ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 3 67
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BY ALAN KARPICK
AKarpick@GoldandBlack.com
A
ny time Mitch Daniels speaks about athletics, it
qualifies as a story, especially in this magazine. And
when we caught up with Daniels at the Triple XXX Family
Restaurant on Nov. 21 for a segment of "Gold and Black
LIVE," the 12th Boilermaker president wasn't short on
opinion regarding what he sees as some of the challenges
for Purdue and across the country in the world of big-time
college athletics.
It is clear Daniels likes the amount of emphasis placed
on college sports at his place of employment. He speaks of-
ten about the student experience in all walks of college life,
and athletics is part of the equation. Yet it also seems clear
that the president isn't micro-managing the Boilermaker
athletic department.
"Done right, athletics is an incredibly enriching experi-
ence, puts a lot of fun in school, brings people together, lets
young people meet students they wouldn't meet otherwise,
gives them great memories," Daniels said on the eve of
Purdue's last home football game. "That doesn't mean it
has not gotten out of its place and out of its bounds at some
schools. I am happy to say I don't think so at Purdue."
But Daniels is quick to point out that all the money in
college athletics, much of it from large television contracts,
will continue to change the face of the product that fans
like to devour in large quantities. Daniels calls the amount
of television money infused into college sports a "truck-
load" and says more will be coming. With all of Daniels'
experience in government, Daniels said Congress or the
courts could reshuffle the deck if things spiral too far out
control.
"We can see the cheating, the phoniness of students-ath-
letes at some institutions, the one-and-done charade, and
we can see the misplaced priorities at a lot of places," Dan-
iels said. "But unless there is a rule change imposed from
P R E S E N T S : P U R D U E ' S S T O R I E S A N D T R A D I T I O N S
Daniels At The Diner
Boilermaker president pulls no punches in vision for athletics
The Triple XXX Family Restaurants
Route 66 Diner
Salute Purdue's Great Traditions,
like Duane Purvis
Indiana's Oldest Drive-In
On the Hill, But on the Level Since 1929
Triplexxxfamilyrestaurant.com
John Langenkamp
Mitch Daniels was on a segment of "Gold and Black LIVE" in
November at the Triple XXX Family Restaurant.
