What do you think are repercussion of their decision? Will players get more rights and get paid? Will more teams follow? Will they be kicked out of the Big10? I doubt any of the higher ups of the college football business want this at all....

What happens with Title IX? Will they be classified as employees? Will they no longer be considered scholarships but wages? Lots of issues to define.

If they vote to unionize, it still doesn't necessarily mean they will. What could happen is this could force the NCAA to begin negotiations to give the players a bigger say.

As others have said, unionization for college athletes will likely open a can of worms to a lot of other issues. I think everyone involved, including the players, would rather not have that happen, but this is currently the best way for the players to gain a seat at the table with the threat of union repercussions hanging over the schools, conferences, and the NCAA as a whole.

Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.

(04-24-2014 09:27 AM)HUSKIEFOOTBALLFAN Wrote:  Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.

i think the only legit area is the injury insurance. if nu can unionize then i see their 62,000 scholorship having to be taxed as earned income. Watch what you wish for.

Seems to me they could be taxed whether or not they unionize.

(04-24-2014 09:42 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  Seems to me they could be taxed whether or not they unionize.

Well yeah, if you're getting paid to play sports, you're gonna have to pay taxes on your income.

I would not expect to see the NU QB to run with the ball, unless it is specifically mentioned in his job description.

The same applies to their punter. On fourth and short, he will punt the ball. It is not his job to try to run for a 1st down, or catch a pass. If the coach expects him to do that, he will need to have a talk with the union bosses.

I wonder if the players get time and a half if the game goes into overtime?

A couple points that may get over looked at times on this issue. Northwestern is a private institute. Unionizing at a state school as a state employee is much more difficult. Ohio legislators have already taken measures to thwart any attempts at this. Also, in the initial NLRB ruling, a football players time commitment to his sport was a big reason they're eligible to be "employees". Other sports including title IX would have to prove this is their situation as well.

(04-24-2014 10:03 AM)Huskie_Jon Wrote:  I would not expect to see the NU QB to run with the ball, unless it is specifically mentioned in his job description.

The same applies to their punter. On fourth and short, he will punt the ball. It is not his job to try to run for a 1st down, or catch a pass. If the coach expects him to do that, he will need to have a talk with the union bosses.

I wonder if the players get time and a half if the game goes into overtime?

This whole thing is f'ing ridiculous. Get them some insurance coverage and be done with it. If the players want to get a salary, pay them exactly the amount of their scholarship - which will now be taxed - and let them pay their own full tuition. Let's see how they act when they realize they will have to pay out of their pockets to attend school and play football.

(04-24-2014 10:07 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(04-24-2014 10:03 AM)Huskie_Jon Wrote:  I would not expect to see the NU QB to run with the ball, unless it is specifically mentioned in his job description.

The same applies to their punter. On fourth and short, he will punt the ball. It is not his job to try to run for a 1st down, or catch a pass. If the coach expects him to do that, he will need to have a talk with the union bosses.

I wonder if the players get time and a half if the game goes into overtime?

This whole thing is f'ing ridiculous. Get them some insurance coverage and be done with it. If the players want to get a salary, pay them exactly the amount of their scholarship - which will now be taxed - and let them pay their own full tuition. Let's see how they act when they realize they will have to pay out of their pockets to attend school and play football.

+1

There were several former NU players that spoke to appreciating their scholarship and experience. They would do it again in a heartbeat.

I understand that, like the pros, there should be better medical benefits. A long term health fund should be created and former players apply, if needed, for medical treatment. This could be funded by the huge TV deals. If a player has a couple of concussions in college and years down the road, he has issues, there should be money set aside to assist him.

If they are classified as employees, that might allow NU to reduce the number of scholarships they have to offer for women's sports.

(04-24-2014 11:33 AM)klake87 Wrote:  I understand that, like the pros, there should be better medical benefits. A long term health fund should be created and former players apply, if needed, for medical treatment. This could be funded by the huge TV deals. If a player has a couple of concussions in college and years down the road, he has issues, there should be money set aside to assist him.

If they are classified as employees, that might allow NU to reduce the number of scholarships they have to offer for women's sports.

As you say, there should. There won't be unless drastic measures such as this are taken.

(04-24-2014 11:16 AM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  

(04-24-2014 10:07 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(04-24-2014 10:03 AM)Huskie_Jon Wrote:  I would not expect to see the NU QB to run with the ball, unless it is specifically mentioned in his job description.

The same applies to their punter. On fourth and short, he will punt the ball. It is not his job to try to run for a 1st down, or catch a pass. If the coach expects him to do that, he will need to have a talk with the union bosses.

I wonder if the players get time and a half if the game goes into overtime?

This whole thing is f'ing ridiculous. Get them some insurance coverage and be done with it. If the players want to get a salary, pay them exactly the amount of their scholarship - which will now be taxed - and let them pay their own full tuition. Let's see how they act when they realize they will have to pay out of their pockets to attend school and play football.

