Beer and Circus

Beer and Circus, by Murray Sperber (2001)

The author makes a sweeping indictment of higher education in this, his fourth book about college athletics. Sperber argues that large public institutions have become too big to provide a quality education to their charges. The author describes an arms race of college athletics that places a huge emphasis on building strong teams and getting schools placed in prominent athletics conferences. Administrators, he says, pin their hopes on national championships in the hopes that this will lead to increased visibility, and enrollment, for the university.

Not only does this approach rob students of a quality education, says Sperber, but it gambles with taxpayer money as these big programs rarely pay for themselves. Another point in the volume is that the party scene that accompanies these sporting events is very damaging to students. There were plenty of stories in the Indiana Daily Student during my time in Bloomington that highlighted the drinking and partying of students. Nationally, the most high-profile cases have been deaths from alcohol poisoning. The author makes a strong, if evident, case that universities should be providing a good education, rather than a great tailgating experience, to their students.

Originally reviewed 2/11/04

Stay tuned this week for my review of John R. Gerdy's Air Ball: American Education's Failed Experiment With Elite Athletics