Paying College Athletes

[Zeus-cat]

I heard on the radio today that the NCAA has agreed to a deal where certain Division I college athletes will get paid.

I'm undecided on this. I see both bad and good things here. On the good side people deserve to be paid if they do work. And they certainly make the universities a tremendous amount of money for what they do. And the AVERAGE NFL career is 3.3 years, so many players play 3 years or less as a pro. Not much time to make a lot of money after playing high school and college for 8 years for nothing. Plus you could suffer a career ending injury in college and never get paid as a pro.

On the bad side it just seems to cheapen the game. Now we have removed all doubt that big time college sports are a business from top to bottom. I don't know the details of the deal as for how much they get paid. Is it by position? Playing time? A guaranteed minimum for all? I guess I might have more faith if I thought the NCAA could actually solve a complex issue equitably. And of course, pumping even more money into college sports seems like everyone is begging for more problems.

 

[Fattbank64]

IMHO the NFL and NBA should subsidize and operate their feeder programs. The failure of the NCAA to regulate NIL was the straw that broke the camel's back. Schools/booster clubs should not be paying athletes.

 

[Hobie1dog]

IGNORE, before I raise trouble

 

[jderimig]

If college football coaches are the highest paid state employees in most every state then perhaps the athletes responsible for their coaches pay reaching upwards of $10 million per year maybe should share some of that?

 

[DEmery]

What happens to Title IX? Men’s football and basketball bring in most of the money, now they will be using a lot of that to pay athletes.

 

[NTP2]

Here’s an unpopular opinion, I don’t think that sports should be such a large part of colleges, I mean they are a school there job is to train and teach not spend 100s of millions on sports! That money is much better spent on grants, a lot of research could be done with that money.

Ps as an example VT spends several million on sports when students often have to sit in line to get a place to hold their clubs (eg rocket teams)

 

[FredA]

Agree 110% - schools should not be athletic clubs.
And spending "up to $21M" is a joke. How about spend every dollar that comes in the door.
And is that $21M per sport of across all sports at a schools.
On the surface, and that's all I've seen, it seems like a superficial act.

 

[Cl(VII)]

Here’s an unpopular opinion, I don’t think that sports should be such a large part of colleges, I mean they are a school there job is to train and teach not spend 100s of millions on sports! That money is much better spent on grants, a lot of research could be done with that money.

Ps as an example VT spends several million on sports when students often have to sit in line to get a place to hold their clubs (eg rocket teams)

I think that opinion is probably more popular than you think.

 

[jderimig]

Athletics can be important part of a person's development, it should be part of a college experience for those gifted with those talents and drive. But making it a big business will be troublesome as young people will be exploited. The majority of college athletes will not be professional athletes and their degrees in communications will not take them very far.

 

[NTP2]

I think that opinion is probably more popular than you think.

Apparently, if I expressed that elsewhere I might not have such agreement, this place attracts the nerds!

 

[Art Upton]

Here’s an unpopular opinion, I don’t think that sports should be such a large part of colleges, I mean they are a school there job is to train and teach not spend 100s of millions on sports! That money is much better spent on grants, a lot of research could be done with that money.

Ps as an example VT spends several million on sports when students often have to sit in line to get a place to hold their clubs (eg rocket teams)

But Monday Night Rocket Meet just doesn't bring in the TV audiences.

 

[NTP2]

But Monday Night Rocket Meet just doesn't bring in the TV audiences.

How about computer science meets? I mean Linus tech tips has made some cash!

On a more serious note, why would a college need that money, believe me they have plenty (VT has torn down and re built the same building 10 times during my life)

 

[Tyeeking]

I think that opinion is probably more popular than you think.

The proliferation and popularity of college athletics, particularly basketball, football, baseball, and track and field would say otherwise.

 

[Art Upton]

How about computer science meets? I mean Linus tech tips has made some cash!

On a more serious note, why would a college need that money, believe me they have plenty (VT has torn down and re built the same building 10 times during my life)

They rebuild it every 1.5 years? At that rate it could never even be used ?

 

[NTP2]

They rebuild it every 1.5 years? At that rate it could never even be used ?

I KNOW!!!

 

[mh9162013]

Here’s an unpopular opinion, I don’t think that sports should be such a large part of colleges, I mean they are a school there job is to train and teach not spend 100s of millions on sports! That money is much better spent on grants, a lot of research could be done with that money.

Ps as an example VT spends several million on sports when students often have to sit in line to get a place to hold their clubs (eg rocket teams)

Sports bring a lot of attention and exposure to the schools. Clubs and academics won't being the same type of publicity that the major sports programs will. For some big schools, the sports programs are fully self supporting, so it's not like they're siphoning funds from academics. However, I don't understand why they can't be required to spend a certain percentage or amount of that "sports money" on academics, though.

 

[bjphoenix]

Here’s an unpopular opinion, I don’t think that sports should be such a large part of colleges, I mean they are a school there job is to train and teach not spend 100s of millions on sports! That money is much better spent on grants, a lot of research could be done with that money.

