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SURVEYING THE LANDSCAPE
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College Notebook No. 17
Friday, March 17, 2006
By Denny O'Brien |
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New cyber-hangout warrants
policing by AD's
©2006 Bonesville.net
If you’re like me, you’re not overly
familiar with the web site
facebook.com. But if you’re a fan of
college sports, odds are that the student-athletes whose careers you closely
monitor are.
That’s because the site is an online
community for college students, a label to which my name has not been
attached for nearly a decade. And according to a recent report in USA Today,
many of the nation’s Division I athletics directors have identified their
student-athletes’ existence on Facebook as a problem.
Make that a two-headed technobeast that
wasn’t on any AD’s radar as recently as two years ago.
Much like another popular online ‘hood —
Myspace — Facebook offers its residents a piece of virtual real estate on
which they can set up a digital homestead and decorate to their heart’s
desire. As long as students have a university e-mail address, they have an
open invitation to join the biggest cyber rave ever to hit the college
scene.
But unlike the tangible world in which we
mostly live, where subdivisions are often governed by those
obsessive-compulsive covenants, there aren’t too many rules regulating the
conduct of Facebook’s tenants. Just six to be exact.
It is, by concept, a dot-com-munity
designed for students to interact and network with one another, regardless
of school affiliation or geographic location. By providing the capability to
post photos, send e-mail to other users, create a “friends” list, scribe
comments on other profiles, and advertise upcoming events, Facebook promotes
both creativity and a sense of community among its members.
Pretty harmless, right?
For the most part, yes. But in the big
business of college athletics — where its stars don’t draw a paycheck but
generate the revenue — Facebook inadvertently introduces some risks that
schools can’t afford to overlook.
For student-athletes, it is a risk because
it puts them on a platform unlike any other on which they have previously
stood. Though the most visible ones are quite accustomed to the spotlight,
sites like Facebook add a layer of vulnerability that exposes the student to
the equivalent of a blindside hit on an unsuspecting quarterback.
Take the account of Duke forward Lee
Melchionni.
In a recent feature in ESPN Magazine, the
Devils’ southpaw gunner mentioned the popular site and how he and his
teammates constantly face a full court press from readily available co-eds.
Accordingly, the number of daily offers extended towards Krzyzewskiville
rivals the quota of cheeseburgers served internationally by Mickey D’s.
Makes you wonder about the percentage of
invitations sent from Chapel Hill and College Park, doesn’t it. Not to
mention the amount of ammunition someone of J.J. Redick’s stature could
create for opposing fans just by what is posted on his Facebook profile.
Then there’s the increased potential for
debauchery that exists for any athletics team during extended road trips.
It’s no secret that student-athletes have, on occasion, broken curfew when
periods of celebration needed to extend into overtime.
The last thing they need is an awareness of
the time and location of the biggest keggers in Ann Arbor, Athens, or
Bloomington. And that’s just one of the risks that also applies to the
universities those athletes represent.
Another is the content that some
student-athletes post on their Facebook profiles that could potentially harm
or embarrass their university. Much of that, according to several AD's, has
been captured visually by photos athletes have posted that can be construed
by the administration as compromising to the uniform they wear.
There also have been cases where athletes
posted disparaging comments about coaches, which according to the USA Today
article, has resulted in the removal of scholarships in at least one case
and the heavy policing of Facebook usage in many others.
Both are somewhat controversial measures,
to say the least. But when a student receives an education on the school’s
dime and is a designated ambassador by the jersey they wear, an athletics
department has the right to monitor Facebook activity.
If East Carolina AD Terry Holland is
unaware of the Facebook phenomenon, it might be a good idea to get
acquainted. He should make sure that athletes are educated on any risks
involved, clearly state the potential consequences of abuse and make it
clear that Big Papa will be watching.
After all, East Carolina has an obligation
to protect its student-athletes — as well as itself.
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02/23/2007 02:02:56 AM |
