Well, looks like I'll have Saturdays free...

[Southpaw5]

My issue is that noone seems to think that the price of the "education" matters. These kids have the opportunity to get a free college education, room and board paid, for their efforts on the football field.

+1 The bottom line is they are at college to get an education, which cost money. Think of the message this sends, paying students because they play sports. what about students that are in med school working toward cures for diseases? this send a very twisted message indeed.

If the schools can afford to pay students, they could instead put the money towards creating new jobs, something we actually need.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Amazon.com: The Cartel: Inside the Rise and Imminent Fall of the NCAA

Product Description
"College athletes are not slaves," writes Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Taylor Branch in "The Cartel: Inside the Rise and Imminent Fall of the NCAA." "Yet to survey the scene—corporations and universities enriching themselves on the backs of uncompensated young men, whose status as 'student-athletes' deprives them of the right to due process guaranteed by the Constitution—is to catch the unmistakable whiff of the plantation."

Branch, best known for his award-winning trilogy about the civil rights movement, "Parting the Waters", argues that decades of greed and self-interest have finally caught up with the NCAA and that the organization is poised to collapse under the weight of its own hypocrisy.

From Reggie Bush and Cam Newton to Ohio State and the University of Miami, it's been one big sports scandal after another. But the true scandal, argues Branch in this gripping, deeply reported narrative, is the parasitic structure of college sports, a business that generates billions of dollars in revenue every year yet fails to provide even workers' compensation for its young performers. The outrage, he writes, is "not that students are getting illegally paid or recruited, it's that two of the noble principles by which the NCAA justifies its existence—'amateurism' and the 'student-athlete'—are cynical hoaxes, legalistic confections propagated by the universities so they can exploit the skills and fame of young athletes. The tragedy at the heart of college sports is not that some college athletes are getting paid, but that more of them are not."

A portion of "The Cartel" was first published in different form in the October 2011 issue of The Atlantic, and it set off a firestorm of controversy and an avalanche of praise. Sports Illustrated's Frank Deford, speaking on National Public Radio, said Branch’s story "may well be the most important article ever written about college sports."

Now the full, landmark story is available. "The Cartel" is classic investigative journalism of the highest order, by one of America's most admired historians.

 

[macaroni tony]

NCAA rules specifically say no players name can be on a jersey sold by the school.

As to the other scholarship student, they are working their butt off using their above average intellect.

Exploitation, to me would imply that the athletes don't get anything.

I know that, but come on. If you buy a #5 USC jersey in 2004, you know you are buying a Reggie Bush jersey. He is the one who made the number. The no name on the jersey rule is a ruse.
The other scholarship student, they are working their butt off to use their education, but they are not working their butt off to make the school money as is the athlete. Essentially you are giving two students the same thing, but are expecting much more in return from one of them.


I say it's not far off from exploitation because what the athlete gets in not commensurate to what they are worth to the school. IMHO

 

[Ziltoid]

If they wouldn't play football they could have a part time job of around 10-15 hours a week and make that 2k during the school year, I don't see the problem.

 

[macaroni tony]

Yeah....$2000 is absolute peanuts dude

 

[Southpaw5]

It is the principle of the matter that bothers me. They are in college for an education, they are not paid athletes, nor should they be, even if you consider it(the dollar amount) to be a pittance.

 

[Jhengsman]

Sounds to me that people who live around Miami of Ohio don't want Miami of Florida out bidding them for talent like the Yankees outbid the Indians

 

[Kaa]

Well said.

I'm just amazed at how much money sports programs make and how little any of those profits go back to the school to help lower tuition for all students.

From what I understand, the bulk of the $$ generated by the football & basketball programs go back into those programs and the rest goes to support other athletics. So to say the university is lining the pockets of unnamed people, is a little misleading.

 

[Jhengsman]

So force football players into slave labor so Field Hockey fans and players will be happy. Fair, maybe but fair to who and who is being exploited?

 

[Funky Ghost]

It is the principle of the matter that bothers me. They are in college for an education, they are not paid athletes, nor should they be, even if you consider it(the dollar amount) to be a pittance.

Principles can, and should be changed when they are insufficiently meeting the needs they are attached to.

To remain stagnant in the face of a glaring truth would be the greater crime.

The truth is these students are getting paid. If the school is involved it can be regulated and there is far less chance/need for unscrupulous avenues.

I'm not naive enough to think that it wont still happen, but the majority of those that needed to be swayed, I think, would say no.

 

[iamlowsound]

If they wouldn't play football they could have a part time job of around 10-15 hours a week and make that 2k during the school year, I don't see the problem.

