Vandy earns top seed in playoffs; 8 locals qualify
April 16, 2013
Nicholls names Harold as new volleyball coach
April 16, 2013
“I tell my guys all the time, you’re not the first one to spend a hungry Sunday without any money.” – Bob Stoops, head football coach, University of Oklahoma.
No truer words have ever been spoken and unfortunately, caused the feigned outrage from the mainstream sports media regarding college players being paid. Honestly, what college student, at some point has found only lint in their pockets, while staring at a wastebasket full of hamburger wrappers, wishing for a few bucks to go buy another?
There really is not that much difference between the college athlete, the band member, the thespian, and the theoretical physicist student at a university, to that university. All perform a similar function; all bring prestige and money to the university in their own way, in accordance to their own skill set and most are on scholarship.
The difference is how the media perceives their worth. And the media loves the sexy (athletes)… and the nerds (everyone else)…not so much.
Sports commentators like Mike Greenburg from ESPN’s Mike & Mike in the Morning, love to opine ‘til their noses bleed that college athletes should be paid because of the millions of dollars they generate for the university they represent.
Don’t get paid? It costs the average undergraduate student at LSU, an average of $34,464 per year to attend school over a four-year period. This includes tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation and flash money to spend on a Friday night. The University of Notre Dame costs $46,730 per year and two semesters at USC is a whopping $62,245. Hello!
Now, if I’m not mistaken most college athletes are on scholarship and many don’t pay anything for their degree. In essence, they get paid to perform. The average nursing student may get a scholarship but still has some bills to pay following graduation unlike her athletic counterpart. So this really is a non-issue, trumped up by the mainstream sports media.
But there is a darker side to the “Greenburgs” of the world motives for wanting college athletes to be paid. Oh, they won’t say it out loud, but there’s a part of them that wants this for the scandals it would inevitably bring. Can you imagine the investigations for the possible over paying players? Oh, the field day they would have on SportsCenter covering the latest salary cap violation at Alabama! A person might literally slip on the puddles of drool in the hallowed halls of Bristol.
Another problem with paying college players is how could this logically be policed? But let’s delve into the world of paying college players. If USC really wants a recruit, they visit with the recruit and his/her family and go over what the recruit will be paid and how much of an honor it will be for them to be a Trojan and receive a degree from Southern Cal. All above aboard right? You think they’ll stop there? They don’t stop now. If they, really want that recruit they’ll fix numbers and pay them more, maybe taking away from another player. It’ll all balance out on the books they’ll send to NCAA. Then they’ll offer them parts in movies, tickets to the Lakers, and a beachfront condo.
They’ll get away with almost all of it because there is no way to affectively police 2,474 four year institutions across the United States. The NCAA can’t do it now and there are no salaries to track. But, oh, the headlines.
And let’s not even get into the fines and sanctions that would be levied against the schools and the ruined reputation of players the investigations would leave in their wakes.
This idea, of paying players, is more trouble than it’s worth and a conversation needs to end. College Athletes do receive compensation for their talents and on average more than the band member and the theoretical physicist student. When they leave school they’re mostly debt free and because of the prestige of playing at a major university they can maybe, make money in their sport as a professionals. If not, they have a degree from that same university that carries a lot of weight with possible employers.
So during those formative college years there is nothing wrong with a little lint in the pocket, some ramen noodles in the microwave and some humble pie on the field.
LSU coach Les Miles sings the LSU alma mater with his team following their victory against Mississippi State last season. TPT Advertising Director Brad Thibodaux gave his thoughts this week on pay for play plans in NCAA athletics.
