Could you please name some of the football stadiums built in the past decade you're referring to?

Your statement that "the CFL is the only North American pro league without a drug testing program" is totally false. The fact is most pro leagues do NOT drug test. 15 seconds of google research proved this, including the American Hockey League which does not drug test, and is much larger than the CFL.

Agree with J.F. that not all leagues do testing. Should the CFL? Probably.

Students athletes should be given some financial aid. They often take the same courses as their peers, some have jobs and they are still expected to put in 15-20 hours a week practicing, showing up for team meetings and playing their sport.

More often than not the fees you refer to cover a broad range of fees associated with running facilities such as gyms, pools, University rec programs, etc, which all students may access, while only a small % is directed to Varsity athletics?

Bit of a biased viewpoint here, isn't it? And not really backed up by any data whatsoever, except for a quote from one person. Why not dig up some data ..

like the Academic World Rankings, published by the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.

Using their data ... U of T is the top ranking Canadian school at 27. 20 american schools are ranked higher ... among them:
UCLA (13)
Wisconsin (17)
Michigan (22)

Schools like Duke, Texas, North Carolina, Penn State, USC, Florida, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Texas A&M; - all of them strong athletic schools - all of them in the top 100 academic schools in the world.

I didn't see Nippising or Trent make the top 100.

Please provide some proof, rather than conjecture, that athletic spending somehow prevents schools from having strong academics.

Joey; You should be more concerned about all the student-athletes Canada loses to the US because of the ability for these S-A's to get very generous scholarships. Some (many?) never return to Canada. It's a brain drain that the UBC professor you mentioned neglects to take into account. Our failure to allow for similar athletic scholarships is leading to many of our future leaders staying in the US to become leaders of academics and industry there. I know of a number of such S-A's. If anything Canadian U's should be trying to improve this segment of their overall dynamic rather than snuff it out. Perhaps your next column should look into that issue. By the way at many major universities the football and basketball teams fund many of the research projects to the tune of tens of millions of dollars --even the US profs understand this, too bad your man at UBC doesn't.

And what has not funding athletics done to Trent and Nipissing? I have seen both Guelph and Regina on national television several times in the last year for their sporting endeavours. What a great recruiting tool. When I was first choosing a University, the first schools I looked up were ones that I had heard of, which coincidentally were the ones I'd seen on television. I didn't choose my school based the results of that game, or the fact that they WERE on TV, but having them on TV directed me towards looking into that school.

I hadn't even heard of Trent or Nipissing until my choice was virtually made.

I feel your opinion lacks supporting data. Athletic scholarships at Canadian universities are very small, no more than $3500/yr. Althletes in Canada choose to stay here often giving up huge monetary incentives in the US. They mostly carry full programs plus put in unbelievalble hours in training. It is wonderful to watch Canadian University athletes and their dedication to sport. Also note that school spirit is always enhanced with a winning team. Queen's which has one of the highest cut offs won the CIS football championship and their quarterback is an accountant. Scarborough campus is gaining a wonderful facility and additional funding because it will be hosting events for the Pan Am Games.

mike is correct. Many of the top US schools have strong athletic programs. You can add UC Berkley (a state school) to that list as well. Furthermore, don't think that the Ivy leagues don't invest in their sporting endeavors since they have produced a few pro athletes and not to mention the rich sporting rivalry that Harvard and Yale have.

If anything, strong athletics would be a revenue generator for the school and help it further its academic goals. Furthermore, it would foster pride in the institution and perhaps even increase endowments (Canadian schools greatly lag American schools in this regard). U of T, has some of the unhappiest undergrads in the country, and I would say low donation rates probably correlate with a desire to dissociate with the institution.

The only argument you could make against increasing athletic funding is that you begin to make it a business and that in some way deviates from a university's mission to teach. However, that sort of puritanical view is outdated as the reality of the situation is that the school is no longer some platonic gathering place of intellectuals. The business side has always taken priority in the 21st century and today's schools are highly concerned about issues such as branding.

Sounds like someone didn't make their varsity sports team. I assume the author is also not in favour of music or drama venues, museums, student rec centers or other experience-enriching facilities paid for by student fees.

Joey is obviously crying over how there aren't any pinball scholarships.

For the average student at university - NO! They may go to the university's recreation centre to workout or swim etc, but they will never participate in inter-collegiate sports. And this makes it unfair to fund varsity sports over other needed areas, because only a few will really participate in these sports. And, then, what? In Canada, very few go on to professional sports careers who even do get into varsity.
I think it's a poor return on an investment. In Europe, varsity sports really don't exist..it's a American thing that's been adopted here.

Varsity sports at U.S. colleges is a tremendous spirit-builder which binds the students and their parents and friends to the school. This then results in a loyal alumni who donate millions to their individual schools and multi-billions when viewed at the national level. Walking around some U.S. campuses is an exercise in marveling at the opulence of the academic and sporting facilities.

