(03-14-2020 09:57 AM)illiniowl Wrote:  

(03-13-2020 11:39 PM)InterestedX Wrote:  

(03-13-2020 07:32 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  the good news for our athletes is that they have a real school to attend once classes start back. Can't imagine what some others at other schools will do when it actually dawns on them the purpose of college is to go to class. Maybe some will begin attending just to see what it is like.

This is exactly what makes people hate Rice fans.

It's cute that you think anyone cares enough to hate Rice fans.

+1!

If anything, the few that know we exist feel sorry for us.

Well, we may well finally get Transformed, but perhaps by forces outside our school's athletic leadership:

link to SI article today:
'We’re All Effed. There’s No Other Way to Look at This, Is There?'

Quote:Administrators and insiders weigh in as the Coronavirus threatens the College Football season—and explain why the entire NCAA system could hang in the balance.

CLICK FOR EXPANDED IMAGE. Not every athletic department is created equal. Power 5 and Group of Five programs get their revenue from vastly different sources. Here's a side-by-side look at 2018 revenue from the SEC and Conference USA. Look at the striking differences. While the two biggest revenue-generators for an SEC school are conference distribution/media rights and ticket sales, Conference USA's two revenue-producers are from student fees and state funding. All four revenue-generators—distribution/media rights, ticket sales, student fees and state funding—will be significantly impacted by the coronavirus's adverse effect on the economy.

(04-08-2020 01:25 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Well, we may well finally get Transformed, but perhaps by forces outside our school's athletic leadership:

link to SI article today:
'We’re All Effed. There’s No Other Way to Look at This, Is There?'

Quote:Administrators and insiders weigh in as the Coronavirus threatens the College Football season—and explain why the entire NCAA system could hang in the balance.

CLICK FOR EXPANDED IMAGE. Not every athletic department is created equal. Power 5 and Group of Five programs get their revenue from vastly different sources. Here's a side-by-side look at 2018 revenue from the SEC and Conference USA. Look at the striking differences. While the two biggest revenue-generators for an SEC school are conference distribution/media rights and ticket sales, Conference USA's two revenue-producers are from student fees and state funding. All four revenue-generators—distribution/media rights, ticket sales, student fees and state funding—will be significantly impacted by the coronavirus's adverse effect on the economy.

Somewhat perversely, Rice is actually in better position than most if not all G5 schools, and certainly all of the other CUSA schools, in that we're a private school (and an ostensibly rich one at that) that is, for better or worse, committed to subsidizing the athletic program in perpetuity and essentially isn't dependent on elastic sources of revenue (at least in terms of keeping the program going; having it be successful is obviously a different story). Tuition revenue isn't going down because we could fill every seat in the incoming class twenty-plus times over as it is, so even if applications drop and we have to admit a few more kids to keep enrollment the same we certainly have room to do that. And our endowment income will be fine in the long run and obviously dwarfs nearly everyone else at this level.

I am not at all convinced we are looking at a mass extinction event for G5 public-school athletic departments -- I wouldn't underestimate the willingness of schools/states to sacrifice in lots of areas (including academics) to keep athletics going and/or raise taxes (including student fees) -- but if we are and there ends up being consolidation and contraction, I'd have to think there might be opportunities for Rice to move up or at least improve its neighborhood.

Of course, the next time Rice makes the right decision when faced with such opportunities will be the first.

Might be relevant to UH's finances: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...DQH_wnGiBY

Saw this snippet from a column today on the possible return of various sports and how they might do it and it somehow reminded me of something familiar:

Quote:As for college sports: It remains unthinkable for schools to allow athletes to gather and travel and compete if campuses are closed for the fall. It remains unthinkable that, without a vaccine, those athletes would be asked to play in front of crowds of 80,000-plus, and what’s the point of college football if the Color & Pageantry is a backdrop of empty seats?

Playing for the athletes to play and compete against each other. Playing for the schools whether fans are present or not. Playing as college students who happen to be athletes--remember that, if ever? There IS a point in playing college sports again. Maybe the Transformation that could ahppen brings the rest of big-time sports back to the pack a little, and thus helps Rice sports in that way? The G-league, and some name and likeness rights and other developments necessitated by this current situation might perchance on its own help us out where we've been hard pressed to help ourselves? Will we grasp the chance to work fully within any new opportunities presented to finally get things back on track? Will it just be more of the same ol, same ol, both for us and for the rest of the college sports world?

