Ack! I don't understand why people persist in glorifying athletes! Why must an athlete be recruited? We don't we talk about improving the HFAC so we can recruit better artists and musicians. Is the new Joseph F. Smith Building's purpose to recruit the best of the country's MFHD majors (or whoever will live in that building)? No, instead BYU turns away many applicants every year.
There is nothing wrong with giving athletes scholarships and for fans to attend the games if they want to. The athletic program should seek to excel. However, to make the teams out to be heroic missionary-examples to the world is unrealistic. We should have realized this long before recent news advertised some athletes' flaws in character. Athletes are just people who have chosen to do something at BYU - just like any other student. But, I would argue that the fans of the music department are doing a better of job of not embarrassing the school before the country. And I suspect the more directly effective missionaries are still the ones that personally enter living rooms - not just TVs.
Why don't we stop trying to attract athletes - and just choose among those who apply! We need to stop acting like BYU is desperate for student football players. While we never have had (until now) the best athletic facilities in the world - we never had and never will have the worst! Instead, we should improve the facilities for the less-popular majors and keep interest in academics alive.
Scott Henderson
Highland