This is the crux of the argument. They play football 15+ hours a week, which gives them very little time to go out and work a job. Those with scholarships for other things aren't required to work for the school for 15+ hours a week and can work a job. Therefore, the school should compensate the athletes for their time accordingly.

lowsound

 

[macaroni tony]

^ I was gonna go in and post that. Time=money, especially for some of the brokest people in the world (college students)

 

[FilterFunk]

So are the other scholarship students, and they are not working their butt off physically and using their superhuman talents to make the school tons and tons of more money. The schools thereafter sell their jerseys, and make a lot more money for the NCAA. I don't see how that is much different from exploitation

Not only that, but at least one major university (I believe it's Nebraska) sells GAME-WORN jerseys, and, or course, the players whose blood and sweat are on those jerseys get nothing. Yet, the players had better not even accept a Big Mac from a booster or they risk ineligiblity, and their respective programs risk sanctions. Of course, the programs still make tons of money. The argument that scholarships make up for all that the players give, and all that the universities and highly-paid coaches and ADs receive, just doesn't fly with me.

 

[sloasdaylight]

It is the principle of the matter that bothers me. They are in college for an education, they are not paid athletes, nor should they be, even if you consider it(the dollar amount) to be a pittance.

No, they're not; those kids are there to play ball.

 

[FilterFunk]

I know that, but come on. If you buy a #5 USC jersey in 2004, you know you are buying a Reggie Bush jersey. He is the one who made the number. The no name on the jersey rule is a ruse.
The other scholarship student, they are working their butt off to use their education, but they are not working their butt off to make the school money as is the athlete. Essentially you are giving two students the same thing, but are expecting much more in return from one of them.


I say it's not far off from exploitation because what the athlete gets in not commensurate to what they are worth to the school. IMHO

MT, you must be a carpenter, 'cause you've been hittin' the nail on the head every time in this thread! Universities could easily sell jerseys with just the school name and logo; no names or numbers. And how many fans do you see wearing field hockey or softball jerseys? We all know what generates revenue at these schools. Everybody from the head coach to the guy running the concession stand gets paid because people pay to see the athletes in big-time college sports, i.e., football and basketball.

 

[tastybasslines]

Well, if they're getting free food, lodging, books, and classes, what do they need to work to support?

You need spending money for things...clothes, going out, whatever, were you ever 18-22? - You act like all they need is food, clothing and shelter.

VERY hardline approach to take for 2K a year.

 

[burk48237]

I don't have a problem with it in principle although most schools don't get rich on college athletics anymore due to the rule nine situation. I suspect they make more money on endorsements (Nike,etc), than they do on actual ticket sales. The coaches can and many do make a boatload of money.

I have a bigger problem with the rise in college educational costs in general. To may they seem devoid from reality and totally disconnected to the quality of education which seems to me to be declining. I also believe we have more than our share of "diploma mills" throughout the country that turn out students ill prepared for anything much less a competitive work marketplace. Many of which believe the myth, that a degree is a guarantee of big money.

Having said that the quality of employment for most college athletes who didn't make the leap to the next level seems to be pretty good. In many cases the alumni and boosters take care of the kids after school.

 

[lowfreq33]

This is the crux of the argument. They play football 15+ hours a week, which gives them very little time to go out and work a job. Those with scholarships for other things aren't required to work for the school for 15+ hours a week and can work a job. Therefore, the school should compensate the athletes for their time accordingly.

lowsound

Actually, NCAA rules prohibit students receiving any form of athletic scholarship (even a partial one) from having a job during the school year or training season. This includes trainers and equipment managers, who typically don't get the food and housing stipend.

 

[Kaa]

You need spending money for things...clothes, going out, whatever, were you ever 18-22? - You act like all they need is food, clothing and shelter.

VERY hardline approach to take for 2K a year.

No, I skipped straight from 17 to 23.

So, the dough is for partying? that's OK?

 

[sloasdaylight]

No, I skipped straight from 17 to 23.

So, the dough is for partying? that's OK?

I mean, partying, buying food that isn't provided for you at the meal centers. I know for a fact that University of Florida and Florida State University football players are only allowed 2 meals per day from the dining facilities.

Beyond that you have smaller, quality of life things that other students with full ride scholarships still need, like:
sheets,
shoes,
clothing,
snacks for your dorm room,
the occasional dinner with friends at some cheap franchise store, and you don't want to feel like the poor guy at the table because you have no money, so you only get water and then eat breadsticks all night,
money to rent or buy a movie,
to get the new CD you want,
to buy a bass,
Fraternity dues,
Dinner with your girlfriend NOT at the meal center,
etc.,
I can go on and on.

These things are definitely not essential to life, sure, but without playing football or basketball or whatever, these kids could be out with a college job somewhere at Starbucks or something, and earning their own money to do with as they please. Instead, they have to devote 15+ hours each week to football so you can sit back on your couch, drink a beer, and enjoy the fruits of their labors.

I think it's time for you to stop being butthurt about this.