If the campuses are not open, then college football would simply just be a minor league subordinate to the NFL. The NFL has better football but the colleges have better tradition and spirit.

(04-29-2020 10:19 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  Saw this snippet from a column today on the possible return of various sports and how they might do it and it somehow reminded me of something familiar:

Quote:As for college sports: It remains unthinkable for schools to allow athletes to gather and travel and compete if campuses are closed for the fall. It remains unthinkable that, without a vaccine, those athletes would be asked to play in front of crowds of 80,000-plus, and what’s the point of college football if the Color & Pageantry is a backdrop of empty seats?

Playing for the athletes to play and compete against each other. Playing for the schools whether fans are present or not. Playing as college students who happen to be athletes--remember that, if ever? There IS a point in playing college sports again. Maybe the Transformation that could ahppen brings the rest of big-time sports back to the pack a little, and thus helps Rice sports in that way? The G-league, and some name and likeness rights and other developments necessitated by this current situation might perchance on its own help us out where we've been hard pressed to help ourselves? Will we grasp the chance to work fully within any new opportunities presented to finally get things back on track? Will it just be more of the same ol, same ol, both for us and for the rest of the college sports world?

In the SWAC, the main source of revenue comes from putting fans in the stands, and their are no substitutes for that at schools that often have limited resources. Prairie View A&M, which is about 50 miles away from Houston, led all 107 HBCUs in sports revenue in 2018 by generating $18.6 million, according to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. That revenue ranks 149th among all college sports teams. To put it in perspective, the 21 Division I HBCUs generated about $214 million in revenue in 2018, while the University of Texas alone out-earned those schools, leading the nation in sports revenue with more than $219 million that year.

Wonder what the revenue numbers will be like post-Covid? Will their be realignment(s) related to the impact on revenue that the virus/shutdown have/will have on college sports?

(05-27-2020 02:13 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  In the SWAC, the main source of revenue comes from putting fans in the stands, and their are no substitutes for that at schools that often have limited resources. Prairie View A&M, which is about 50 miles away from Houston, led all 107 HBCUs in sports revenue in 2018 by generating $18.6 million, according to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. That revenue ranks 149th among all college sports teams. To put it in perspective, the 21 Division I HBCUs generated about $214 million in revenue in 2018, while the University of Texas alone out-earned those schools, leading the nation in sports revenue with more than $219 million that year.

Wonder what the revenue numbers will be like post-Covid? Will their be realignment(s) related to the impact on revenue that the virus/shutdown have/will have on college sports?

From the PVAMU site:

"Revenue categories include ticket sales, contributions, rights/licensing, student fees, and school funds."

A huge chunk of that $18.6 million comes from student fees and other institutional support, not ticket sales or sponsorships, etc.

The time for incrementalism is likely over. The P5 is going to move on, and the NCAA as we know it will be history. And Rice is going to have to decide if it's worth it or not, if it isn't able to make the jump in the post-NCAA world.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footba...m-the-fbs/

I wouldn't be surprised if that P5 proposal for baseball scheduling fits nicely into a world where the P5 (and a lucky couple of dozen - maybe) move to a new post-amateurism minor league model for all of the big sports (at least).

(05-27-2020 11:48 PM)InterestedX Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 02:13 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  In the SWAC, the main source of revenue comes from putting fans in the stands, and their are no substitutes for that at schools that often have limited resources. Prairie View A&M, which is about 50 miles away from Houston, led all 107 HBCUs in sports revenue in 2018 by generating $18.6 million, according to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. That revenue ranks 149th among all college sports teams. To put it in perspective, the 21 Division I HBCUs generated about $214 million in revenue in 2018, while the University of Texas alone out-earned those schools, leading the nation in sports revenue with more than $219 million that year.
Wonder what the revenue numbers will be like post-Covid? Will their be realignment(s) related to the impact on revenue that the virus/shutdown have/will have on college sports?

From the PVAMU site:
"Revenue categories include ticket sales, contributions, rights/licensing, student fees, and school funds."
A huge chunk of that $18.6 million comes from student fees and other institutional support, not ticket sales or sponsorships, etc.

