SHUT UP AND LISTEN
by Deon Carson
I continue to hear reporters say USC cheated or Ohio ST cheated. Listen there is a difference between breaking the rules and cheating. If you shave points you're cheating, if you use PEDs you're cheating, if you steal the answers to a test you're cheating, so forth and so on.
If someone gives you money, or gifts, or a car because of your good performance that is not cheating that is breaking the rules.
We all know that the real cheaters are the men atop of the NCAA. They make millions off of these players, and they say "the players get a free education" well allow me to break that down for you. The University of Michigan has an avg tuition of $23,919 let's multiply that by 80 scholarships that gives you $1,913,520 spent.
The University of Michigan has a 7.16 Million dollar per yr television contract with ABC. They have a stadium that seats 113,000 and the avg ticket is $50.00 that gives you about $5,650,000 per game multiply that by 7 home games per year. Bottom line is that once a player plays his first few games he has paid back the cost of tuition to the University. Now lets add the fact that they sell millions of dollars worth of Jerseys, and they also have a contract with Nike.
The NCAA is one of the most hypocritical institutions in existence and I for one am tired of hearing about so called cheating by taking gifts.
As this subject has been in the media quite frequently lately, and I have a little brother who will soon enter into the very institution that this blog is about, I have been thinking about this a lot lately.
ReplyDeleteShould collegiate athletes be compensated beyond their academic scholarships?
In the past I've pretty much been on the fence on this issue, occassionally leaning toward the side that says, yes, they should be. However, the other day it occurred to me that, as you alluded in your blog, the whole institution needs a makeover. If universities were not making so much money off of sporting events and apparel this conversation would likely not exist. Why do universities need to make a profit from the sale of sporting events and associated products? Is it not enough to just charge an amount that allows them to break even? I guess not, because that will NEVER happen. So, yea. That is my 1st stance. The entire institution needs a revision with more of a focus on the STUDENT athlete, rather than the profits to gain.
Secondly, if the institution is to remain in its current state then I can firmly say yes the student athletes should be given a stipend beyond what their scholarships are worth, for everyday expenses (and I'm not just saying that because my brother will soon be a collegiate athlete). Think about it... There are students who attend universities who have a full ride, meaning that all of their academic expenses are paid for, including room and board, books, food, etc. These students also participate in various university sponsored research programs and the like, they are paid for the work that they do in these programs. The university also has an opportunity to make a profit from this research, etc... Now, consider the student athlete, he/she also works for the university, the difference is that the product of his/her work likely generates a lot more income for that university. Not to mention the student athlete does not have much of an opportunity to get a part-time job outside of school and his/her sport.
I'm not saying that student athletes should be paid a salary, but I don't see the problem with paying them as if they are working a job for the university like you would a student working in the cafeteria, or a the library, or the campus store. Afterall, they do generate LARGE profits for universities.
Great comments!!
ReplyDelete