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Old 11-15-2018, 08:06 PM
 
Location: Holly Neighborhood, Austin, Texas
3,982 posts, read 6,717,822 times
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I don't think it could be a system where you just pay the start athletes in the popular sports but rather you have to pay them all. That means every swimmer, volleyball, tennis, golf, rowing, track and field, soccer, diver, etc. which means every sport will have to live with a lot less in the way of facilities and staff.
I think it would also mean that if they are considered employees then they could - given the whim of the coaching staff - be fired, especially in "right to work" states.

What the coaches make is irrelevant because that is their occupation. Nick Saban didn't make a dime at Kent State because that was not the point in his being there

Given that the average four year tuition is close to $100k at a public university and that there are applicants from all over the world dying to get into U.S. universities it is rather disappointing that some would take for granted the opportunity they were given even if it is a harder grind than the average student.

Now if somebody want to start a minor league of football where players are paid and the good ones have the opportunity to go to the NFL then I see nothing wrong with that......Of course that exists now with the Alliance of American Football and Canadian Football League.
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Old 11-15-2018, 08:07 PM
 
Location: Berwick, Penna.
16,214 posts, read 11,290,935 times
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First, it needs to be recognized that only two sports -- football and, in a smaller number of schools, basketball, generate any substantial amount of revenue. And at many of the major colleges, revenues from the football program subsidize all the other sports. And it needs to be recognized as well, that hundreds of smaller schools outside the prestigious NCAA Division 1 also sponsor athletic programs; the popular stereotype applies only in the case of a small minority of the overall student/athlete population.

There are only two serious problems / abuses here, as I see it:

Occasionally a promising athlete suffers a career-ending injury before graduating and turning pro. I can speak only for the program I'm familiar with (Penn State; all those who seek to demonize us may now do so ) but policy there for as long as I can recall (nearly fifty years) has been to guarantee continuation of scholarships in the event of injury, and I'd bet most other major schools offer similar protection.

Another problem involves student athletes from deprived backgrounds, who have little or no funds for the normal amenities of college life. Establishment of small stipends, similar to those offered to graduate students, would go a long way here.

It would also appear to this poster that some of the biggest beneficiaries here are the merchants, hoteliers and restauranteurs in major university-centered communities and neighborhoods, rather than the institutions themselves.

Last edited by 2nd trick op; 11-15-2018 at 08:34 PM..
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Old 11-15-2018, 10:56 PM
 
Location: Honolulu, HI
24,451 posts, read 9,315,996 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steveklein View Post
Top tier college sports, particularly football and to a lesser degree men's basketball, is probably the closest thing we have to slavery today.
This is a stretch. Free education, food, housing, and prestige from female students (big man on campus) that comes with being a football or basketball player is hardly slavery.

Last edited by Rocko20; 11-16-2018 at 12:20 AM..
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Old 11-15-2018, 11:23 PM
 
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
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emphatically YES. I think their playing is nothing more than an internship. My son got paid for engineering internships. Athletes should get paid too to put their knowledge and skills into practice.
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Old 11-16-2018, 06:36 AM
 
3,408 posts, read 1,889,560 times
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They're ALREADY paid with an education! Besides, we have enough pro teams already---who kneel and diss our Flag and National Anthem. All we need is paid college players doing the same. On the other hand, if you paid college athletes, Harvard, Yale, and colleges with powerful, super wealthy, alumni, and HUGE endowments will be able to buy the very best players, and the Alabama's, Clemson's, Ohio State's and Notre Dame's of the world will no longer dominate college football. That might be a good thing!
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Old 11-16-2018, 06:36 AM
 
Location: (six-cent-dix-sept)
6,639 posts, read 4,546,425 times
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i think there should be a kevin ware rule where if a one-and-done player in basketball or football has a career ending injury (before their professional career is allowed to start); then, the nba, nfl will pay them max-salary based on the current c.b.o.
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Old 11-16-2018, 06:40 AM
 
4,345 posts, read 2,779,430 times
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America is the only country with big-time college athletics.

