Let's discuss two college sports awards. One was recently bestowed by the Sports Business Journal (SBJ). SBJ named University of Tennessee Athletic Director Danny White the Athletic Director of the Year. I have created a second award, with SBJ as the winner for the Most Tone-Deaf organization covering the world of sports.
In response to White's award, one tweet provided a perfect summary for why SBJ is the deserving winner of my Most Tone Deaf Award: "(Tennessee) the sports department that helped destroy all NCAA oversight, led to the current pay for play dynamics, and is currently helping to further a lawsuit that would eliminate all eligibility criteria."
SBJ has standards for its award. Clearly, the standards do not include allegiance to the common good of college sports. According to the Nashville Post, the standards used in choosing White were "major naming deals, a new talent fee for athletes, a baseball national championship, and strong football and basketball success."
Tennessee Chancellor, Donde Plowman, heaped more praise on White, "Danny sets the tone with his competitive drive, strategic approach and problem-solving mindset, and has built an incredible team of athletics administrators committed to supporting student-athletes and winning with integrity. The culture he has built at Tennessee is truly special."
Why the SBJ Award was misplaced
As I wrote in Kicking the Tennessee Vols out of the SEC is getting serious, the State Legislature of Tennessee has become a henchman for the Tennessee Vols. That could have only happened at the behest of the school's powerbrokers that include White and Plowman. In simple terms what a recent act of the legislature did was to allow college athletic departments in the state of Tennessee to ignore and avoid any current or future rules constraining the paying of recruits and players.
Tennessee's Legislature did not take action to aid Vanderbilt University, the University of Memphis, Middle Tennessee State or any other school in the state of Tennessee, except the Tennessee Volunteers.
Perhaps concern for the common good has become so quaint it is only to be talked about rather than acted on. If so, SBJ's award to Danny White might be justifiable. Maybe just rename the award to the Best Lone Wolf in college sports.