Many universities have started their new school year.
And it's time for a new generation of student-athletes to begin their college sports career.
The college football season is about to begin. Other college sports (ie. women's volleyball, soccer) have already started.
And it's time to take about the challenges faced by college athletes ---- about their compensation and their academic program.
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1) College Athletes Getting Pimped
Currently, most college athletes recieve a scholarship, while the rest are walk-ons who either rely on their parents or other financial aid for tuition.Those who recieve an athletic scholarship get free tuition, textbooks and a dorm room. That's it!
Because the NCAA wants all their college athletes to retain "amateur status", college athletes CANNOT recieve anything else, besides gifts from family members.
That means NOBODY ELSE is allowed to give ANY college athletes ANY money or any other gifts.
Otherwise, that athlete and the university WILL face sanctions.
You might think I'm exaggarating. NOT AT ALL!
From Salon's Josh Eidelson http://www.salon.com/2012/03/11/madness_of_march_ncaa_gets_paid_players_dont/
His teammate, All-American linebacker Donnie Edwards, mentioned in a radio interview that he was having trouble supporting himself on his scholarship. In response, an anonymous donor sent a bag of groceries to Edwards’ door. That year the university was making money selling jerseys with Edwards’ number. But the NCAA suspended Edwards for accepting the groceries.
That's right, student-athletes can't even accept a bag full of groceries from a non-family member.
We're NOT talking about accepting free cars.
We're NOT talking about accepting a bag of marijuana.
We're NOT talking about accepting free access to strip clubs.
We're talking about a bag of groceries!
This actually got a college player suspended
Any other college student can accept a donated bag of groceries without consequences. Except student-athletes!
More examples of this madness from the same article.
Former UCLA power forward James Keefe, who played in the Final Four in 2007 and 2008, says that while it was “a great opportunity … at the same time, it’s just amazing how much money’s being made, and how little of that has trickled down to what I think the athletes need.” Keefe recalls “players that were having a lot of trouble making ends meet,” and athletes disciplined for infractions as small as accepting a free sandwich from a fan
Any college student can accept this for free,
except for student-athletes
.
And this from Joe Nocera's article
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/lets-start-paying-college-athletes.html
And what does the labor force that makes it possible for coaches to earn millions, and causes marketers to spend billions, get? Nothing. The workers are supposed to be content with a scholarship that does not even cover the full cost of attending college. Any student athlete who accepts an unapproved, free hamburger from a coach, or even a fan, is in violation of N.C.A.A. rules.
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At major universities, college sports is BIG BUSINESS! Millions of dollars are flowing in, but the student-athletes get nothing more than the scholarship. Because the "amateur" status is soooooooooooo sacred!
While that might not mean much to student-athletes coming from upper-class families, the student-athletes from lower-income families are screwed.
Of course, the player-haters, with all their jealousy, will throw hissy fits like "college athletes should be grateful, they already have a scholarship, I don't have one".
But those students with a music or a theatre scholarship face absolutely ZERO legal limitations from getting paid on the side, while continuing to perform for their college's band,orchestra or theatre productions.
You can play the violin for your college's orchestra, and you can still perform at wedding while getting paid for that. However, if a college basketball player gets paid even chump-change at a community-park tournament, it becomes a scandal!
You can act at your college theatre's musical production, and still take a paid-acting gig for a television ad. No scandal! But if a college quarterback gets paid to do a television ad .......... scandal!
You can be a business major and start your own side-business while still taking college courses. You can be a science major and take a paid internship in your field. But god forbid a college athlete tries something like that ....... it becomes a "scandal".
This kind of nonsense goes on all to appease the jealous losers still upset that they're not popular like the athletes. This kind of nonsense goes on all to appease the jealous losers still upset about people who are good at something they suck at!
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Meanwhile, college athletes with lower-income backgrounds can't even eat out with their team-mates, can't even accept free groceries, can't even buy new clothes.
And yet, their university getting millions of dollars from TV contracts.
They see people wearing the jerseys with their number on it, and that same student-athlete doesn't receive an extra-penny for it!
