Gifted sportswriter speaks on campus

By Jonathan Moore

One of America’s most gifted sportswriters paid a visit to Indiana State recently when Frank Deford, a veteran sportswriter and NPR commentator, gave a lecture on Nov. 19.

His message topic was about the hype and hoopla of sports as a part of the 2007-2008 University Speakers Series.

“Where ever I have been in the world in Indiana, India or Indonesia,” Deford said. “The two things I hear the people always say is that we have the most beautiful women in the world and the best sports fan.”

Deford then talked about a recent Sports Illustrated article, where 81 percent of golfers interviewed preferred shooting par than spending a night with a beautiful woman. It is this admiration of sports he explains is why people are conflicted with the issue of drugs.

“It is so hard to imagination that something so powerfully deceitful could affect the games we love so. Of course our emotions are thrown when we suspect somebody on our team is on drugs. When our favorite guy shows up in spring training with 48 pounds of muscle and a head twice the size as you remember it last fall. We are inclined to say ‘gee he really took care of himself,’” Deford said.

He says that college sports is full of corruption with television contracts, championships and high dollar coach salaries. “Amateurism is like communism it may look good on paper but it simply doesn’t work.”

Deford went on to tell his audience the two great myths in American sports are next year soccer will catch on and administrators will clean up college sports.

His best experience in sportswriting was when he reported from Cameroon during the World Cup in 1990. “If you had two dollars you can go into a bar and buy a beer and watch the game there. And that is where I was when Cameroon scored the first goal and this short fat lady standing next to me grab me and started dancing with me. My photographer took that picture and that is the only sports photograph that I keep in my office.”

Deford finished his speech by talking about how sports unifies the world.

“Sports, for all its abuses and some I have cited her tonight. Sports is truly a unifying element. Like it or not it may ever well be the lingua franca of the world,” Deford said.

The next speaker event is former FBI special agent and bestseller author John Douglas on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. in Tilson Auditorium.