This guy makes a good case

http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/2...st-be-paid

Is having enough money a problem for some Athletes? Yes? Well, welcome to real life, kid. As the commercial says, 90 some odd percent of Student Athletes go on to something besides professional sports.

Any amount of scholarship is insanely valuable, and doesn't count the extras you get like entire Student-Athlete dedicated buildings full of Academic Advisors and no-wait computers, Athletics Trainers, doctors, medication, the ability to register before other students for classes, trips to other states or countries on the school dime, the contacts with boosters and Alumni, the way having college athletics on your resume opens doors for interviews etc.

And, most Athletes actually can and do have part time jobs for spending money.

One point I like to keep making is - how can players afford tons of tattoos, yet be in debt? Maybe if they spent their money wisely, there wouldn't be an issue. Look at these athletes with tattoos:

How could this Penn St. football player afford tattoos?


What about this Tennessee basketball player?


What about these UConn football players in the front?


This Oklahoma player making the tackle, and the UConn lineman in the background in the middle of the shot...


This UConn lineman, and #24 on the right side...


And this guy...

Are you really complaining about tattoos? Can you be any more old man-ish? haha

(01-19-2013 10:14 AM)niuguy Wrote:  Are you really complaining about tattoos? Can you be any more old man-ish? haha

Try reading it again. I don't care that they HAVE tattoos. I care that people say college athletes should be paid because they are going into debt while in college, yet look at how many spend a ton of money on tattoos.

(01-18-2013 01:45 PM)OldTtimeNIU Wrote:  This guy makes a good case

http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/2...st-be-paid

There is no good case.

Ya, I'm not for having them get paid. As for Midnight's case, I'm sure many of them do get tattoos while on scholarship but a lot of them have tattoos when they come from high school. I have multiple friends who were either seniors on this NIU football team or redshirt juniors. All business majors, so a little different cut of cloth as far as money goes. One of them did come from extreme hardship though. They have told me that over the course of there 4 or 5 year career for redshirts, their scholarship is worth around 100,000. That breaks down to 25,000/year for 4 years. Look at NIU, my tuition bill for my last semester, this spring, is right around 4,900. All but one of these guys is from the state of Illinois, so they get in-state. Idk how that works for the other kid or not as far as if he gets charge out of state. But anyways, let's say it's just exactly 5,000/ semester. So they get 10,000 for tuition and fees, etc. That leaves a remaining 15,000 towards them. They get a stipend a month of around 900 I'm pretty sure. So they have rent, let's say that's 350, they have groceries I will be generous here as they are big guys and say 250, btw that's way more than I pay for groceries. Then we say the bills added up are about 100/month. So every month they get to pocket 200 or so, every situation is different but if they handle everything probably they should get 200/month to keep. That 15,000 over the 9 months of school is about 1,700/month. They also get their scholarship checks if they take summer courses. All in all they could pocket anywhere between 2,400 to 12,000 depending on the stipend amount over one year. They also get the most important thing an EDUCATION. Many kids are getting excellent degrees whether it be from NIU, Toledo, Iowa, etc. That is worth so much more.

(01-19-2013 12:08 PM)HuskieJWN Wrote:  Ya, I'm not for having them get paid. As for Midnight's case, I'm sure many of them do get tattoos while on scholarship but a lot of them have tattoos when they come from high school. I have multiple friends who were either seniors on this NIU football team or redshirt juniors. All business majors, so a little different cut of cloth as far as money goes. One of them did come from extreme hardship though. They have told me that over the course of there 4 or 5 year career for redshirts, their scholarship is worth around 100,000. That breaks down to 25,000/year for 4 years. Look at NIU, my tuition bill for my last semester, this spring, is right around 4,900. All but one of these guys is from the state of Illinois, so they get in-state. Idk how that works for the other kid or not as far as if he gets charge out of state. But anyways, let's say it's just exactly 5,000/ semester. So they get 10,000 for tuition and fees, etc. That leaves a remaining 15,000 towards them. They get a stipend a month of around 900 I'm pretty sure. So they have rent, let's say that's 350, they have groceries I will be generous here as they are big guys and say 250, btw that's way more than I pay for groceries. Then we say the bills added up are about 100/month. So every month they get to pocket 200 or so, every situation is different but if they handle everything probably they should get 200/month to keep. That 15,000 over the 9 months of school is about 1,700/month. They also get their scholarship checks if they take summer courses. All in all they could pocket anywhere between 2,400 to 12,000 depending on the stipend amount over one year. They also get the most important thing an EDUCATION. Many kids are getting excellent degrees whether it be from NIU, Toledo, Iowa, etc. That is worth so much more.

This is one thing that, I bet, many people do not know about. Players are basically getting paid already. I knew some athletes at UT who Toledo me about this. When they would live off-campus, they would still get money for the cost of living on campus (what the dorm would cost, and what the meal plan would cost), even though living off-campus is about 1/3-1/2 of what is costs to live on-campus at UT. So every month they get a check for what the cost of living on-campus would be, even though living off-campus is way cheaper.

Players should get a stipend for Tattoos.

I've previously not been in favor...but the more I see schools moving conferences, all for more $$$$ in tv deals, sacrificing travel times and the "academic good" of the student athlete, I have a hard time saying to athletes "just be happy with the education", because clearly no one else is happy with what is currently in place.

(01-19-2013 02:30 PM)17Huskies Wrote:  I've previously not been in favor...but the more I see schools moving conferences, all for more $$$$ in tv deals, sacrificing travel times and the "academic good" of the student athlete, I have a hard time saying to athletes "just be happy with the education", because clearly no one else is happy with what is currently in place.

Well they should just be happy with it. Even a relatively cheap school like NIU this is a great deal for students. Also, we cant forget that if you pay football players we cant NOT pay non revenue sports like track.