+1

There were several former NU players that spoke to appreciating their scholarship and experience. They would do it again in a heartbeat.

This is true for a school like Northwestern, which is a major world-renowned academic institution.

However, for schools such as Alabama, Ohio State, or Florida, which are not as world-renowned or acclaimed for their academics, it's a different situation. The guys playing football or basketball aren't there necessarily there to get an education. They're there to prepare themselves to play pro sports in a few years.

Their mindset on something like this would be far different IMO than the Northwestern, or to an extent NIU, players are. When you look at it this way, even if they vote no, the Northwestern players, Coulter in particular, are providing a road map for other college players on how to handle something like this.

There will be change coming to college athletics very soon. The question is, will the Northwestern players continue to carry the torch further, or place it somewhere for another group to pick it up and move on?

The problem with Football and Men's Basketball is there is no viable way to the Pros but through college. Football doesn't have and doesn't want a minor league system. Same with basketball. In addition, Colleges don't want to kill their cash cow. Then you throw on top of it the NCAA and you got a nice monopoly

(04-24-2014 12:48 PM)klake87 Wrote:  The problem with Football and Men's Basketball is there is no viable way to the Pros but through college. Football doesn't have and doesn't want a minor league system. Same with basketball. In addition, Colleges don't want to kill their cash cow. Then you throw on top of it the NCAA and you got a nice monopoly

Agreed. Another example would be European football (aka soccer), where players can sign with club youth teams when they're 10 or 11 and work their way up through the system before getting to the big club.

What we've essentially done in football and basketball is make collegiate sports the minor leagues. Therein lies the problem. In baseball and hockey, players in the minors still get paid. Not as much as their major league counterparts, but still paid. And college football & basketball generates a monumentally larger amount of revenue than minor league baseball and hockey does. Hence, why there are a lot of questions being asked about the current system.

(04-24-2014 12:48 PM)klake87 Wrote:  The problem with Football and Men's Basketball is there is no viable way to the Pros but through college. Football doesn't have and doesn't want a minor league system. Same with basketball. In addition, Colleges don't want to kill their cash cow. Then you throw on top of it the NCAA and you got a nice monopoly

This is why I'm surprised the NFL gave up on NFL Europe. They are so hell bent on expanding the league overseas, you'd think this would be a viable way to create a developmental league while giving Europe an NFLish experience. They could take the money away from the NCAA by doing this. Instead of the NCAA's recruiting, the developmental league could draft high school prospects after their senior season. Players are then eligible for the NFL draft after X amount of years in development overseas.

(04-24-2014 01:40 PM)Who You Crappin? Wrote:  

(04-24-2014 12:48 PM)klake87 Wrote:  The problem with Football and Men's Basketball is there is no viable way to the Pros but through college. Football doesn't have and doesn't want a minor league system. Same with basketball. In addition, Colleges don't want to kill their cash cow. Then you throw on top of it the NCAA and you got a nice monopoly

This is why I'm surprised the NFL gave up on NFL Europe. They are so hell bent on expanding the league overseas, you'd think this would be a viable way to create a developmental league while giving Europe an NFLish experience. They could take the money away from the NCAA by doing this. Instead of the NCAA's recruiting, the developmental league could draft high school prospects after their senior season. Players are then eligible for the NFL draft after X amount of years in development overseas.

You could make the same, maybe even a better argument, for basketball players going overseas to play professionally instead of college. As recent years have shown, you're just as likely to get drafted high in the 1st round of the NBA Draft coming from Spain or other European club than you are from a major college team.

The vote is today, but the results will be sealed until the NLRB rules on Northwestern's appeal. That could take weeks, if not months. So nothing is going to happen for awhile.

Based on local media reports it sounds like it's a long-shot the NU vote is going to pass.

I do think the NCAA- or the power conferences- will end up giving the players most or all of the things being asked for in this case. The demands are all pretty reasonable. I don't think a union will end up being formed, at NU or anywhere else. Both sides will get to declare victory in this case. Of course there are still some other cases out there that have the potential to shake up the NCAA, specifically the O'Bannon case.

(04-24-2014 01:40 PM)Who You Crappin? Wrote:  

(04-24-2014 12:48 PM)klake87 Wrote:  The problem with Football and Men's Basketball is there is no viable way to the Pros but through college. Football doesn't have and doesn't want a minor league system. Same with basketball. In addition, Colleges don't want to kill their cash cow. Then you throw on top of it the NCAA and you got a nice monopoly

This is why I'm surprised the NFL gave up on NFL Europe. They are so hell bent on expanding the league overseas, you'd think this would be a viable way to create a developmental league while giving Europe an NFLish experience. They could take the money away from the NCAA by doing this. Instead of the NCAA's recruiting, the developmental league could draft high school prospects after their senior season. Players are then eligible for the NFL draft after X amount of years in development overseas.

In the minds of the NFL, why pay to set up a minor league when they already have a perfect setup in place that doesn't cost them anything. NFL Europe was losing a ton of money