The Shame of College Sports

[Jr.]

This isn't directly related to college football, but I figured it would get the most attention here. A buddy of mine sent me the link to this fascinating article about collegiate sports and the NCAA.

Here's the link: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...sports/8643/1/

It's pretty long, but definitely worth the read. It goes into the history of the term "student-athlete" and the reason it was coined, the findings of past court cases against the NCAA, and basically calls out the NCAA for its hypocritical stances when it comes to collegiate athletes.

[untrugby]

another one of "these" threads

another finger pointing session without any concrete solutions

there are so many thing to talk about in this article ill leave it for when i have more time but i will touch on the most ridiculous one. Claiming that a person cant buy a movie ticket when they are getting up to 60K a year in tuition assistance from their scholarship is crazy. Sure its true from some but whats also true is that they would never have a chance at a college education without the school either. People with degrees make on average 1.3 million more in their lifetime than those without. So the scholarship is worth the actual value (up to 300k) and on average 1.3 mil in potential earnings. And they are complaining about $7.50. Thats the real shame of college sports.

[Silverstring]

I'm surprised there isn't more discussion around this excellent article. It certainly made me question my stances in regard to the system and the supposed "sanctity" of the college amateur system as it stands now.

Sadly, most will not bother to read it because of it's density/length.

The movie ticket example is an oversimplification. Yes, a college education has it's benefits in the long run, but should we not consider the day to day lives these players lead? Also, as the article states, what if their scholarship is rescinded? The "free education" argument hold no merit then, as many of these athletes don't have the resources to pay to complete their degree, exactly like the example the reporter used.

To start, I think colleges should be able to offer guaranteed multiple-year scholarships.

[untrugby]

After listening to Jim Boeheim yesterday im giving this article less and less credence. I didnt know this but those underprivileged kids can get up to $5000 is stipends for those movie tickets, flights home and other necessities. Schools also apparently pay even more for summer semesters for the "student-athletes" as well to make sure they have the GPA and credits.

I would agree with a multi-year scholarship model but if they were cut from the team they could never rejoin it and it wouldnt count against the total scholarship number. That would be the only way to make it fair for both sides.

Theres no real model where you can pay players at it would work out. Theres an ESPN article about this article which offers the suggestion that college football should be separated from college and make a minor league like baseball and get baseball type salaries. I found this hilarious as the avg triple A player gets like 25k a year. If todays college football athlete could chose between 25k a year or a scholarship and all the immense fringe benefits that go with it. I dont think youd find many that would take the 25k. I havent seen a plan yet that could realistically work any better than what we have now. Both sides are winners. If you take the football away from the colleges no one would watch it and the players would get paid but just not very much. If you keep it in the college the money is huge but the players dont get a lot of it.

[nortobc]

Quote: Originally Posted by untrugby

After listening to Jim Boeheim yesterday im giving this article less and less credence. I didnt know this but those underprivileged kids can get up to $5000 is stipends for those movie tickets, flights home and other necessities. Schools also apparently pay even more for summer semesters for the "student-athletes" as well to make sure they have the GPA and credits.

The media doesn't want the public to know the truth. Those players get all kind of stuff under the table.