Canada and Europe keep athletics and sports together. That is, an athlete is also a student. That is not true at UCLA, Ohio State, North Carolina. Wherever there is a big-time sports program, one of national championship calibre, the athletes are not students. They live in their own world, have their own standards, have nothing to do with university life.

Hockey and baseball have alternative routes to the big leagues. They have junior hockey, the minor leagues. Football and basketball should provide the same routes. Even guys who don't make it to the bigs can make a career out of playing in these minor leagues.
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Old 11-16-2018, 06:45 AM
 
Location: Raleigh
13,661 posts, read 12,341,234 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rastafellow View Post
The "free" education is there in words only when it comes to star athletes. These students spend so much time practicing, playing and traveling that there is barely anytime for academics. My understanding is that athletes aren't allowed to work. So in some cases they commit crimes to get money.

You have coaches making up to $11 million a year. They get it in cash to do as they please. The athlete is given a scholarship which in many cases is not taken advantage of. If the athletes had a choice, I bet they would prefer cold cash in the hand just like the coaches and institutions.

It seems very un-American for the institution and the coaches to be hauling off truck loads of money at the athletes' expense. Also, I don't think there is any other situation where someone's image can be used without cash compensation.
It boggles the mind that the courts have turned a blind eye to such injustice.
That's ridiculous. 88% of Student athletes, as a whole, graduate. That's better than the general population. The same is true of D1 Football players.

Of course, some schools are better and some are worse. For every Notre Dame or Penn State or Northwestern (all about 97%) you have a Kansas or Tennessee that hovers around 50%
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Old 11-16-2018, 06:47 AM
 
Location: Raleigh
13,661 posts, read 12,341,234 times
Reputation: 20109
Quote:
Originally Posted by Troyfan View Post
America is the only country with big-time college athletics.

Canada and Europe keep athletics and sports together. That is, an athlete is also a student. That is not true at UCLA, Ohio State, North Carolina. Wherever there is a big-time sports program, one of national championship calibre, the athletes are not students. They live in their own world, have their own standards, have nothing to do with university life.

Hockey and baseball have alternative routes to the big leagues. They have junior hockey, the minor leagues. Football and basketball should provide the same routes. Even guys who don't make it to the bigs can make a career out of playing in these minor leagues.
That's true to an extent for Football and Basketball, sometimes, but the majority of sports, it isn't. Think about all the programs at big conference schools: Men and Womens Soccer, Swimming, Diving, Track, LaCrosse, etc..
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Old 11-16-2018, 08:26 AM
 
3,254 posts, read 3,748,615 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocko20 View Post
This is a stretch. Free education, food, housing, and prestige from female students (big man on campus) that comes with being a football or basketball player is hardly slavery.
I said the closest thing we have to slavery (ie... if you want to be a football player, you don't really get a choice of when you get to start making money. even though the free market would dictate your worth to be 6 or 7 figures annually).

The University of Florida made $60m+ off of Tim Tebow. If he had made $100 off his own face... not even on the football field.... he'd have been ruled ineligible. If a computer science student at Florida wrote an app and posted it in the app store, they'd get to keep the money and get this... could keep on taking their Calculus class.

I didn't say it was slavery; I said it was the closest thing we have to slavery.

And as you said... free food, housing. Just like slaves. Have to follow very strict rules and if you deviate from them punishment can be harsh, sometimes physical.

There are more similarities than one may care to wish.

If you think they have a "choice" why don't you also give them a choice to be paid what the market deems their fair value to be... you know... like almost every other person in the country gets to do. Let's see how many elect to play for a tuition voucher instead of $500,000 cash.

And if you want to tear down statues of white men in the south who have profited off the backs of African-American labor, why not start with Alabama coach Nick Saban?
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