What do Sisyphus of Greek mythology and UMass football have in common? Let’s see. Sisyphus was a troublesome king and an unceasing provocation to Zeus. Consequently, Zeus dispatched Sisyphus to the underworld, where Hades deemed that Sisyphus would eternally push a boulder up a hill, only to watch the boulder roll down the hill so the workout could begin anew. Talk about rock and roll.

UMass football has endured a dismal Sisyphean 2.0 nightmare for over a decade. While not pushing a boulder up a hill, the athletes and coaches have dolefully pushed a football up a field, suffering analogous monotony and disillusionment. Just as hubris dethroned Sisyphus, 24-karat administrative arrogance suffocates the football program. Failure by the chancellor of UMass, Javier A. Reyes, and director of athletics, Ryan Bamford, to acknowledge the pitiful Football Bowl Subdivision blunder has miniaturized the team to nothing short of hamsters running on an exercise wheel with gridiron irrelevance within reach.

While gravity bedeviled Sisyphus, indifference is the scourge of UMass football. Indifference festooned with defiance by Reyes and Ryan to do the right thing. And why? Because the football team’s value to the university is contingent on its weekly destruction by more powerful FBS opponents. In short, it’s all about the Benjamins. Capitalizing on the risk braved by young athletes, Reyes and Ryan get to high-five each other all the way to the bank.

Please note that Minutemen rhymes with ATM. The 2024 football season (2-10) should be embarrassing to the principals, but it is not. Nonetheless, endeavoring to dishonor themselves, Reyes and Ryan, with two scheduled games remaining, colluded to shamelessly dismiss Coach Don Brown in a slimy blame-shifting scheme. The latest history-challenged stopgap coach dujour, Mr. Harasymiak, must possess a kamikaze pilot’s suicidal self-confidence to take the gig.

To prove he is the new Big Man on Campus, Reyes’ dubious initial decision was to crack down on open-faced undergraduates calling for compassion in the Middle East. Well, BMOC, it’s past time for another pivotal decision. No more pigskin pigheadedness. No more FBS, i.e., Football BS. Do the right thing.

Jack Tulloss

Belchertown