They're not getting a huge chuck of any $18.6 million from ticket sales, that's for sure.

(05-28-2020 10:45 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 11:48 PM)InterestedX Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 02:13 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  In the SWAC, the main source of revenue comes from putting fans in the stands, and their are no substitutes for that at schools that often have limited resources. Prairie View A&M, which is about 50 miles away from Houston, led all 107 HBCUs in sports revenue in 2018 by generating $18.6 million, according to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. That revenue ranks 149th among all college sports teams. To put it in perspective, the 21 Division I HBCUs generated about $214 million in revenue in 2018, while the University of Texas alone out-earned those schools, leading the nation in sports revenue with more than $219 million that year.
Wonder what the revenue numbers will be like post-Covid? Will their be realignment(s) related to the impact on revenue that the virus/shutdown have/will have on college sports?

From the PVAMU site:
"Revenue categories include ticket sales, contributions, rights/licensing, student fees, and school funds."
A huge chunk of that $18.6 million comes from student fees and other institutional support, not ticket sales or sponsorships, etc.

They're not getting a huge chuck of any $18.6 million from ticket sales, that's for sure.

Yep, as best I can glean from PVAMU's online FY20 budget, "sales and services" revenue for football was budgeted at about $2.17MM, MBK at $640K, WBK at $140K, and all other sports combined at $110K, which adds up to $3.06 million. There was also "athletics administration" sales-and-service revenue of $775K, which brings the total to $3.835 million. Guarantees for away non-conference games in FB (played at UH last year) and MBK undoubtedly are included in either the sports or the admin. line items.

The rest of their "revenue" is passive: student fees ($3 million) and subsidies from elsewhere in the budget.

(05-28-2020 01:01 PM)illiniowl Wrote:  

(05-28-2020 10:45 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 11:48 PM)InterestedX Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 02:13 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  In the SWAC, the main source of revenue comes from putting fans in the stands, and their are no substitutes for that at schools that often have limited resources. Prairie View A&M, which is about 50 miles away from Houston, led all 107 HBCUs in sports revenue in 2018 by generating $18.6 million, according to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. That revenue ranks 149th among all college sports teams. To put it in perspective, the 21 Division I HBCUs generated about $214 million in revenue in 2018, while the University of Texas alone out-earned those schools, leading the nation in sports revenue with more than $219 million that year.
Wonder what the revenue numbers will be like post-Covid? Will their be realignment(s) related to the impact on revenue that the virus/shutdown have/will have on college sports?

From the PVAMU site:
"Revenue categories include ticket sales, contributions, rights/licensing, student fees, and school funds."
A huge chunk of that $18.6 million comes from student fees and other institutional support, not ticket sales or sponsorships, etc.

They're not getting a huge chuck of any $18.6 million from ticket sales, that's for sure.

Yep, as best I can glean from PVAMU's online FY20 budget, "sales and services" revenue for football was budgeted at about $2.17MM, MBK at $640K, WBK at $140K, and all other sports combined at $110K, which adds up to $3.06 million. There was also "athletics administration" sales-and-service revenue of $775K, which brings the total to $3.835 million. Guarantees for away non-conference games in FB (played at UH last year) and MBK undoubtedly are included in either the sports or the admin. line items.

The rest of their "revenue" is passive: student fees ($3 million) and subsidies from elsewhere in the budget.

Best I could discern, they are at about $85K in football ticket sales.

Might we use this idea to make our sports arenas look a bit less empty going forward?


Q: do they still cut off beer sales in late innings?


They're so fluffy, we're gonna die!


These stuffed animals were practicing social distancing.

New league to pay college players, provide alternative to NCAA’s cartel

Quote:The Professional Collegiate League will begin play in summer 2021. The PCL will look to sign elite prep basketball players who don’t want their compensation limited by the NCAA cartel. The league will pay athletes salaries of $50,000 to $150,000 along with scholarships for two- and four-year colleges or technical schools near where they play. The summer schedule means that PCL players, unlike their NCAA counterparts, won’t have to miss a lot of classes to do their jobs.

