationship between academics and athletics particularly interesting – especially at an academically proud University like the University of Michigan.

This… is not Michigan

College football. The event that defines so much of the “big school experience” so many students yearn for. In class, we have read various writers’ thoughts on play and sport. They have developed their definition of these terms carefully.

The gameday experience that draws so many to the University of Michigan

Following this analysis, they thoroughly develop the purpose of play and sport. After recent events pertaining to University of Michigan football, we must begin to question just how closely our beloved Saturday football games still fits these definitions of play, and if the gameday experience is still reaching our expectations.