By BETH PALMER
elizabeth@du2.byu.edu
The last 100 years of athletics at BYU have brought All-Americans, conference titles and even a few national titles for the Cougars.
Training and playing facilities have been upgraded and today's athletes enjoy benefits those a generation ago never dreamed of.
But BYU athletic administrator Gary Pullins -- and former baseball coach and player -- said things are not as much better as they may seem.
'The players of yesteryear had a lot more fun playing their game,' Pullins said. 'There wasn't as much pressure on them, there was not so many fans in the stands, they didn't play as many games. The athletic machine was not dictated so much by revenue because on one was making a lot of money in those days.'
But that changed when administrators realized athletics could and should pull their own weight.
The result?
'One football player, when his regular season ended, I heard him say he was tired,' Pullins said. 'I just thought, 'What? Come on, you have 65,000 fans at every game, you only play 11 games. How old is this guy? 95?' My suspicion is this player concentrates on football so much year round he was just a little bit stale.'
Because of the increased focus on winning and keeping scholarships, as well as the pressure that stems from the national attention some collegiate sports receive today, the 'game' of college athletics is less an arena of innocent fun than it used to be.
This focus on excelling at one sport and training year-round for it is not very old among college athletes.
Margaret Blake, a 1969 graduate of BYU, lettered in nine sports at BYU; tennis, gymnastics, softball, basketball, volleyball, swimming and diving, field hockey, track and field and skiing. She said that, despite the advantages of today's female athlete, she would still choose to play in her era.
'Things were a whole lot more fun then,' Blake said. 'There was not so much pressure. There were no scholarships for women so there weren't those recruiting problems and things that go on there.'
Since Blake left BYU, the rules concerning competition have changed. Athletes are now restricted to competition in two or less sports, she said. But even with fewer sports to compete in, Blake said opportunities are much more plentiful for today's athletes, especially women.
'There is much more opportunity now because scholarships are offered, you can become an All-American, women can go on and be professional,' she said. 'That was hard to do then. ... Things are a whole lot more serious. Women train a lot differently now and your sport tends to go the whole year round. We did it four months a year and moved on to something else.'
Pullins said the athletes coming into college today are more talented than those that came out 35 years ago because they tend to focus on just one sport in high school instead of waiting until college to do so. Therefore, Pullins said the average college athlete is better than those of the past.
And while today's athletes do enjoy the advantages of scholarships and improved facilities, Pullins said he still thinks they may be missing out on something.
'I sometimes lament the situation,' he said. 'I don't think they've had as much fun. My greatest friends are former mission companions or teammates. My two greatest years in athletics -- and I've been an athlete from little league to pro baseball -- were the two years I played for coach Tuckett at BYU.'