Nobody forces people to take jobs that pay less than minimum wage, but it’s still illegal. My take on this is that the “student athlete” nonsense is an artifact of the rather unusual US system of college sports as the feeder system for pro sports.
While I absolutely agree that there’s no reason colleges should pay players, there’s also no reason they should be able to sign endorsement deals.
ETA: the first portion of that was in response to Ogre.
They’re being paid with a scholarship.
So what? Just because they’re doing it with knowledge doesn’t excuse the fact that it’s wrong to collude to deny the right of individuals to bargain for compensation. Get rid of the NCAA and let each school compete for players individually by offering them whatever they think they’re worth and then you’ll have an argument that they’re choosing of their own free will.
The NCAA is arbitrary and definitely fucked up, but that does not excuse Ohio State. They have been dirty since Tressel came on the scene. His players have been bartering equipment for tatoos and getting free cars on a huge scale.
That’s where the free college degree comes in handy. That’s what they’re supposed to be there for.
Well, if you are going to let them have a job, you have to monitor that somehow. What’s to stop the University from hiring them to pick up the coach’s morning cup of coffee at Starbucks and in return, pay him $5 million/yr?
Eliminate the collusion that defines the NCAA and let them choose whether they want their compensation in scholarships, cash, licensing fees, BMWs, or prostitutes.
I would say a fair number of college athletes, like many teenagers, don’t assess their odds or their comparative skills correctly, especially those who are recruited to the big football schools. Their choice would be the same as planning on lotto (or social security) for your retirement years.
That should have been "no reason they shouldn’t be able to sign endorsement deals.:smack:
Sure they are paid in a scholarship, but who says that is fair compensation? The fact is that the Cam Newton’s of the world are woefully “underpaid” by their college scholarship while other athletes are more than likely “overpaid” with their scholarships.
The players say it’s fair when they agree to it.
So we don’t need labor compensation and anti-collusion laws for any other industry? Because so long as you sign on that means it’s fair?
It sure would be nice if the players could collectively bargain.
<slight threadjack>
What’s the reasoning for this re: making money on the side? Do they figure if you’ve got time to, for example, work the grill at McDonalds, you should use that time instead toward your PhD thesis/projects?
Or even individually seek better offers from other schools. Let the market decide what their services are worth.
Another thing that might be worth mentioning is the “compensation” of a scholarship and room+board is hardly the same from school to school. One student athlete could be getting the equivilant of $30,000 a year in scholarships and such, while at the same time being a star player, and as such probably also gets by with doing very little of his school work, and potentially brings in millions for the school. It’s possible he gets other perks, maybe some under the table.
Contrast that with a player at a small school. His compensation might only be equivilant to $10,000 a year, makes very little money for his school (because while they have a good enough sports team to warrent giving scholarships, they are never going to win a national title), and is much more likely to be doing his own work. Yet he is bound by the same rules that he can’t seek out extra compensation, even though he might need it more. He is far more likely to be playing the sport because he truly loves playing it, and is under no illusions that he’ll go pro, yet he can’t get a decent part-time job to help out with his expenses.
You get a stipend; they do not. Making them the same as you would be a substantial improvement.
Moreover, you can receive a wide variety of ancillary benefits which they cannot. If your professor hears you’re so broke you can’t order a pizza, he can give you a $20 Domino’s gift card. If someone knows your car broke down and it’s a mile between school and your apartment, they can give you a lift home after class. If you’re out of town and want to crash on someone’s house, you can do that. And if some employer is interested in your work and wants to discuss the possibility of hiring you, either before or after you graduate, it’s not merely allowed but actively encouraged and facilitated by everyone at the university.
All of those are potential NCAA violations for athletes. The last would very likely mean the loss of your scholarship.
So now we get all the OSU whiners coming out of the woodwork. Funny, where were all you do-gooder assholes when it was Reggie Bush or Cam Newton?
Color me unimpressed with disinterested commentary on the plight of poor black athletes.
You hired a fucking cheating fuck-nut of a hypocritical coach and you got burned. You pays your money and you takes your chances. Better luck with Urban…
Sure, Dio, they get compensated with a scholarship, and then the entity which “compensates” them violates their trust by actively instructing the people who are supposed to look out for them to affirmatively steer them away from its benefits.
Imagine if, instead of getting a paycheck, your employer invested the money on your behalf- in gravel and shit-flavored meal bars. Because that’s what happens when academic advisors, which EVERY student gets, are instructed by the school to steer players away from classes that conflict with sports activities, or, heaven help us, activities that might jeopardize game eligibility by challenging the student.
Those kids are being taken advantage of. A real FSU education might be worth me giving up my image rights, as they aren’t worth much and FSU is a fine academic institution. However, a fake FSU education (made fake by the university itself) in exchange for the abdication of something so lucrative as a football player’s is not a fair trade in the least.
Article on minor league baseball payscale
This pay is only for the active months of the season, way less than a college scholarship.
A kid doesn’t like the deal the colleges offer, he can go play semi-pro football a make a couple of hundred bucks a game if he thinks it’s his best option. College football makes money because of the colleges; the players are just little cogs in the machine, they get paid what they are worth. The really good ones parley that experience into millions, the smart ones use the experience to get a degree, and the ones that are neither get four years of fun before entering the real world.