In this episode of the Longines Chronoscope, University of Maryland President Dr. H.C. Byrd talks about his school’s probation by the Southern Athletic Conference, the influence of football on universities, and televising football games. Huey tries to get Byrd to admit that he is willing for football to make more and more money for universities, even at the possible expense of academics and honesty, but Byrd can’t be cornered into it. He does admit that he will gladly make $125,000 off of his team playing in the Sugar Bowl, and states that he believes that football is not responsible for the recent scandals involving football players, including the “West Point Fix,” where students cheated on exams. Byrd stated that this happened because the exams never changed, not because football was giving kids and administrators more reason to be dishonest. He also disagreed with the athletic conferences’ position that televising games should be strictly limited, despite a recent ruling by the FCC in favor of free televising of games. He argued that televising games was a way for schools to make more money. Huey again tried to grill him on the potential of football’s money-making abilities to hurt student academics, but Byrd denied this charge. He ended the interview by speaking briefly on the state of athletic scholarships, saying that they were often too liberal or disguised dishonestly by schools. A Longines ad follows, using NY Herald Square’s clock footage.See the full length video at: www.qualityinformationpublishers.com
