OT: It's time to pay college athletes.

[akelman]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

All humor aside, Nick was right on point. jtbadge's comments did nothing to further the dialogue. If he thought the thread was BS (fair enough) he should've articulated it in another manner. Shaming people on their (perceived) pigment is a zero sum game. There are many words at one's disposal for a sentient individual (which, from the postings I've seen from jtbadge, he most certainly is.) He should've used them.

Who wants to take bets on whether the first few people who posted were over, let's say, 45 and also white? And who wants to talk about the racial dynamics that often animate people's opinions on these (and other) subjects? Nobody? Yeah, I figured. Good talk!

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by jtbadge

This thread is already a train wreck. Predictable responses from old white men about how young people of color need to sit down and shut up. Might as well shut it down now.

pay the kids. allow them to form an organization that looks out / represents them. F' the NCAA. -signed white guy over 45.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by beeatnik

It's shameful to be an older white male?

C'mon, man. Really like the unique vibe you bring to the Paceline, but let's get back on point.

[akelman]

Originally Posted by joosttx

F' the NCAA.

Best comment in the thread. The NCAA is a cartel and deeply corrupt. For what it's worth, I'm really old and really white.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by beeatnik

It's shameful to be an older white male? Was my thread locked because fat (for LA) became a punchline?

Im sorry for that.

[beeatnik]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

C'mon, man. Really like the unique vibe you bring to the Paceline, but let's get back on point.

It's interesting to me when we coddle or protect individuals whose status is not dependent on either.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by joosttx

paid the kids. allow them to form an organization that looks out / represents them. F' the NCAA. -signed white guy over 45.

I agree. As a white guy over 45 I can acknowledge that, relatively speaking, I have been given smoother roads to ride on compared to people of colour and women. Time to let everyone ride on the good roads. Privilege based on wealth, gender, and race is real. Merit needs to matter a hell of a lot more.

[KJMUNC]

Originally Posted by akelman

Best comment in the thread. The NCAA is a cartel and deeply corrupt. For what it's worth, I'm really old and really white.

The Boz said it best, 30yrs ago.....

[Vientomas]

https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...ities/rankings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_...ic_Association

[beeatnik]

Originally Posted by joosttx

Im sorry for that.

I think it was locked because I'm a weirdo and bad thread title giver.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by KJMUNC

While I think something needs changing, I wasn't thrilled to hear that this bill was passed today as it's far too open ended.

As someone who played football for one of the biggest programs in the country (even though I was mostly just practice fodder for the starters and NFL-bound), I feel pretty qualified to offer an opinion here:

I'm not for individual player endorsements as that has all kinds of individual-driven complications in a large team sport that are too hard to untangle.

I AM all for some sort of compensation agreement between the school and athlete based on some combination of # of seasons/years with a binary-trigger bonus for graduation.

I also believe compensation should be designed to enable something useful AFTER you leave school: pay off school debt, down payment on house, start investing, etc.

Case in point: my alma mater's football program brings in roughly >$150M/yr and the athletic programs there in general top $200M with a $40M+ profit margin.

So let's do simple math: say you set-up a fund where you could earn up to $50k if you compete at least 4 seasons and graduate (with decremented step-downs from there if you do less/don't graduate). You're talking about a $7M hit for a team of 140 players......and that's not an annual cost, as the team might turnover 30 players a year, so it's more like $1.5M annually with a 5yr turnover required for the full $7M. That's <1% of annual revenues. Heck, make it $100k....choose any number you want.....it's not making a dent for the large programs.

Obviously things are more complicated for schools that don't bring in $150M/year in football revenue, but why shouldn't the NCAA step in to help? They generated $1B in revenue last year.....

As an NCAA athlete I couldn't hold a job in college, got no official benefits (food, clothing, etc) beyond uniforms and warmups, and was typically busy with school or practice 12hrs a day for most of the year while the university made money hand over fist selling anything they could (or generating donations). It would've been nice to walk away with something to help start life for all that non-class/non-degree investment I put in for the school.

CA's bill isn't perfect, but maybe it will finally force the NCAA to have a realistic dialog about options.

One of the best responses on the thread. (And there were several)

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by beeatnik

I think it was locked because I'm a weirdo and bad thread title giver.

Maybe... maybe not. How the little girl. Getting big?

[Matthew]

At least text books are still cheap.

[sjbraun]

All college sports should be limited to intramural activities; colleges should be about education, not revenue generating sports.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by sjbraun

All college sports should be limited to intramural activities; colleges should be about education, not revenue generating sports.

I would simply say college athletics does have a place. For some it’s an excellent way to teach leadership, confidence and teamwork. That is part of the education you get in college.