Thought For The Day

Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy: the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.

TIME printed a timely article regarding the hypocrisy of the NCAA as the Final Four takes place in San Antonio, Texas. This year’s tournament has seen major upset as teams expected to win have not, and those with little “chance” to win have reached the finals. But who is raking in the financial gain? Certainly not the principles.

In 2016–17, revenue for the NCAA, the nonprofit organization that oversees major college sports, exceeded $1 billion for the first time. (TIME)

The NCAA protects it’s sponsors. They generate much of their income from such sponsors and the vast majority from broadcast rights.

Meanwhile, the NCAA takes extraordinary measures to impede the financial interests of the tournament’s main attraction: the players. The organization’s amateurism rules prohibit student-athletes from earning any money above a stipend that covers the cost of living at school. Yes, players receive athletic scholarships that cover hefty tuition bills. That’s a valuable prize. But the vast majority of the kids lighting up your TV screen were recruited to their school to play basketball, not study chemistry. And don’t think they don’t know it. (IBID.)

The young men and women who make “everything” happen are those who’s backs are used to make the NCAA incredibly wealthy. Amazing how that reeks of hypocrisy when it comes to  an organization that claims to be “putting the athlete first.”

And we thought only the Church was ripe with hypocrites. Unfortunately it may very well be the Church that sets the gold standard in hypocrisy. What we claim to believe and how we confess to live, often falls short of the infinite morality of God’s Truth. Shame on both the NCAA and the Church when we present such hypocrisy.

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