For example
from Salon's Josh Eidelson
http://www.salon.com/2012/03/11/madness_of_march_ncaa_gets_paid_players_dont/
Mosely describes athletes anxiously waiting for federal financial aid checks to help close the gap between their stipends and their expenses. “You become really dependent on, ‘Is it going to come on this Tuesday or this Tuesday?’” says Mosely, because that federal assistance could determine “whether you can get insurance” or “whether you can pay rent.” While Mosely stressed over his expenses, his university sold apparel with his number. “It might not be my name on the back of the jersey, but if it’s a Number 14 Kentucky jersey, they obviously are wearing that jersey for me … ” says Mosely. “That is a little bit of exploitation. You can buy a jersey with my number on it … the school can potentially profit off of it, and the student athlete doesn’t.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/lets-start-paying-college-athletes.html
Players aren’t stupid. They look around and see jerseys with their names on them being sold in the bookstores. They see 100,000 people in the stands on a Saturday afternoon. During the season, they can end up putting in 50-hour weeks at their sports, and they learn early on not to take any course that might require real effort or interfere with the primary reason they are on campus: to play football or basketball. The N.C.A.A. can piously define them as students first, but the players know better. They know they are making money for the athletic department. The N.C.A.A.’s often-stated contention that it is protecting the players from “excessive commercialism” is ludicrous; the only thing it’s protecting is everyone else’s revenue stream
How would you feel if that was your situation? How would you feel if someone else is making money off your work and you're not allowed to profit off that? Wouldn't you feel like you're being pimped?
Of course you would!
And while they're getting pimped, (and watching their non-athlete classmates be allowed to get paid on the side), who can blame them if they leave school early for the NFL or the NBA, even if they have no guarantees of getting drafted.
That was the case with Davone Bess, who used to play for the UH Warriors! He came from a single-parent home in East Oakland, one of the most dangerous ghettoes in the USA! He could have played for UH one more year. There was no guarantee that he would get drafted. But with his desperate situation, who could blame him for leaving a year early for the NFL?
Davone Bess
one of the greatest receivers in UH football history
Compare that to another former UH Warrior Colt Brennan. Brennan came from a rich family from Orange County. He didn't have to worry about his expenses during his time at UH, so even though there was a possibility of getting drafted after his junior year, Brennan decided to stick around for one more year.
However, Brennan was still pimped by the system. During his senior season, I would see TONS of people wearing his #15 jersey! But none of that money trickled down to him.
Guess who's not getting paid for wearing that jersey?
Because of the concussions he receive his senior year, plus the hip injuries during his short time in the NFL, Breenan didn't last long in the pros.
For many college athletes like Brennan, their college career was their entire 15 minutes of fame! But they weren't even allowed to be compensated for their fame, especially since so many people were wearing his #15 jersey!
2)How to Compensate the College Athletes
There are millions upon millions of dollars rolling around college sports. TV contracts, coaches salaries, stadiums, fitness facilities all paid for!
Major universities like Notre Dame, Texas, Florida, Oregon ------ make huge profits off of fans watching their student-athletes. They can EASILY AFFORD to pay their student-athletes extra money ABOVE their usual "tuition, books, room and board"
However, smaller colleges are losing money on their sports programs. They won't have extra money to compensate their student-athletes further.
This brings up a concern of "if they pay student athletes, it will give an unfair advantage to the mega-power schools when it comes to recruiting"
Some like Joe Nocera, advocating paying only the football and men's basketball players, since that's where most of the profits in college sports come from.
But that runs into Title IX violations, since we can't have gender double standards.
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And of course, there's all this stuff about "let's keep college sports amateur ................ paying the players will ruin what's great about college sports"
What to do, what to do?
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For one thing, this concept of amateurism is OVER-RATED!
Look, the Olympics used to be "amateur-only" but the whole thing was a joke!
Some nations, like the former Soviet Union, basically defied this amateur nonsense, by secretly paying their athletes.
But more importantly, training at the Olympic level is basically a full-time job! It was unfair to demand full-time training, but not allow those players to make any monetary compensation for that time! Those athletes got to pay the bills, you know!
So it's a great thing that the Olympics got rid of this "amateurs only" nonsense back in 1992, when the Dream Team dominated the basketball scene.
And the Olympics got better because now, we really get to see the best athletes of the world compete!
New York Daily News
You mean you won't watch them play
if they get paid?
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Similar things are true about college sports.
Sports Illustrated
You mean you won't watch them play
if they get paid?
Training is a full-time job! There's practices. There's weight-lifting sessions so they dont' get over-powered by their opponents. There's video-studying time to study their practice/game errors, as well as study their opponents. And don't forget they have to remain academically eligible! That means taking college-level courses, and study hall!
All that, without extra money in their bank account!
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It's time to put this "amateur status only" crap in the rubbish can!
Colleges shall be allowed to compensate their student-athletes whatever they can afford.
No, it shouldn't be mandatory that the student-athletes to get paid big money, but we shouldn't stop colleges from doing so either.
But even more importantly, let the student-athletes receive free gifts from fans, boosters, and anyone else making legal money!
Let the student-athletes receive donated groceries. Let them receive a free burger from a fan! Let them receive a new car! Let them receive a new stereo system!
Let the student-athletes directly receive corporate sponsorships!
Let the student-athletes get paid to do some advertisements!
Let the student-athletes get paid to do autograph sessions.
Let the student-athletes get paid for every jersey with their # getting sold!
