I read Time magazine’s article on this topic a few weeks ago. What I found interesting was that this four or five page article quoted a half dozen or more experts in various fields on why college athletes should be paid. Meanwhile, the author devoted a whopping one paragraph and one quote to the opposition. Had he tried, I am sure he could have found a lot more people opposed to the idea. The article did not begin to do the topic justice because we did not hear enough about what might be wrong with paying college athletes. I graduated from one of the big football schools with a few national championships under their belt but I still have my doubts about the whole idea. What would be wrong with a minor league system like baseball? Draft ’em out of high school. Like baseball, they can start playing (minor league) then or go to college and turn pro later. That option was not explored in the Time article.
TexTech, I have long had the same thought. It would get rid of academic eligibility problems and get the athletes paid without turning college athletics into even more of a money grab.
These folks who think getting a free ride through college is nothing are welcome to pay for my daughter’s college education. I’ll even write up the contract myself just to save them the trouble.
The old “college degree” argument is worn transparent, take a look at the degrees most players get, darn near worthless. They spent the vast majority of the time with sports preps and have little time left for studies therefore no real hard degrees. I could agree with not paying basketball players, due to the fact that they are not blocked out of going professional, but the football players are prohibited from going pro until three years of college play. So what do you tell a player like Johnny Manziel if he blows out his knees in college? “Oh sorry, here is you basket weaving degree, don’t let the door hit you A__ on the way out.”
I’ll be in favor of paying college athletes right up until the point that coaches are paid the same salaries as the other professors on campus, instead of millions more per year.
The fact of the matter is all the college players see the NCAA along with the schools and the coaches raking in millions every year all on the labor of their backs. Then they get thrown out if they accept as little as $100. Or, they lose their “scholarship”(see the big article on OU in SI)if the coach finds a better player. What is the actual graduation rate of the football players who go to Div 1 colleges? The players are always the ones who are punished when the coach breaks the NCAA rules. And sometimes, when a coaches program is in need of some players, they take in some who are not and never will be students, they are just there to play and to hopefully get an NFL contract. Unless they commit a crime to big to be covered up, then those kids are just kicked out of school, with no real education if they get hurt and are not one of the few stars of the program(according to SI tutors take tests for the players and professors give them the same grades that legacy kids get(G W Bush was a legacy student,) thus the “gentlemans C”grades handed out to football players who never show up to class, or if they do they simply sleep thru the class.
OT, but a few hears ago when Tark the Shark was coaching at UNLV I read an article in SI about the college BBall players.. The author watched the “students” get out of their cars and go into the gym. Every single one was driving cars or SUVs like Caddies, Lexus and other expensive cars that were tricked out with thousands of extras. These were college kids on scholarship to play BBall not rich kids(pictures of the cars parked at the gym were included in the article)
Point: College athletes don’t get paid..Counterpoint: Neither do the college interns—which is really what the athletes are—in every other field I can think of. It’s called “paying your dues”..Point: College interns can hold outside jobs for spending money..Counterpoint: College athletes can’t..Conclusion: One or the other needs to change.
Pay em nuff said. EA sports has killed off their NCAA games with the settlement to the former players. Message sent loud and clear. The NCAA and Various institutions can not profit of the likeness off the " Student Athlete" annymore. The NCAA rakes in almost as much money as the NFL with all the sports brocasting rights and with all the conference TV networks there is no reason the young men and women shouldn’t be paid.
Pay ‘em! Absolutely.-Highest bidder and all that. Free agent every year, maybe every week. -While we’re at it, let’s get rid of all that stuff about being eligible and being qualified to enter college. And there should be NO rules about recruiting, that way there would be no cheating. -Boy, I’d like to see how many alums would attend games under those conditions.
Athletic scholarship is an oxymoron. There is a much shorter and more accurate term – athlon – the root word of athlete meaning the prize for which they compete. Use it.
I meant to include this earlier but couldn’t find it right off. From a recent editorial column by conservative pundit George Will:
Gregg Easterbrook, an intelligent journalist who nevertheless loves football, has a new book (“The King of Sports: Football’s Impact on America”) that is hardly a love letter. “At many big-college sports programs,” he writes, “the athletic department is structured as an independent organization that leases campus space and school logos, then operates a tax-exempt business over which the school’s president and board of trustees have little control.”
I think a big problem is that the NCAA thinks the athletes should live what the British describe as “genteel poverty.” At least allow student athletes to be able to get gainful employment up to US$15,000/year in addition to their scholarships—this would eliminate the vast majority of the infractions out there.
When Tank says they don’t hand out college degrees at stadium exits, he may be talking about NFL stadiums, but they don’t do that at college stadium exits either. Way, way, way too many student-atheletes never graduate. Those who “graduate” to the NFL draft usually play for less than five years. It’s an extremely exploitative situation that doesn’t exactly present the sort of moral uplift that the myth of college athletics wants to pretend is the norm.
Olddog1 over 10 years ago
Don’t need a degree to be in the NFL draft either.