Rice wants out of CUSA. Rice has the money to pay its players well. This is a no-brainer, as joining the PCL, Rice could be a leader in "unconventional wisdom' and help recruit other like-minded institutions, perhaps even finally creating the elusive "Magnolia League" of schools that would all have plenty enough money to make this model work. Helping to end the Plantation of the NCAA farce would be a feather in Rice's cap. I'd support Rice exploring and being among the first to pay athletes fully for their true-fair market value and let them have a five-year scholarship attached as long as they make the academic cut under normal student rules where they could redeem their academic scholarship any time in their lives as long as the five years was finished within any ten year period. Something like that would go a long way towards fairness, true athletic competitiveness and leadership.

(06-19-2020 10:26 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  New league to pay college players, provide alternative to NCAA’s cartel

Quote:The Professional Collegiate League will begin play in summer 2021. The PCL will look to sign elite prep basketball players who don’t want their compensation limited by the NCAA cartel. The league will pay athletes salaries of $50,000 to $150,000 along with scholarships for two- and four-year colleges or technical schools near where they play. The summer schedule means that PCL players, unlike their NCAA counterparts, won’t have to miss a lot of classes to do their jobs.

Rice wants out of CUSA. Rice has the money to pay its players well. This is a no-brainer, as joining the PCL, Rice could be a leader in "unconventional wisdom' and help recruit other like-minded institutions, perhaps even finally creating the elusive "Magnolia League" of schools that would all have plenty enough money to make this model work. Helping to end the Plantation of the NCAA farce would be a feather in Rice's cap. I'd support Rice exploring and being among the first to pay athletes fully for their true-fair market value and let them have a five-year scholarship attached as long as they make the academic cut under normal student rules where they could redeem their academic scholarship any time in their lives as long as the five years was finished within any ten year period. Something like that would go a long way towards fairness, true athletic competitiveness and leadership.

Very few of our athletes would make the “academic cut under normal student rules”. We wouldn’t have a football or basketball team that would
win a single game. Baseball might win a handful because they play so many. Even for women’s sports we have a lot of very good students but “very good” just puts you in the conversation to get an acceptance to a top 20 school. You need something unique, which would be their athletic skills. The kids in this PCL won’t care a single bit about education.

(06-19-2020 11:13 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  Very few of our athletes would make the “academic cut under normal student rules”. We wouldn’t have a football or basketball team that would
win a single game. Baseball might win a handful because they play so many. Even for women’s sports we have a lot of very good students but “very good” just puts you in the conversation to get an acceptance to a top 20 school. You need something unique, which would be their athletic skills. The kids in this PCL won’t care a single bit about education.

I agree most of them won't, but that's not what I'm suggesting. Rather, here's an opportunity for Rice to both get away from CUSA, it's bottom-dwellar status and lack of leadership and direction and break out leading a new direction that has its roots in the current opportunities that present changes in the landscape favor. Namely, Rice could finally choose to be a leader here and start a league of schools that do pay their athletes similar to the PCL but also afford them a real opportunity to get their education on terms that make sense from the athlete's perspective.

Many elite level athletes all think they're going pro, will make millions forever and have no need for the inconvenience of a degree. But, when many of those do fail to get to pro level, or make very much for very long even if/when they do, they then are much more likely to become interested in their education and a degree. So why not take the opportunity to transform into a school that actually helps them pursue their dreams at their fair-market-value compensation level with the knowledge they'll be paid for it immediately while associating athletically with the school coupled with a scholarship that actually makes sense for them: five years that can be redeemed anytime but must be used within a ten-year period? Simple, fair and attractive to both the school, which can more than afford it, as well as much better talented players than we can ever get under our present position.

If the kid ends up not making the grade and can't use the scholarship, that's on him. He will probably be more motivated to try later in life than when hes' a super-stud athlete from high school looking to go pro after a stint playing in college. So, this would not probably appeal to the zero-grades athletes who can barely read or speak, or the elite-level one and dones, but it would appeal to a competitively minded athlete who might need a bit of work before making it academically but does not desire or have the time to focus on both athletics and school at the age range currently required by the restrictive NCAA model. I'd even venture a transfer voucher coupon where if the athlete plays for Rice and later can't meet the academic standards after a few tries, he can get a one-time equivalent voucher amount to transfer to another college where he can get a degree on the original school's dime.