Ps as an example VT spends several million on sports when students often have to sit in line to get a place to hold their clubs (eg rocket teams)

I'm one of those people who thinks you go to college to get an education to earn a living. If you are trying to become a professional athlete then why go to other classes? Why not separate sports from college education completely?

 

[Cl(VII)]

The proliferation and popularity of college athletics, particularly basketball, football, baseball, and track and field would say otherwise.

I didn't say there wasn't a market as there surely is. Just because there is a market for something doesn't make it optimal, right or even a good idea.

 

[FredA]

Handing athletes diplomas dilutes the value of all diplomas issued by an institution.

 

[Cl(VII)]

Handing athletes diplomas dilutes the value of all diplomas issued by an institution.

Not in all cases. I knew some pretty sharp student athletes when I was in grad school. Nick Horvath comes to mind as a guy who was genuinely very intelligent, kind and a solid basketball player on a National Championship team. We could have used a lot more of him and a lot less of Kyrie Irving...better player obviously, but oh dear God.

 

[lr64]

I'm one of those people who thinks you go to college to get an education to earn a living. If you are trying to become a professional athlete then why go to other classes? Why not separate sports from college education completely?

I think there's a lot more to college than job training. Or, at least, there used to be. A college education should broaden one's mind. MODERATE participation in competitive sports could be part of that.

My niece went to college on a basketball scholarship. They made her work awfully hard for several years. I think she probably ended up with a reasonably good education, but under similar circumstances, I wouldn't have been able to.* I wonder how much better her education would have been if she'd spent less time on basketball. I don't know if she was good enough for the pros, but if she was, I think she might have been underpaid anyway.

I think my brother was tickled pink that she was such an athlete. He was gifted, too, but if I remember correctly, maybe not enough for intercollegiate sports. Or maybe it was just his knees.


*Not something I had to worry about. I am not uncoordinated or anything, but I'm not a gifted athlete either.

 

[NTP2]

Not in all cases. I knew some pretty sharp student athletes when I was in grad school. Nick Horvath comes to mind as a guy who was genuinely very intelligent, kind and a solid basketball player on a National Championship team. We could have used a lot more of him and a lot less of Kyrie Irving...better player obviously, but oh dear God.

+1 I don’t have a problem with people playing a sport as long as they don’t dump down the class for them.

 

[FredA]

My daughter is (was) an excellent swimmer.
She trained at the highest level - people on her squad DID go to the Olympics.
She decided on a college that was highly ranked for academics and swimming.
I was THRILLED when she called home at the start of her Freshman year and asked if it was OK that she NOT SWIM.
She used the facilities on her terms, on her schedule..........which turned out to be infrequent.

Places to "PLAY" are cheap to come by.
Places that practice real academics are expensive and should not to be squandered.

 

[prfesser]

The majority of the male "student-athletes" I have known have majored in the easiest possible curriculum; elementary education was popular but there are easier curricula now. There were a few exceptions...very few. Most were enrolled in classes simply because it was required.

So my radical suggestion: stop calling them student-athletes and start calling them "employees." Permit them to enroll as students if they choose, but don't require it, and don't cut them any slack if/when they fail. Maximum of five or six years of employment, after which either they may or may not be selected for pro sports. If they completed a degree in the interim, fine, enter the work force with that degree. If not, enter the work force anyway but with rather limited experience and skill set.

 

[NTP2]

So my radical suggestion: stop calling them student-athletes and start calling them "employees." Permit them to enroll as students if they choose, but don't require it, and don't cut them any slack if/when they fail. Maximum of five or six years of employment, after which either they may or may not be selected for pro sports. If they completed a degree in the interim, fine, enter the work force with that degree. If not, enter the work force anyway but with rather limited experience and skill set.

Oooh I like it!

 

[dr wogz]

@NTP2 - I kept wondering why you were specifically singling out 'Vermont' [VT]. I assume y mean Virginia Tech..



and then there is this guy:
And I guess more the exception...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Duvernay-Tardif

 

[William Dieckmann]

most are already being paid. they were given scholarships to attend that collage, is that not being paid to play?

 

[NTP2]

@NTP2 - I kept wondering why you were specifically singling out 'Vermont' [VT]. I assume y mean Virginia Tech.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Duvernay-Tardif

yes, I should have made that more clear, I was using as an example because I’m more familiar with the state of university politics there, I assume it’s similar elsewhere.

 

[NTP2]

most are already being paid. they were given scholarships to attend that collage, is that not being paid to play?

It would be if they took advantage of it, instead they take basket making classes!

 

[Titan II]

It would be if they took advantage of it, instead they take basket making classes!

Do you realize how inaccurate and offensive your statement can be construed?

There are a vast number of students in engineering, physics, mathematics, medicine, and a plethora of other degrees not related to basket weaving, that are on a scholarship.