I totally disagree.
Regardless of the caliber of athlete, and accounting for the small percentage of them who actually go pro, these are still college students. While you agree that you can't attend a class with other students, for a plethora of reasons including their safety and privacy, I would suggest that practices have the same sort of expectation of privacy. The fact that the University can exclude anyone from a practice indicates that no matter how much the average fan might WANT to attend, there is no inherent RIGHT to attend (just like a class).
Herein lies the problem: the fact that fans think that there is a right or an expectation that they should have access to the objects of their obsessions (student athletes) actually, to me, indicates that they should not be allowed to attend.
Maybe I am just in a bad mood tonight.
I absolutely agree that there is no right of the public to attend these practices. If the coach chooses to close the practices, even to the media, that is his choice and within his purview.
As to the other arguments, I don't really see the validity.
Student athletes forfeit their privacy when they make the choice to play football at a big-time program. Every public gesture, bad decision or blatant, bone-headed move they make is public knowledge. Every time they walk out the door, the are subject to all the crap that comes with the "public figure" status. There are countless petty theft, D&D, PD, DWI, assault, battery and other things that happen every night on and around the campus that don't make the news reports. But, what happens when a football player in involved?
How many other students are named in the paper when they fail a drug test?
The safety argument holds even less water, IMO. These students are living an everyday life. They come and go everywhere around town all the time. If someone was intent on doing harm to one of them, I fail to see how closing a practice would aid in stopping it.
I really don't care one way or another. As I stated in another post, I have attended a great number of college and NFL football practices, and honestly, the thought that someone would sit and watch one as a form of entertainment is hard for me to understand. I just don't see any harm in it.
The Rams have some open practices. They announce them in advance and make sure that everything is in place for them. They usually have a few every year. I assume it is to help build interest. If UT opened them up, I would assume it would be something like that. I don't see them allowing anyone to come and go to any practice.
