Press Releases

December 21, 1999
Students in Sports Course Devise Plan to Put "Sanity" Back in Athletics

Southampton College's "Sports Public Relations" Class Creates 6 Innovative Solutions to Major Controversies in Professional and College Sports

Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Southampton, NY -- Current baseball players and team owners should be obligated to pay a "flat tax" to support surviving members of the Negro Baseball League.

That is just one of six solutions on how to return sportsmanship, accountability, integrity and fan respect to the multi-billion dollar sports industry, according to a research project unveiled this week by students in a "Sports Public Relations" course at Southampton College of Long Island University.

After assessing sports problems such as greed, cheating, bad role models, violence, drugs and poor sportsmanship, 12 students have created several ways-- some innovative, one tongue-in-cheek-- to improve professional and college sports for the next millennium.

"Although the sports industry is thriving, the positive traits that make athletics so ingrained in American culture are being destroyed," said Southampton College instructor Joseph Dionisio. "The students saw a bit of insanity in sports, so they were asked to find solutions. Their only parameter was to focus on fair compromise, which the industry sorely lacks."

The "Sports Public Relations" course is part of a minor in Sports Administration. Southampton is one of the few colleges in the nation to offer the minor. Students in the class, most of who play intercollegiate athletics for Southampton, include:

AnnaLupe Acevedo of Hauppauge, NY; Eric Bradley of Middletown, NY; Corinne Broadhead of Campbell Hall, NY; Tom Dunn of Shirley, NY; Richard Fleming of Bridgetown, Barbados; Jennifer Geffe of Port Jefferson, NY; Tara Hamilton of Kings Park, NY; Shannan Henley of Mt. Airy, MD; Sayad Madar of Jamaica, NY; Shelly Nicholls of Ringwood, NJ; Jason Pulver of East Moriches, NY; and Bradley Washington of Queens, NY.

Below, six issues and accompanying solutions, as determined by the students:

1. 'PAY' YOUR RESPECTS! Support the Poverty-Stricken in Sports:

Few fans know that many pioneers who built sports into a mega-industry get absolutely zero pension. That goes for baseball (MLB alumni who retired before 1947), hockey (NHLers prior to 1945), basketball (NBA alumni prior to 1955), and other sports. A great travesty is that $100-million contracts are being signed while some elderly stars who paved that path are poverty-stricken. Solution: Players and owners will pay a flat-tax to underwrite pensions for all major sports leagues. This allotment would be miniscule ("All we're asking is $300 or $400 a month, says Bill Tosheff, president of the Pre-1955 NBA Players Association) and equitable, since star athletes and bench warmers would pay the same percentage of their contract's value. Funds would also feed Negro League alumni, whose players and fans joined MLB after Jackie Robinson's integration.

2. SUE! How to Eliminate Contract Holdouts:

Many athletes think signed contracts are meaningless. Hockey star Alexei Yashin, for example, has refused to honor a signed contract three times in his career. His demand to renegotiate for more money is ridiculous, because owners cannot renegotiate when a player's performance falls short. Solution: Sue the player! Owners should sue not just for the value of his salary, but for loss of merchandising (how many Bulls jerseys would be sold if Michael Jordan refused to ever play there?), decline in attendance, estimated playoff rounds the team would have won, impact on the franchise's financial value, etc.

3. HALL OF FAME. How to Choose Which Troublemakers Get In:

Controversy follows the Hall of Fame selection process in all 4 major sports. Should a player's off-the-field exploits keep him or her out of the Hall? Where do you draw the line between Babe Ruth's vaunted exploits and Lawrence Taylor's indiscretions? Solution: One fundamental question can determine if a worthy player deserves inclusion. Did he or she compromise the integrity of the sport? By this method, Taylor gets in because his drug use was recreational. Conversely, Ben Johnson would be excluded from track-and-field's Hall for using performance-enhancing drugs. Gaylord Perry? Out, for cheating on the baseball field. Pete Rose? Out, if it is ever determined he bet on baseball.

4. ROLE MODELS. How to Make Players Accountable:

Charles Barkley says he's not a role model, but then why are players paid millions in endorsements? Because athletes' words and actions affect the behavior of the ticket-buying youth? only in a perfect world are parents the primary role models. So whether it's crime (O.J. Simpson), embarrassment (Marv Albert) or drugs (Steve Howe), sports figures need to be accountable. Fines of $2,500 are laughable to players who commit egregious behavior that would land most of us in jail. Solution: Losing 25-50% of your salary would be a true deterrent. If that sounds harsh, remember that playing pro sports is a privilege, not a right. We do favor second chances, but for repeat offenders, they should be banned for life. This sends young fans a realistic message-- in a workplace, you're lucky to get one second chance, not seven. For college players who commit serious crimes, loss of eligibility should replace 2-game suspensions.

5. STAY PUT! How to Bring Back Team Continuity:

Unlike the era when athletes played entire careers in one city, players roam so often that fans lose interest in their team. As Jerry Seinfeld once said about rotating different players into the same uniform, "Basically, you're rooting for laundry." If the beauty of sports often is in its continuity, how can we limit player movement? Solution: To motivate an athlete to honor the duration of a contract, don't reward him if he demands a trade and exits early! If he earns $1 million in year one and $5 million in year five, invoke this clause-- players who demand a trade in mid-contract will revert to their initial year's salary upon leaving. (Clause is nullified if an owner provokes a trade.) Also, prohibit trades after the midway point of a season. Too often, superstars are "rented" for the final weeks and playoffs. This encourages bad teams to trade star players, alienate fans, and ruin competitive balance. Moving the trade deadline keeps rich owners from padding rosters, since they'd have to pay a star for months instead of a few weeks.

6. THE BAD BOYS (AND GIRLS). A "Solution" to Hopeless Offenders:

No matter how much criticism and advice they get, some athletes never change or show remorse. For the most hopeless offenders, this is the best suggestion we have, although it isn't quite realistic. Solution: Send Mike Tyson, Don King, Albert Belle, Martina Hingis, Steve Howe, Alexei Yashin and Jim Rome on a space shuttle to Mars. Tyson and King get the one-way ticket for two-handedly destroying boxing; Belle, for showing how far players have come since the days of Joe DiMaggio; Hingis, for being the poster-child for spoiled tennis stars; Howe, for giving "second chance" a bad name; Yashin, for insisting a signed contract means nothing; and Rome, for showing the fault is not always with owners and athletes, but with the media itself.