I hate it when Doyel makes me agree with him

[hondo]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/14032671/hold-the-sympathy-college-athletes-need-no-paychecks

Fine column. Great points. Plus, one other thing that nobody ever mentions: if you start paying football players, a water polo player from UCLA or a kid of the skiing team at Coloado whose father is a lawyer will sue the NCAA for their kids to get paid. Gotta be equal. So the smart solution is, don't pay college athletes.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I agree completely. As someone who paid for the bulk of my education on my own, I have zero sympathy for these athletes.

 

[JC]

I agree completely. As someone who paid for the bulk of my education on my own, I have zero sympathy for these athletes.

and you brought what to the University? Apples to Oranges.

 

[BTExpress]

and you brought what to the University? Apples to Oranges.

So how can you justify paying Mark Ingram the same as the 85th player on Alabama's roster?

One obviously brings a lot more to the university.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I agree completely. As someone who paid for the bulk of my education on my own, I have zero sympathy for these athletes.

and you brought what to the University? Apples to Oranges.

I went to class and pulled good grades so I guess you're right that students like that should not be compared to athletes.

 

[Bubbler]

There's no way paying athletes is feasible. They do get paid ... through a full-ride scholarship.

 

[hondo]

and you brought what to the University? Apples to Oranges.

So how can you justify paying Mark Ingram the same as the 85th player on Alabama's roster?

One obviously brings a lot more to the university.

The problem is, you can't justify it either way. So don't do it. These kids aren't starving, they've got good housing, great medical care and if they give a flying flip, they'll get a degree out of it -- all gratis.

 

[WriteThinking]

College athletes already are paid.

Their college educations are a privilege -- not a right -- that are paid for, often in full, along with room and board and at least a certain amount of food each day.

That education has value, and that ability to play in college will also directly lead to future opportunities potentially worth millions to them. The problem is, people are not seeing the value of the education, only that opportunity to play college sports, and taking advantage of the college to have that opportunity.

All that said, I also have always believed that any rules in place keeping athletes from holding down legitimate jobs while playing are ridiculous, as well.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Depending on the school, I would guess that a degree from most public schools would cost around $100K. Considering my accountant tells me it will cost twice that when my kids go to college in over a decade, I figure that's a fair estimate.

 

[JackReacher]

I'd love to see someone try to create a sliding scale that determines how much, for example, they'd pay Mark Ingram and how much they'd pay, say, the third-string center for New Mexico State. And everything in between.

Good luck with that.

 

[LongTimeListener]

There's no way paying athletes is feasible. They do get paid ... through a full-ride scholarship.

It's a very good column, and Bubbler's point is is fine for philosophical discussions and applies to nearly every athlete, including 95 percent of football and men's basketball players. But in the real world there is (or should be) no way to convince A.J. Green, Reggie Bush, Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Kevin Durant, John Wall, or dozens (hundreds?) of other athletes each year that they are not letting someone else earn money off their sweat. I mean, Reggie Bush didn't play for USC those last two years, right? So that must mean USC, the NCAA and the networks are giving back the tens of millions of dollars generated when he was the biggest name in football, college or pro, in 2005. Or no, I guess they won't.

Unfortunately there's no solution, which is only going to make college sports more corrupt as the years go on. The chance of probation is just the cost of doing business.

The troubling part that can be corrected (but won't be) is the schools that steer kids away from useful degree programs. Harbaugh got in hot water a few years ago by saying Michigan steered him into general studies and away from anything challenging. There was the Robert Smith case. Notre Dame had a guy quit a few years back because he didn't feel like he could handle the demands of football and his architecture major. And 99 percent of the players in SEC are in bull**** majors that are easier than any high school curriculum. (Some even in grad school: Hi Masoli!)

If there were some kind of enforcement or check to make sure the players were actually getting a quality education, the argument that the scholarship is sufficient payment would be much more sustainable. As things stand, particularly among black athletes in major sports, it's pretty obvious that the universities are just in it to chew 'em up and spit 'em out.

 

[jlee]

Doyel makes a great point that is well-put, but it's been made before -- plenty of times -- and the column was posted weeks after the news hook that reignited public conversation on the issue.

