Should College Athletes Be Legally Paid?

[bigdon]

This is a subject that comes up every so often and is dear to my heart.

Every year another scandal comes up whether it involves free athletic equipment, booster payments, etc.

We just discussed the Iowa U section 8 housing of athletes ( which is monetary payment by any other name). U of Ga. had to fire their basketball coach over course grades given to players.

The list goes on and on and I am sure there will at least a few more in 2006.

Should we dispense with all the rules and regulations and just pay these guys? Many come from very poor circumstances and make a ton of money for their school.

I believe we should pay them but I have not fleshed out a satisfactory program.

Any thoughts?

 

[IRISHMAN]

no they shouldn't college football isn't a job, besides they get full ride scholorships.

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

no...that's all i have to say

 

[Irish Envy]

This is a loaded question that will raise many debates and philosophies on both sides of the fence. There are WAY too many variables to factor in when attemping to make an answer.

Currently, NCAA athletes are compensated with a complete college education, housing and living expense stipends, and generally an endless supply of food, medical benefits, so on and so forth. Depending on which school is chosen, this package can be worth up to $40k a year or higher depending on tuition costs, room and board costs, etc.

If they were to be paid, would these then be taken away and treated as bills to the athlete? If not, why not?

 

[jiggafini19]

We had fist fights over this is grad school.

NO, NO and NO.

English, Spanish, Italian.

 

[NDgettysburg]

Sure.....pay em. And then charge them for their education and all related expenses. Something tells me the parents wouldn't like it too much though.

(Who pays for those DirecTV dishes I saw on cinder blocks outside one of the dorms on the ND campus? Meant to get a pic. I cracked up when I saw it. Wonder if they have much problem with pranksters re-aiming them?)

 

[iloveirish_12]

They get paid as it. They get school free and they get money to buy stuff. They don't need anymore.

 

[irish4life99]

Most school athletics lose money. Football is the money maker, and under articale 9 or rule 9 or what ever it's called NCAA teams must field other athletics. The money to cover these programs are coverd by the football team. So it would be impossible for most teams to be able to pay their players. Other than the bookies and the television networks college football is not a money maker.

 

[timm3117]

College Athletes are paid, I mean come on how much does it cost to go to ND a year, and they get that for free. Most of these guys playing major college football are getting a free ride to a school they would never be able to go to if not for football!

 

[AlbuquerqueIrishFan]

They're already paid in the form of an education. That's enough.

I don't quite get the reason why they can't have jobs to make money though. Must have something to do with the risk to their education.

 

[NDgettysburg]

They're already paid in the form of an education. That's enough.
I don't quite get the reason why they can't have jobs to make money though. Must have something to do with the risk to their education.

I don't understand how they'd even have time...all we hear about is how hard it is to be a student-athlete and that there's no "down time" between practice, games and study....but they have time for a job?

Was funny, I watched the ND show on CSTV last night. They had 20 questions with Darius Walker. One question was...."how much money do you have in your wallet right now". He laughed and answered "$5".

I realize these guys would like some scratch to go out to a movie or buy this or that but 99% of what they need is paid for. No housing expenses, no utilities, no food expenses (I could eat in the south dining hall every day, no problem), no travel expenses. Maybe I'm heartless but I just don't feel sorry for them at all.

 

[BGIF]

They're already paid in the form of an education. That's enough.
I don't quite get the reason why they can't have jobs to make money though. Must have something to do with the risk to their education.

Abuse.

"Extra Benefits"

There was a time when athletes on some campus waited tables, worked as ground keepers on campus, or worked in the college administration. At some other campuses they had the same positions but didn't have to show up for work or they got paid at several times the going rate.

Jobs outside the college were a bigger source of abuse. How do you compare a Big 12 athlete in Manhattan Kansas or Ames Iowa working as a farm consultant with aPAC 10 athlete works as Special Apprentice to Nike's CEO or a "potential" pre-med student at working as a gofer with a cardiologist who just happens to be a Miami alumnus, or the UCLA cinematography major being paid to watch "dailies" for continuity gaffs, or the USC criminology major that assists O.J. Simpson in looking for the "real killer"? One job might be minimum wage while the others can "justify" paying in the low to mid 5 figures or higher.

Even in a legitimate working relationship how is equitable compensation determined considering the cost of living differential in L.A. versus Lincoln?

How do you regulate that quagmire? The cost of living varies from state to state, do you use the CPI? An army of CPA's? Outscource to the IRS? Congressional regulation? Implement Davis-Bacon Wage Provisions?

Providing tuition, room and board is the simplest way. Some schools created "extra benefits" through luxurious athletic dorms. The NCAA banned that. Recently one SEC school moved athletes, cheerleaders, managers, into an upscale contemporaty dorm to circumvent the athletic dorm ban. They pointed out that managers aren't on athletic scholarships so the athletes are integrated with "regular" students and thus it's not an athletic dorm.

As long as there are regulations there are trustees, coaches, ADs, and boosters that will push the envelope.

Banning paid jobs eliminates the envelope.

 

[Rip Rap]

No. For all of the above reasons. Also, if players were paid to offset the cost of school, an 'independent' anaylist would shortly reveal that the most expensive city, and the highest cost of living, is in Lincoln, Nebraska.