TexTech over 10 years ago
I read Time magazine’s article on this topic a few weeks ago. What I found interesting was that this four or five page article quoted a half dozen or more experts in various fields on why college athletes should be paid. Meanwhile, the author devoted a whopping one paragraph and one quote to the opposition. Had he tried, I am sure he could have found a lot more people opposed to the idea. The article did not begin to do the topic justice because we did not hear enough about what might be wrong with paying college athletes. I graduated from one of the big football schools with a few national championships under their belt but I still have my doubts about the whole idea. What would be wrong with a minor league system like baseball? Draft ’em out of high school. Like baseball, they can start playing (minor league) then or go to college and turn pro later. That option was not explored in the Time article.
EarlOfCork over 10 years ago
TexTech, I have long had the same thought. It would get rid of academic eligibility problems and get the athletes paid without turning college athletics into even more of a money grab.
These folks who think getting a free ride through college is nothing are welcome to pay for my daughter’s college education. I’ll even write up the contract myself just to save them the trouble.
BeniHanna6 Premium Member over 10 years ago
The old “college degree” argument is worn transparent, take a look at the degrees most players get, darn near worthless. They spent the vast majority of the time with sports preps and have little time left for studies therefore no real hard degrees. I could agree with not paying basketball players, due to the fact that they are not blocked out of going professional, but the football players are prohibited from going pro until three years of college play. So what do you tell a player like Johnny Manziel if he blows out his knees in college? “Oh sorry, here is you basket weaving degree, don’t let the door hit you A__ on the way out.”
Godfreydaniel over 10 years ago
I’ll be in favor of paying college athletes right up until the point that coaches are paid the same salaries as the other professors on campus, instead of millions more per year.
timbob2313 Premium Member over 10 years ago
The fact of the matter is all the college players see the NCAA along with the schools and the coaches raking in millions every year all on the labor of their backs. Then they get thrown out if they accept as little as $100. Or, they lose their “scholarship”(see the big article on OU in SI)if the coach finds a better player. What is the actual graduation rate of the football players who go to Div 1 colleges? The players are always the ones who are punished when the coach breaks the NCAA rules. And sometimes, when a coaches program is in need of some players, they take in some who are not and never will be students, they are just there to play and to hopefully get an NFL contract. Unless they commit a crime to big to be covered up, then those kids are just kicked out of school, with no real education if they get hurt and are not one of the few stars of the program(according to SI tutors take tests for the players and professors give them the same grades that legacy kids get(G W Bush was a legacy student,) thus the “gentlemans C”grades handed out to football players who never show up to class, or if they do they simply sleep thru the class.
OT, but a few hears ago when Tark the Shark was coaching at UNLV I read an article in SI about the college BBall players.. The author watched the “students” get out of their cars and go into the gym. Every single one was driving cars or SUVs like Caddies, Lexus and other expensive cars that were tricked out with thousands of extras. These were college kids on scholarship to play BBall not rich kids(pictures of the cars parked at the gym were included in the article)
phoenixnyc over 10 years ago
Point: College athletes don’t get paid..Counterpoint: Neither do the college interns—which is really what the athletes are—in every other field I can think of. It’s called “paying your dues”..Point: College interns can hold outside jobs for spending money..Counterpoint: College athletes can’t..Conclusion: One or the other needs to change.
Dr Lou Premium Member over 10 years ago
And they don’t hand out a lot of degrees to Division 1 athletes, either….with football high on that list.
Thriller87 over 10 years ago
Pay em nuff said. EA sports has killed off their NCAA games with the settlement to the former players. Message sent loud and clear. The NCAA and Various institutions can not profit of the likeness off the " Student Athlete" annymore. The NCAA rakes in almost as much money as the NFL with all the sports brocasting rights and with all the conference TV networks there is no reason the young men and women shouldn’t be paid.
braindead Premium Member over 10 years ago
Pay ‘em! Absolutely.-Highest bidder and all that. Free agent every year, maybe every week. -While we’re at it, let’s get rid of all that stuff about being eligible and being qualified to enter college. And there should be NO rules about recruiting, that way there would be no cheating. -Boy, I’d like to see how many alums would attend games under those conditions.
hippogriff over 10 years ago
Athletic scholarship is an oxymoron. There is a much shorter and more accurate term – athlon – the root word of athlete meaning the prize for which they compete. Use it.
Godfreydaniel over 10 years ago
I meant to include this earlier but couldn’t find it right off. From a recent editorial column by conservative pundit George Will:
Gregg Easterbrook, an intelligent journalist who nevertheless loves football, has a new book (“The King of Sports: Football’s Impact on America”) that is hardly a love letter. “At many big-college sports programs,” he writes, “the athletic department is structured as an independent organization that leases campus space and school logos, then operates a tax-exempt business over which the school’s president and board of trustees have little control.”
Sacto1624 over 10 years ago
I think a big problem is that the NCAA thinks the athletes should live what the British describe as “genteel poverty.” At least allow student athletes to be able to get gainful employment up to US$15,000/year in addition to their scholarships—this would eliminate the vast majority of the infractions out there.
rugeirn over 10 years ago
When Tank says they don’t hand out college degrees at stadium exits, he may be talking about NFL stadiums, but they don’t do that at college stadium exits either. Way, way, way too many student-atheletes never graduate. Those who “graduate” to the NFL draft usually play for less than five years. It’s an extremely exploitative situation that doesn’t exactly present the sort of moral uplift that the myth of college athletics wants to pretend is the norm.