Yesterday, in the New York Times,Billy Witz wrote about the troubles plaguing the University of Oregon football team and the continuing tension between the university and the athletic department. The Oregon athletic department has had a rough off-season. Over the course of a few weeks, six football players have been arrested. The face of the Oregon football team and their athletic department, Jeremiah Masoli has already been suspended for the season after pleading guilty to a felony burglary charge for stealing a laptop. The university also struggled to hire a basketball coach, only recently hiring former Creighton coach Dana Altman, after approaching multiple coaches about their vacancy.
The article caught my eye because of my interest in sports and my desire to be an athletic director. Oregon is currently in the search for a new athletic director who will have a contend with numerous issues. The tension between the academic and athletic community will still exist. Much of it results from the facilities and luxuries that the athletes have access to. A lot of this is from the doing of Nike founder Phil Knight who has pumped hundreds of millions into the university. Knight's latest contribution was $100 million towards the construction of a new arena. It looks quite impressive and will be one of the most expensive college basketball arenas in the country when it opens in December. In the meanwhile, Oregon will have to find an athletic director who can help improve the image of their athletes. It needs to recover from the image of LeGarrette Blount punching a player last season, which still has a lingering effect when one thinks of Oregon sports.
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