Is Gov. Jesse The Brain Ventura a prophet about college athletics?
TIVERTON, R.I. Last fall, Minnesota voters elected former wrestling champ Jesse Ventura to be their governor. My guess is that they may have been suffering from America’s Great Disillusionment with politics in general, and professional pols in particular. So, somehow, the colorful hulk convinced the majority that a career in the arena of theatrics and brawn which is professional wrestling qualified him to lead their state into the next millennium. Professional athletes belong to that special class, worldwide, in which they enjoy inflated compensation for little more than the ability to throw a ball into a hoop, carry it over a goal line, or bat it out of the park. In Ventura’s case, as with professional boxers, the lucrative purse the winner strives for goes to the person who can bring his opponent to the mat, or immobilize him for the required time in a strangle hold. Intellectual prowess does not affect the judges’ decisions in any event. Athletes in America, at least, have also enjo
