College football, amateur athletics and snowboarding

Sports can make you a multimillionaire. Witness A-Rod, Tom Brady, and Kevin Garnet, of baseball, football, and basketball, respectively. Even snowboarding can, for one or two individuals, be a ticket to very lucrative endorsement deals (Shaun White).

But the initial lure of any sport is that it’s enjoyable, a challenge, or both. An ongoing scandal involving college football is a good reminder of that fact. It also reminded me that snowboarding is not only enjoyable, it has been a source of personal growth.

A little background, first. While college football programs effectively act as minor-league feeders for the NFL, the players don’t get paid. Not only would that violate NCAA rules, it would also violate the “spirit of amateurism” that supposedly permeates college athletics. (Note the irony:  TV analysts and college colleges get good incomes from college sports, but the actual athletes aren’t supposed to take a dime in payment.)

Cam Newton is a football player for Auburn University. He was recently awarded the  Heisman Trophy, which is given to the best football player. There’s been a little controversy, though, which is that Newton’s father tried to auction off his services to various colleges–in effect, make him a professional college football player.

Writing on ESPN.com, Carl Erlich contrasts Newton with Zar Zavala, one of his college friends. Zavala finished out his football career at Harvard, which unlike Auburn, is not a place known for developing NFL prospects.  Erlich says that if amateurism is really your ideal of college athletics, look at Zavala, who, unlike Newton, never had any chance of being a professional football player.

So why did Zavala, who wants to be a brain surgeon, put up with the practices and other hard work of college sports? It certainly wasn’t for the money. The answer is found in the conclusion that is offered up by Erlich, who was a teammate of Zavala:

“Newton will deservingly win the Heisman on Saturday night. He will be remembered for the impact he made on college football.

Zar (and all of the patients his neurological research and work will affect) will remember the impact that college football made on him. And isn’t that the point?”

Here’s one part of Zavala’s answer: “the challenges I faced with football have given me intangible skills that show up in my other work.” Many snowboarders, especially people who take up riding as adults, may be able to relate. I know I did. The pushing yourself to the limit, taking on a new challenge, getting over a mental obstacle, and so forth. In short, personal growth.