There could be some limitations. For examples, religious colleges could still ban their student-athletes from appearing ads that goes against their religion. So BYU could still ban their student-athletes from appearing in beer ads, for example!
3) Student-Athletes would still have to follow some rules
Just like people at any other job, student-athletes still will have to follow rules, even when they're getting compensation.Most likely, before the NCAA will even allow for student-athletes to get additional monetary compensation, they will probably make other rules stricter.
For example, the NCAA would most likely be stricter on academic dishonesty (cheating on tests), drug abuse, and on violent behaviors.
Student-Athletes will probably have to face stricter penalties for violating felonies. That will mean those arrested for things like DUIs, domestic violence, rape and other things will most likely will be expelled instead of just getting a "slap on the wrist" (ie. suspended from games involving weak opponents).
And you know what? That's the type of rules that are needed!
Student-Athletes are role models. They represent their school and the surrounding community. They ought to be held to a higher standard when it comes to behavior.
4) Student-Athletes and Academics
As for academics, as I mentioned earlier, student-athletes still have to take and pass college-level courses.
However, it can be a struggle to do so during their season, when they have to attend practice, weight-lifting sessions, video-study, and off course their games.
Usually, student-athletes take easy course during their season, harder classes during the off-season.
However, for basketball players, their season run from Fall semester to Spring semester. So they'll have to take at least one hard class each semester.
The NCAA has a timetable saying "by this senior year, you should be 80 % done with your major requirements."
Sounds great, but there's a problem with that as I mentioned in an earlier blog post
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/07/college-reform.html
Why pressure students to "graduate in 2 (or 4) years, if they need more time to fulfill their core requirements as well as balance their school/non-school life!
And the NCAA rules on student-athletes have to have 80% of their degree done by senior year, has also caused problems when student-athletes have to switch out of their original preferred major just to stay eligible to play! The NCAA is still buying this OUTDATED FICTION of a "4-year degree" when some majors are now 5-7 year majors. If I was the NCAA president, I'll be like " just pass your classes, you can still finish your degree when you can"
Another point to back me up
from NY Times - Joe Nocera
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/lets-start-paying-college-athletes.html
It is the unspoken scandal that permeates college sports, and it is corrosive not just for the athletes but also for the entire student body. “Within two or three weeks of coming to a university, players often find out they are woefully underprepared for college work,” Duderstadt says. “Very quickly they give up and major in eligibility. They take the cupcake courses. It is an insidious thing.”
There is another issue: Players who were stars in high school inevitably come to college with big dreams of going pro one day. Yet, as Emmert notes, “we had 5,500 Division I men’s basketball players last year, and only 50 went to the N.B.A.” By the time most players realize that they are not going to make it to the professional ranks, so much time has been lost that they can never catch up academically. In most cases, they also can’t afford to quit football and concentrate on their studies, because that would cost them their athletic scholarships.
The primary purpose of a six-year scholarship is to give athletes whose playing days have ended a chance to get their degrees — and to really have time to focus on classes that can prepare them for a future without football or basketball. It would allow players to take fewer courses during their years of athletic eligibility, giving them a better chance to succeed at the courses they do take. And it would make it possible for those players who do graduate within four years to pursue a graduate degree. The N.C.A.A. would no longer need to obsess over an athlete’s academic performance; as long as he met the same standard the school applied to every other student, he could stay in school and play on the team. The extra two years would place the onus on the athlete to get an education, while also giving him the opportunity. Isn’t that how it should work anyway?
And another great point on student-athletes and academics
from Midweek's Steve Murray
http://www.midweek.com/sterns-rant-is-cranky-but-correct/
But unlike producers who need markets for their goods, the NCAA is not a supplier but a service provider like the NBA. If Emmert wants players to stay on campus, thereby discontinuing the current state of athletics that makes a mockery of academics, the NCAA needs to mandate that anyone who signs of letter of intent must commit to two full academic years on campus. Players who leave early and sign professional sports contracts would be required to refund the cost of tuition.
To make things fair, the NCAA would eliminate the one-year renewable scholarships in favor of guaranteed four-year contracts, and players would have (almost) the same right to movement as coaches. After two years on campus, the player would be free to transfer to another school without impunity.
One of the problems standing in the way of such a brilliant and simple plan is the fear that the top players will simply bypass college and go straight to the NBA Development League or Europe for a season.
Go for it. There are more than 3,600 male athletes playing Division 1 basketball. The effect of losing 10 during any year would be negligible.
In other words, if high school basketball players rather go to the minor league route instead of playing college basketball, LET THEM!
After all, if that player can't even do college work, don't force him/her to waste time -- just let them go to the minor leagues, just like how some baseball and hockey players do.
Let's save college sports for those ready for the college life.
And allow college players to receive benefits. This "amateur only" is outdated and over-rated!
