Football life lessons
Regarding “Is winning at football worth losing moral standing?” (Page A13, Thursday), college athletics are as much a part of the education experience provided by universities as are journalism courses in classrooms. Professor Robert Jensen’s essay concerning the University of Texas football program implies that money, or entertainment, is the reason the school sponsors “a children’s game.”
Middle schools, high schools and colleges sponsor athletic teams as a method of teaching teamwork, sportsmanship and discipline, and most of those students who participate, including those at UT, are better persons for the experience and do not exhibit “reckless behavior that is all-too common in high-dollar athletics.” Striving to succeed and learning to accept defeat and celebrate success with class is a huge part of the athletic experience at every level. Whether the university made the right decision in replacing head coach Charlie Strong may be debatable, but whether attempting to provide a winning team is “losing moral standing” is not.
Bill Spear Bartlett, Houston can be destroyed with impunity, and the other is considered so vile that it must not be displayed.
It certainly seems a disproportionate placing of who gets to claim the same right and how that right is distributed.
Julia Purtill, Richmond