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Should college athletes be paid?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Mar 27, 2014.

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Should college athletes be paid?

  1. Yes

    32 vote(s)
    51.6%
  2. No

    30 vote(s)
    48.4%
  1. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    I'd be more sympathetic with this view if universities and NCAA officials used the money these kids generated for purposes in accordance with a university's supposed mission. But instead they use far too much of it to pay coaches and themselves obscene multi-million dollar salaries, to build wildly over the top lavish athletic facilities, throwing extravagant events for themselves, etc.

    If that's what the dough's being used for, then sure, why not give some of it back to the players who actually generate the money. Where will they come up with it? Well, perhaps they could start by trimming a bit off the top of the compensation package of the Emmert, Saban and Caliparis of the world.
     
  2. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Make them employees of the school with the option of free education.

    They get a four-year contract with an option for a fifth (redshirt).
     
  3. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    And make the coaches teach a course in a discipline unrelated to their sport, or to sports management or "life-coaching."
    That would be fun to watch.
     
  4. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    Why, and what affect does it have on anybodies lives if they do?

    Begrudging someone from maximizing their value seems awfully unamerican.
     
  5. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    There is one thing I feel very certain of, and that is that within the next few years, athletes will be entitled to compensation from things like jersey sales and autograph sales. The Manziel drama ensured that, because it seemed so petty and wrong. And that after Jim Tressel lost his job because his players traded autographs for tattoos.
     
  6. FileNotFound

    FileNotFound Well-Known Member

    This is the point at which I've arrived.
     
  7. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    With all due respect, Michael, I roll my eyes every time I see the word "exploit" thrown around in these discussions.

    They've been working and hoping for years they'll have the opportunity to be "exploited."
     
  8. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    Treat them like any other student who receives a scholarship.
     
  9. TyWebb

    TyWebb Well-Known Member

    Yet there are athletes who take advantage of this compensation and earn degrees in something other than "leisure studies." Just because most choose not to take advantage of this compensation doesn't mean it isn't a good form of compensation.

    If you want to take the majority of your paycheck and throw it down the toilet, you are free to do that. You just can't say "I'm not getting paid enough!" afterward.
     
  10. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Stockholm Syndrome.

    They basically have not - up to now - understood the power of their own leverage.

    They are absolutely exploited, as baseball players were before Curt Flood cried foul.

    Just because you enjoy your job doesn't mean you owe your employer free work.
     
  11. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Exploit means cheating someone of their due. College football players are wildly exploited, but hell, rock stars are exploited when kids steal their music on the Internet. It's just a verb. I'll revise that verb to "cheat." That work for ya?
     
  12. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Except when it's systemic like it is in football and basketball, then it's not really the students', as a group, fault.

    That said: I don't find the graduation rates as deeply problematic as others do, mostly because they typically reflect the graduation rate of the student population as a whole. Probably not the graduation rate of students on full scholarship, though.
     
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