Additionally, the football varsity teams, and to a lesser extent, the basketball teams, fund all the other sports at the school so that athletics of lesser public interest are able to be offered for students who wish to excel in those activities. The list of sporting and other non-academic programs offered for students is extensive.

There are some well-known tradeoffs for the emotion generated and the cash bonanza which such a sports orientation produces. Graduation rates of varsity athletes vary greatly from school to school. And some alumni become overzealous with their interest in producing a "winning" team and this has led to violations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association code by some alumni, school coaches and administration.

It is debatable whether the U.S. schools have gone too far in this regard. But, from my viewpoint, Canadian schools are doing far too little in fostering school pride and alumni support; this to the detriment of our schools and the students who attend them. Further, the Canadian public and the media are complicit in this.

Some readers might find it interesting that in its first football season, way back in about the mid 1800s, the University of Michigan played the University of Toronto. The game was staged in Detroit and ended in a tie.

Fast forward to the present. UM has a student body of about 35,000 and every Saturday during the football season the Wolverines football team plays before a crowd of about 108,000 (plus) in Ann Arbor with fans coming from all over the State and from every corner of the Country.

Game day in an American college town is like nothing we know in Canada. The whole town, and indeed, the whole State, are abuzz with anticipation as to how their particular hometown team will fare at the local stadium which becomes the focal point for the days running up to "Game Day". And, at least from that perspective, we are much the poorer for it.

In contrast to the UofM, the University of Toronto must have about 70,000 (plus) students at its various campuses. Football game day at Varsity Stadium in Toronto will see about two or three thousand spectators; many of whom are parents and friends of the athletes. And as for the atmospheric "buzz in Canadian university towns, large or small, rather than a "buzz", the best that can be mustered in many locales is a very low "hum". Indeed, in many places, dead silence rather than a "hum" prevails.

And, if the various major publications and rating agencies from around the world are to be believed, American schools do not suffer in academic prestige given the often high world-wide ranking for the whole school or for specific departments in the school.

Rather than our newspapers giving us the usual hum drum reportage of yet another NHL hockey game or MLB game et al, of the many thousands of games played yearly, space could be made for an analysis of U.S. college sports and academics together with a contrast with the Canadian approach to the same activities which would make an interesting and informative series for the readers of a newspaper such as the "Globe".

Additionally, and importantly, Canadian newspapers and other media could take a cue from the Americans and devote regular space and time to the efforts of the hundreds of thousands of our young people who are in our Canadian universities and colleges. Currently, other than a snippet of coverage of the annual Vanier Cup, always overshadowed in the media by the Grey Cup, and with a brief story of one or two other such events, publicity for Canadian schools is non-existent.

While ignoring student efforts at UBC, UA, Western, Queen's, McGill, Mount Allison and all our other learning centres, the Canadian public turns to its tv sets to view Michigan vs Ohio State, Texas vs Texas Tech, Georgia vs Clemson, Duke vs Kentucky and the rest of the vast college cornucopia which is offered up during the U.S. school athletic season. Regularly, the "Globe" even carries betting odds for these U.S.events. And then the Canadian media presents the results of those contests with stories which exceed the coverage given to similar activities in our schools.

Which is an indication of just how much the Canadian media, and the Canadian public for that matter, value what is going on in our Canadian schools, and the young Canadians within them.

Why is there such snobbism when it comes to S.A.? Learning a sport and learning it to play it at the highest possible level teaches not just physical skills but competitive ones.

Takes some pride, why should a S.A. have to exile themselves to the US to learn a professional sports? Are strick academics then end all of everything?

Are we looking at the role of universities in too small a context? As long as there is a student in the S.A. why not expand the context? Grow University academics and if the universities make money at it, good for them.

Our kids can stay home and be successful, have some pride and stop being such snobs.

Athletics is higher learning; anyone who has truly dedicated themselves to any sports will tell you that. There is a jealousy and inferiority of academics factor at work here. Collectively they want to marginalise student athletes, very petty if you ask me. I guess this is their way to feel abetter about themselves, it borders on a form of discrimination and intolerance.

Having been a former varsity athlete in two sports with a post-graduate degree, I feel I can give a unique perspective to this discussion. First, varsity athletics is not for everyone because not everyone has the necessary skill set to make the team. Second, varsity athletics builds tremendous character and teaches people what working together can accomplish. The general student body does benefit directly from a vigorous varsity program in that they get to use most of the facilities built for these sports for recreation and intra-mural programs. This balances the student body in that they have something to do after classes and studying rather than drinking themselves silly. Canadian Universities are unique in that they put academics first and athletics second. I hope this never changes. Some of the brightest people I met while at University were deeply involved with varsity athletics, met the training and game requirements and maintained a 4.0 average throughout their schooling. Frankly, I would hire someone like this over some supposed egghead that did nothing but study at University. Varsity athletics has it's place in Canadian universities and I hope the vast majority of students attending yearly realize this. I think they do. By the way, Queen's homecoming football game has made headlines in the Globe for years. Not the best headlines but, boy is that place a "roar," before every homecoming game!