Some of the most significant changes in our society happen slowly. Many of these changes don't shock us once they fully become reality. There should be no confusion here: such changes happen because society comes to reason that there are new ways of doing things, looking at things. We in effect shrug.
Remember the B-52s song "Funplex" all about the wondrous place known as the USA shopping mall? Malls will stand out as a significant feature in U.S. cultural history. I happen to think they were wonderful. Because of various economic forces, they have gone into steep decline. No longer are they a chief feature of the cultural landscape. Indeed, "dead malls" are profiled in many ways for us to appreciate.
All this is a lead-in to understanding another cultural earthquake, still in development. We saw a headline Wednesday in the West Central Tribune of Willmar: "St. Cloud State cutting football." Huh? Back about eight years ago when the SCSU president floated the idea of cutting football, I wrote a blog post suggesting it was just posturing in order to get certain levers pulled for funding. That post gave me a lesson on how much reach the "blogosphere" could have. I ended up getting an email from the institution's president, the now-deceased Earl Potter.
Certainly I appreciated that my writing found a considerable number of eyeballs. I was just trying to share some sincere thoughts, albeit cynical. My interpretation was right at the time: I suggested that the "moon was more likely to fall out of the sky" than for SCSU to cut football. SCSU was this behemoth institution in Central Minnesota which in my young days attracted massive waves of boomer-generation kids to its campus.
The school developed a "party" image which sorry to say was not myth. The institution should have worked sooner to employ any means to extinguish the image. Potter had that agenda and did everything he could. So committed was he, he called for the cancellation of Homecoming. Of course, that measure itself had questionable consequences as it impressed on everyone how serious the problem had become.
I swear I never lit a dumpster on fire when I was a student there. Jerry Witt would tease me about my background there which might include some foolishness. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
For years we reacted in a spirit of levity when hearing of SCSU's reputation. Gradually we all got more serious, at the same time that society cracked down on drunk driving. Just as the shopping mall has faded, so too is our understanding of excess alcohol consumption as prompting smiles. I became an adult when society considered alcohol consumption a badge of maturity. There were always some outliers on this, of course. But the societal consensus was that any adult might blow off steam with alcohol and it was really quite permissible.
By the same token, we came to worship at the altar of football. Sorry, I never developed an interest in football at St. Cloud State. I didn't see any reason why. It didn't seem relevant to why I was there. If I were interested in college football I'd follow the Gophers on TV or radio. Why should a small college football team interest me?
We can look at our own UMM Cougars in the same way. There was a tremendous local bandwagon for UMM football here in the 1970s. The players conducted themselves with bravado like "big men on campus." You can't blame them because society was eager to show such adulation.
Let's peruse the headlines about football today. Let's see, "Catastrophic injury raises questions about whether coaches followed protocol." And, "Material for safer football helmets may reduce head injuries." Oh, "may reduce." Why such acceptance of risk for our young men who are engaged in an activity with no obvious benefit for them? To the extent they learn teamwork and discipline, these attributes could be gained in many other organized activities.
The obvious brutality of football seems to be registering with people more now. Why is the sport so dangerous that helmets are required in the first place? Consider the objective of the sport: slamming an opponent down to the ground in an obviously violent way. What does this prove? The non-head injuries have always been concerning enough. The head injuries bring in a whole new dimension.
St. Cloud State is done with the sport, thank goodness. At the same time, we learn of the U of M-Crookston taking the same step. A year ago we heard about Ridgewater of Willmar cutting football. This wave or trend would have been considered absurd to contemplate as recently as five years ago. But it is indeed a trend, belated as many trends tend to be. And it proceeds like the death of the American shopping mall and the thumbs-down on drinking culture.
Obviously some people will howl. A few years ago the howling from alums and others would cause backpedaling on these decisions. And, isn't it absolutely absurd that St. Cloud State has a still-new football stadium on campus? It opened just in 2004. What was the cost of that? Is it practical to re-purpose such a place for soccer? Will we be asking the same questions here in Morris? My, we have the still-new Big Cat Stadium. Our community was bursting its buttons when it opened.
Is it fair now to say the cancellation of UMM football is inevitable? Right around the corner? We are now being upstaged by St. Cloud State, in that the Central Minnesota party school has beaten us to the announcement. UMM is supposed to be more progressive, or at least I've always heard we attracted smarter students here.
Government and largesse are bedfellows. That spigot is always so easy to turn on. So, the war in Afghanistan was a total waste, as we're now learning! Well it was just government money. But hey, we now have to cut hundreds of thousands of people off food stamps.
SCSU is in the Minnesota State system, formerly the State University system - and why in hell was the name change necessary? - and I'm sure the whole system is in duress. It is overbuilt and sooner or later that will have to be addressed. It is overdue now. We might need something like a "base closing commission."
The salad days of the boomer generation are retired into history. There are fewer young people out there. Increasingly they look for ways to avoid accumulating oppressive college debt. They look for resources to guide them into adult life without the onerous expense of college, and I don't blame any of them.
We wish the best for our UMM, yes. Maybe UMM administration could suggest to us its timetable for ending the Neanderthal sport of football here. It's about time.
Addendum: Remember when, not long ago, the MIAC was getting shamed by the sports media for appearing to be "scared" of University of St. Thomas football? St. Thomas was perceived to be too strong and thus discouraging for the rest of the conference. So the Tommies were shown the door. Ah, shame. That's the sports media talking, an institution disconnected from the reality of what these small colleges are doing. What we realize fully now, in light of the cutting news, is that small colleges are not worried about "upgrading" or investing more in football. The colleges are grappling with the decision to CUT football! A pox on the sanctimonious sports media.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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