This is just the latest episode in the "you have to pay student athletes' drama. A free $100,000 education is just not enough. The stipends that they get paid is just not enough. Do these guys really believe that universities across the country are going to be able to pay 98 guys some sort of salary? (I'm just adding up the football team and the bball team.) Do they think that CMU, Marshall, BYU, etc can really afford to do this? Of course, this won't be legal, so they'll have to pay 98 females the exact same amount to play a non-revenue sport. Are the stars of the team going to get the same pay as the bench warmers? Are they going to negotiate terms? It's already hard enough for these smaller schools to consistently compete...this talk will drive them out of business. Might as well just cancel athletics at institutions across the country.
the problem is that the scholarships and stipends do not come close to adequately compensating the athletes.
As far as the "free education" element of it goes, it's an education with an asterisk. there was just a long interview with Jake Butt (cant find it, but it was either in mlive or the freep) where he mentions that the "student" part of "student athlete" is the more minor concern, and talks about how many classes he couldn't take in fall because they clashed with practice schedule. and this is at Michigan... imagine how bad it is in less reputable schools.
second of all, these kids take a lot of physical and mental punishment (esp. given the CTE risk that we're still learning about). there is no way in hell that is adequately compensated by a 4 year scholarship, even a full ride. "you'll get an education, but starting in 20 years, you'll be too brain-damaged to use it, so better make hay while you still can."
remember Antonio Bass? He's incurred life long knee and leg problems... probably would've been better off financially just taking out loans to pay for college.
some portion of NCAA revenues should go to providing lifetime health insurance for players.
and then there's the whole "we can profit from your likeness, but you can't" rule. there's no real justification for that, other than the NCAA likes money, a lot, and has the power to rule over college kids. If they're concerned over amateurism and what not, they can put the proceeds of the licensing into a trust that pays out following graduation.
if the NCAA could do these two things: health insurance, and a trust for proceeds from licensing, I think that would go a long way to addressing the glaring inequality in the sport. I think it would strengthen it in the long run as well. Players would be more loyal, and you'd reduce the incentives for the cheater schools to cheat and pay players, getting better, more competitive games on the field. The Dave Brandons, Jim Tressels, of the world, and pretty much everyone south of the Mason Dixon line would hate it, but so what? **** all of them! they'll still have plenty of money, and will have to find other ways to cheat.