Sure, it's somewhat timely today, since A.J Green will be returning Saturday, but all the rancor over Green's suspension has quelled and most FBC fans have moved on.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Whenever someone tells me college athletes should be paid, I don't immediately skip to the fact that me and my student loans aren't exactly full of sympathy. Instead, I ask (like Doyel), "Who gets paid? How much? Why? How do you set up the pay scale? How do you justify it to those not getting paid as much? How do you make sure one college isn't paying a higher salary to entice recruits?"

It's so easy to just say "They bring in money!!! They should be paid!!!!!! They indentured servants!!! UNFAIR!!!!!!!" Not so easy to consider just how massive this particular can of worms happens to be.

 

[nmmetsfan]

Not to mention the connections a big time college athlete can make that could potentially set them up for after football. Call it a paid internship, with the pay being a college education.

With the NFL serious about its 18 game season, they should take a small portion of their tremendous earnings and invest in a minor league and do away with the borderline unconstitutional 3-year rule.

 

[Double Down]

I find the "WHAT WOULD YOU PAY THE THIRD-STRING CENTER?" argument to be ridiculous. You pay him the same as you pay Mark Ingram. You essentially take whatever cut of the pie is feasible and divide it equally. You conceded that, even though the "value" of these scholarships in revenue producing sports is significant, it in no way approaches a moral exchange of what the value of the service is. The crew kids don't get money because they don't deserve money. They generate no revenue. But men's football and men's basketball do -- billions and billions of dollars.

The realistic people who advocate paying athletes are not talking about middle-class salaries here. They're talking about giving kids $200 a month for expenses outside room and board and books and tuition. I think that's totally realistic. Gary Williams made this point last week, which made national news, and it's a realistic one. If you're a scholarship basketball player from West Baltimore, there is a good chance you're not getting any money from your family to help you out, to give you, say, money to buy a iPod or a laptop or a night at the Olive Garden with your friends. But a kid who goes to Maryland who is eligible for financial aid (which scholarship kids are not) can get help, get a little extra money to do whatever the hell they want with it. Why do you think football and basketball players take money from agents? In part because they're at expensive universities with kids where mommy and daddy are footing the bill for every frat kid's SUV, and they feel a little out of place. They aren't stupid. They know they're bringing in millions of dollars to the university, and so the temptation is greater to accept a hundred dollar handshake from a booster when he comes around.

Paying them something eliminates some of the temptation. The financial gymnastics Doyel wants athletes to jump through seems a little silly when you could just put a little cash in their pockets instead of giving it to universities so they could feed it right to the coaches as a bonus for going 6-5 and winning the Outback Steakhouse Bowl Brought to you by Valtrex.

The main argument against it I see is Title IX implications. But I think you could make a pretty good case that revenue generating sports deserve to have their athletes paid something.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I think you would have to do it for every scholarship athlete in every sport, or nobody.

Other than football and men's basketball how many schools get revenue and turn a profit from other sports. A handful make money in women's hoops, but you can probably count how many on both hands. The same can be said about baseball and volleyball and with a few rare exceptions (maybe soccer at UNC?).

 

[chase.colston]

So, give the athletes a few hundred bucks a month to pay for expenses outside of college. In the meantime, forget about the students who are waiting tables until midnight or later to take care of the same type of expenses.

Using The University of Texas as an example, the base cost for tuition, fees, room and board is about $8,350 per semester, or $16,700 per year. Multiply that by four: $66,800. That's for an in-state student living on campus. Out of state living on campus? $148,000.

So, bring in an out-of-state football player, put him on scholarship and he gets about 150 grand worth of education, room and board and food with no cost. The cost for him to be in school is about $37,000 per year, which I'm guessing is more than what many on this site make in salary with a college degree.

And they deserve to be paid? Spare me.

 

[cranberry]

There's plenty of money being made by schools to pay athletes who generate that money. The athletes' performances represent a revenue stream and they should share in that revenue stream.

 

[Double Down]

The student waiting tables is admirable. Represents all we love to champion about America. But again, what is he or she doing to bring in millions of dollars to State U?

 

[Ace]

How did Doyel make you agree with him, hondo? Did he get you in a headlock?