NCAA nears Judgment Day

I was reading an article from the Wall Street Journal the other day and after reading it got me thinking. This article talked about college athletes getting a share of the revenue that the universities get from their individual sports. Sports like Football and Basketball at the college level yield millions of dollars for universities and Ed O?Bannon and his lawyers think that the college player, who is using their talents to bring attention to that specific university, should have a share in the revenue that these colleges get.

?

The argument that O?bannon and his cronies are putting forth is that the NCAA violates U.S. antitrust law by limiting the compensation that players can receive for the use of their name, image and likeness. The NCAA asserts that the plaintiffs are aimed at destroying amateurism in college athletics. The case centers on one question: What is amateurism?

?

This article goes on to talk about what went down in 1920?s and 30?s when some college athletic conferences prohibited the awarding of scholarships. This case was filed by Stanford economic Professor emeritus Roger Noll and whereas some universities give out sports scholarships now, today many Ivy League schools still do not give out athletic scholarships.

?

As I read through this article one thread kept going through my mind, what really is the purpose of colleges anyway. I know for myself it was an opportunity for me to higher my education and acquire skills that would make me marketable in the job market. I went to college to learn how to think and yea I used my ability in Track and Field as my calling card to many Universities and I choose Rutgers University as the place I wanted to learn.

?

Now I am going to cut through the chase here. Personally I thought this case has died a few years ago but I guess it hasn?t. What really is fueling this case? GREED, and in this case it could kill our future generations ability to go to colleges. Why do I say that? Let?s assume that the Supreme Court comes back and says that O?Bannon and his cronies are right and that all amateur athletes should be getting a cut of what the universities profit. Then each year college athletes will be asking for more and more of a cut and the more they get the less the universities will be willing to give, in the form of scholarships, to future athletes. These attorneys are forgetting one thing? they too have gone through the university system and gotten something priceless? an education. Yea, Something that no one can ever take away from them and those same attorneys are now crying fawl and tell those same universities that the athlete needs to get more.

?

Please note this, besides an education that these athletes are getting, as a D1 athlete you also get food allowances on the weekends for games. You get free travel to other states. You get to see the country without spending a dime out of your own pocket. You get free room and board even after the school year is over if your sport is coming into season, you get a free education given by the best professors in the world, you get the best medical care known to man while in your sport, you get the best clothing by the major sport clothing manufacturers that if the average person were to buy would cost them hundreds of dollars. The fun a college D1 or D2 athlete has cannot be even measured in dollars and cents. College was the best four years of my life. To this day nothing besides my marriage to my wife is comparable.

?

I have noticed that many universities have been using their athletics as calling cards to get people to think about possibly attending. What?s wrong with that? I see nothing wrong a university utilizing its assets to further the longevity of their school and as a thank you to all those athletes that they have used as advertisements, in return, those athletes get something that will last them way passed their times years in sports, a great education. A means to make themselves marketable to the job force when they can no longer play that professional sport. Did you know that a college graduate earns more over a lifetime than one who doesn?t have that diploma?

?

We need to put sports in proper perspective. We need to remember that our minds our education should always be in the forefront of our minds and sports, college sports, should only be a means for us to get that priceless gift of intelligence. Now you know how I feel. ???

Source: http://ulocal.wisn.com/_NCAA-nears-Judgment-Day/blog/6535972/63262.html

adam sandler College Football Scoreboard nfl scores nfl scores Devon Walker Tom Cruise ryan reynolds