Everybody wins, and it's a no-lose deal for the athlete. Nothing prevents him from starting his five years academically if he should get hurt, finds out he's not as good as he thought, etc... He can do what is best for him at any time, and schools pay for their services fairly without the current archaic rules and restrictions. If Rice could convince several schools to join it in this new model league, they could do an end-around on the NCAA and the ESUs and turn the tables in Rice's favor.

Summer football checks a lot of boxes in the market.

Prefer 7pm start times over 1pm, though, if anyone’s asking

(06-20-2020 04:40 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(06-19-2020 11:13 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  Very few of our athletes would make the “academic cut under normal student rules”. We wouldn’t have a football or basketball team that would
win a single game. Baseball might win a handful because they play so many. Even for women’s sports we have a lot of very good students but “very good” just puts you in the conversation to get an acceptance to a top 20 school. You need something unique, which would be their athletic skills. The kids in this PCL won’t care a single bit about education.

I agree most of them won't, but that's not what I'm suggesting. Rather, here's an opportunity for Rice to both get away from CUSA, it's bottom-dwellar status and lack of leadership and direction and break out leading a new direction that has its roots in the current opportunities that present changes in the landscape favor. Namely, Rice could finally choose to be a leader here and start a league of schools that do pay their athletes similar to the PCL but also afford them a real opportunity to get their education on terms that make sense from the athlete's perspective.

Many elite level athletes all think they're going pro, will make millions forever and have no need for the inconvenience of a degree. But, when many of those do fail to get to pro level, or make very much for very long even if/when they do, they then are much more likely to become interested in their education and a degree. So why not take the opportunity to transform into a school that actually helps them pursue their dreams at their fair-market-value compensation level with the knowledge they'll be paid for it immediately while associating athletically with the school coupled with a scholarship that actually makes sense for them: five years that can be redeemed anytime but must be used within a ten-year period? Simple, fair and attractive to both the school, which can more than afford it, as well as much better talented players than we can ever get under our present position.

If the kid ends up not making the grade and can't use the scholarship, that's on him. He will probably be more motivated to try later in life than when hes' a super-stud athlete from high school looking to go pro after a stint playing in college. So, this would not probably appeal to the zero-grades athletes who can barely read or speak, or the elite-level one and dones, but it would appeal to a competitively minded athlete who might need a bit of work before making it academically but does not desire or have the time to focus on both athletics and school at the age range currently required by the restrictive NCAA model. I'd even venture a transfer voucher coupon where if the athlete plays for Rice and later can't meet the academic standards after a few tries, he can get a one-time equivalent voucher amount to transfer to another college where he can get a degree on the original school's dime.

Everybody wins, and it's a no-lose deal for the athlete. Nothing prevents him from starting his five years academically if he should get hurt, finds out he's not as good as he thought, etc... He can do what is best for him at any time, and schools pay for their services fairly without the current archaic rules and restrictions. If Rice could convince several schools to join it in this new model league, they could do an end-around on the NCAA and the ESUs and turn the tables in Rice's favor.

So under your plan Rice would field teams composed of nonstudent professional athletes under no obligation to attend the school at the time they're playing or even later? I can tell you the type of schools that would in fact be inclined to go along with this idea: the same ESUs that have corrupted the system to the extent it is now. It would be less of a leap for their fans to root for kids with no longer even the pretense of an actual connection to the school (what Seinfeld called "rooting for laundry").

It would just be easier for Rice to buy the Texans or Rockets or Astros and change the name and colors. There's a precedent in fact!

(06-20-2020 06:13 PM)illiniowl Wrote:  So under your plan Rice would field teams composed of nonstudent professional athletes under no obligation to attend the school at the time they're playing or even later? I can tell you the type of schools that would in fact be inclined to go along with this idea: the same ESUs that have corrupted the system to the extent it is now. It would be less of a leap for their fans to root for kids with no longer even the pretense of an actual connection to the school (what Seinfeld called "rooting for laundry").

It would just be easier for Rice to buy the Texans or Rockets or Astros and change the name and colors. There's a precedent in fact!

Pretty much, yeah. Rooting for laundry is essentially what most sports fans are doing, and it's a more honest approach to a fair solution that acknowledges the reality than the plantation system that exists under current NCAA. The myth of "amateurism" is just that: a myth. It basically functions as propaganda to provide cover for underpaying people for their valuable services and is exploitative at its core. The farce of allowing exemption from anti-trust laws so that colleges can screw over young people who happen to be blessed with various athletic talents seems kinda disgusting at best, especially in today's age of enlightenment.

