Daily Cal: Writer Gets Abuse for Criticizing Ayoob

Simply Put ...with Chris Nguon

Over the last month, yours truly has gotten more hate mail from Daily Cal readers than I have in my entire young journalism career. From being called a "disgraceful shithead" by one recent Cal grad, to being labeled a "moron" by another fellow, to of all things getting a Facebook message by a current student that claimed, "It's people like you that are the reason why Cal has the worst fans in the Pac-10," I have accumulated a jar full of malicious verbiage that will last me a lifetime.  And to think, most of this rage from our beloved readers is solely because of the criticism I have put on certain athletes and coaches, specifically Bears quarterback Joe Ayoob.  I bring up this point not to try to justify what I wrote, but rather to bring up a different topic of discussion.  With the recent and somewhat surprising struggles of the Cal football team, a bevy of fans have taken shots at the Bears program.  So, the question is asked. Should college athletes be immune from unfavorable judgments by fans?  Was it wrong for the person in the north end zone of Memorial Stadium to shout expletives at Ayoob after his horrid outing against Oregon State?  Some folks claim college athletes are just kids playing a game. Others say the players we watch on Saturdays are students first and athletes second, making what they do on the field strictly an extracurricular activity. I say true and true.  However, there are several reasons that people do have the right to criticize when things are not going the way they should.  Whether or not people want to admit it, college athletes (specifically those who play football and basketball), are semi-professionals.  Taking the Cal football team as an example, players who don the Bears jersey on Saturdays hold a huge economic value. They are money-makers for the university.  Cal football players are marketed (brilliantly, I might add) on billboards, posters and commercials across the Bay Area. One, to sell tickets, and two, to sell merchandise.  The people in charge of these efforts put a colossal financial investment in players like Bears tailback Marshawn Lynch.  Walk into the Cal student store today, and you'll see a stack of No. 10 jerseys being sold for 50 bucks a pop. Other clothing outlets around Berkeley also have these same marketing ploys. Futura even sells a "Booya" shirt.  Is it fair that these college athletes are put in this position? Of course not. But that's just the way it is.  Fans invest money in guys like Lynch and Ayoob. They buy season tickets, they buy jerseys, they even bet on games.  The early betting line from Vegas so far this week has No. 1 USC a 19-point favorite over Cal on Saturday. How much do you want to bet that thousands of people across the nation will slap down some dough on the Trojans and take that offer? I would.  People put their hearts, their efforts and their pocketbooks into these college athletes. It's not fair to the young men, but the system is designed for the players to be exploited like that.  People are, for better or worse, deeply invested in college athletes.  Simply put, they can criticize anytime they want.