Frank Deford is an author, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated and a commentator on NPR. Even though I don’t care about pro or college sports, I regularly listen to his sports-centered pieces on NPR’s Morning Edtion. Deford’s distinguished tones are invigorating and he gives an ethereal message about humanity even when he’s talking about doped-up football players. He’s an admirable thinker and writer.
In 2005, Deford participated in a documentary film about higher education called Declining by Degrees. One of his quotes is worth repeating:
“How can anyone rationally argue that a baseball player should get a college scholarship, but a piano player shouldn’t? What does it say about a college’s regard for art, literature, drama and music if the finest young painters, writers, actors and musicians are not eligible for the same rewards as are athletes?”
What does that say about our colleges and universities?
Kathleen Connally 