RE: College Athletes Getting Paid
This topic really strikes a nerve. The well-intentioned folks in favor of paying college athletes are very quick to gloss-over or disregard completely the value of the free college education (not to mention preferential admissions). On what planet, can an education, room, and board worth anywhere from $30k - $60K per year not be considered compensation. Where else can an 18-year old with a HS diploma make that kind of money doing something they love?
Tuition, room, and board are just base pay. For the college football or basketball player with professional aspirations, their college playing days amount to a paid internship. These athletes are given free access to world-class training facilities and coaching, nutritional planning, strength and conditioning training, counseling, healthcare, etc. Job perks include free travel, cost of living stipends, and fan adulation. No 18-year old is ready to jump into the NFL (even if they were allowed) and these colleges are preparing these athletes for multi-million dollar careers for free!! In what world is that not just compensation!?
Ok, now let's look at the worst case. A kid that starts four years at a P5 school, but never makes it to the NFL. I concede he helped generate revenue far in excess of his "compensation". I would answer this athlete's participation in the sport was voluntary. If we are going to treat the universities as if they are employers, than the players are employees, and any employee has the option to quit or seek other employment if they feel they are not being adequately compensated. Secondly, even if this example athlete doesn't make the NFL, he was given the opportunity to pursue his dream to the fullest, an opportunity that should not be taken for granted. How many kids with college smarts cannot afford the opportunity to pursue their dreams at the highest level their talents and ambition afford. Lastly, this example, if he chose to take advantage of it, came out with a degree and alumni network that can boost his life-long earning potential by an order of magnitude or more.
The solution to the issue of too much money in college athletics is not to acquiesce to the corrupting influence of money on amateur athletics. The answer, and feel free to call me naïve here, is to get back to the heart and foundation of amateur athletics. Don't allow those (shoe companies, media companies, pro-sports leagues, sports betting, etc.) that would turn high level college athletics into a de-facto pro-sports league, mask their naked profiteering under the shield of amateurism. Their deep concern for the athletes' well-being extends as far the dollars lead them. Casting the NCAA as the villains (genuine issues with the NCAA aside) serves their profit motive, which they cloak as caring for the athletes well-being.
If the NCAA would have held the line long ago the market would have found the needed solution. There should be a professional football league for 18-24-year old kids. Those players should be paid under contract commensurate with league revenues. Kids that are unprepared or unsuited for college, that want to get paid now, or feel college is not their best avenue to "career" advancement could simply skip amateur football can go straight to this developmental league. The only reason such a league does not currently exist is that the NCAA has allowed the schools and the profit centers surrounding the game, to turn the NCAA institutions into a de facto semi-pro league and corrupt the foundational principles of amateur student athletics in the process.
In my mind, W&M competes at the highest level of true college athletics, with amateur student athletes. While I think there is work to be done for the College to achieve its highest athletic potential, anything that blurs the line between professional and amateur competition is a non-starter for me.
Absent my admittedly unlikely pro-league solution, I am all for the P5 giving up the pretense and leaving the NCAA umbrella to form its own association. My hope would be for a major realignment where the top half of FCS and the remaining FBS schools align geographically, forming rivalry based bus leagues that are revenue neutral.
Something Like This:
Colonial North
Towson
UD
JMU
Villanova
Richmond
Navy (or Marshall)
Colonial South
WM
Furman
Elon
Old Dominion
ECU
Liberty
(This post was last modified: 10-03-2019 01:22 PM by WMTribe90.)
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