I fail to see a downside in allowing schools with resources to compete on a level playing field. With the model I've suggested above that at its core recognizes the inherent fairness of paying players for their services at market value, Rice for one would be able to actually compete on equal footing with the ESUs, whatever they chose to do. How long has it been since that was truly possible? Many folks have complained in this very thread among umpteen others that they'd like a better way for Rice to actually compete against the biggest and best ESUs and have a real chance to win; with the model I've suggested that becomes totally possible (OK, we can't hire a coach who runs a country club instead of a football team, but at least we could finally get the horses we seldom have in the first place, and many have suggested that's more than half the battle.)

Of course, Rice would have to allow the true cost of those athletes' services to be paid in order to do so, but what real negative comes from hiring out the very best athletes in each sport if a school wishes to for them to wear the school's colors for four or five years? Say Rice wanted even a Zion Williamson to play basketball here? Highest bidder wins, and few schools, not even Duke could outbid us if we wanted to win. So what if the school is too tough for some or even most of the athletes we'd hire to play for us? They'd still have a shot at a degree, that would be equal and fair to other students, with the only advantage that they'd have a guaranteed entry initially when they chose to actually use the educational opportunity. What is the harm in them to choose when it is best for them to take their academic shot? If they flunk out, they do not harm the school in any way, as the service they provided more than makes up for their lack of staying power if that is the case. It was suggested above by another poster right away that many of the athletes if not most we currently have or have had in the recent past could not/do not meet the school's (Rice's) standards anyway.

We're not arguing if Rice is a whore (all the colleges and universities are, as well as being virtual slavemasters when it comes to athletes, which I happen to believe is wrong), we're just negotiating price. At least it's an honest transaction. Moreso, we actually provide an opportunity and an incentive that our athletes currently do not have: the freedom to decide when their best academic window exists as well as the flexibility to achieve it in a window without the stress of doing it concurrently with when their athletic peak occurs. A guarantee of a shot at a real education, as well as a provisional one-time transfer of that guarantee to a lesser school as long as they make the grade and the time window of up to five years paid finished within 10 years. And fairest of all, actual fair-market value payment for the very valuable services they do provide while they play.

That's the basic outline. We could make minor adjustments, of course, but that would be the most honest way to do this going forward. And with some effort and pledge of dollars behind it, Rice could make a serious, positive and honest impact in the athletic world instead of what we are doing now, which clearly is not working and hurts the school's overall brand and image. Compete with Texas and A&M again for best athletes and championships? Sure Rice could. They couldn't outbid us for everyone, we'd start winning, Rice Stadium would quickly be able to in some years fill all 70,000 seats again, get renovated, probably have a shot to outdraw the Texans, and we'd win some championships all of which would fit neatly into Rice's supposed "unconventional wisdom" slogan as well as return the value of the school's brand back to where it should be. Same for basketball and baseball, etc....

Look at howe the commenst are when one of "our" players leaves Rice early. Look at the before and afters on them. Sure, a few support them no matter where they go, most don;t care. This is a business, like it or not, and the more Rice has the freedom and balls to treat it like one without all the BS, the better the university, its students and its athletes collectively will fare. That brings in dollars, that is self-supportive, and that helps the school, and its alumns restore value to the brand in today's marketplace, which is bottom line what it's all about. Sports teams at universities on the top levels exist primarily as marketing tools for their school's brand. That's why they are so valuable. Intramurals exists for amateurism. Nothing in the model I've suggested precludes intramurals from continuing to exist.

You don't like paying people for their work or services fairly? When
is the last time you refused your paycheck, or told your boss, 'Hey, don't pay me what I'm worth, pay me peanuts and put in a lot of extra restrictions like if I get hurt or you find someone younger or with more eligibility than me I get no compensation or guarantees, just kick me to the curb.' Sorry, I'm an American not a communist and I don't believe in slavery in any form. The solution I've offered solves those issues and helps Rice and all of its past, present and future alumni. And who knows? It would actually have a real shot at changing things for these athletes for the better, and isn't that something we could all be proud of?