Universities Pimp Students For The Win?

To my father’s dismay, I was never a football fan growing up. While my dad and brothers would spend their Sundays on the couch watching game after game (after game…), my mother and I would hit the mall, grab lunch, and do other girly things. But then I went to college, a Big Ten college, and it was impossible not to fall madly in love with the sport. Not only did I wake up at 7am to cheer on my team with the other 100,000+ people in attendance every Saturday, but I learned the rules, I followed the players, I even – gasp – watched other games.

By Lauren

Michigan football became the center of my life. When they won, I celebrated. When they lost, I went home, watched the replays in bed and didn’t come out until I had to go to class on Monday.

I totally understand the glory that comes with watching a winning team. And, thanks to the past couple of seasons, I am learning the pain associated with watching a losing one. So I get that coaches and universities would do whatever it takes to build a team that wins. I mean, who doesn’t want to win?

But what I don’t get is the shady and pretty despicable recruiting process I’ve recently learned about known as The Hostess.

Hostesses are basically hot girls that are chosen to help coaches recruit their #1 picks. How do they help, you ask? Well, they use their best assets – their boobs, their lips, their mile-long legs – to show potential players everything they can have if they choose that particular school. While the University of Tennessee is currently under fire for illegally sending Hostesses across state lines (I guess that’s the big no-no in NCAA land), it seems that the entire idea of Hostesses is something that many (if not all) schools employ.

And that makes me sick.

Beyond the fact that there are university officials out there who think this is a good idea, the whole idea of using hot girls to lure athletes only explains why so many of them become cheating, disgusting sleaze balls down the road. (I mean, do I even have to mention Tiger?) OK, so I’m sure the hostesses don’t exclusively turn these guys into jerks, but having a coach – a leader – hand an impressionable 17-year-old kid a hot, scantily clad girl with the message, “this will be yours,” will leave a big impression. Mostly on his soon-to-be-overly-inflated ego.

And can we just talk about institutions of learning pimping out their students to win a few trophies?

This entire idea is disgusting, disturbing and wrong, and it speaks volumes about all of the people involved. Yes, I love watching my Wolverines win (especially against those Buckeyes!), but I’m sure there’s a more ethical way to guarantee it. You know, that doesn’t involve prostituting your students.