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The Offshore Wire Forum > Offshore Gambling Information > Offshore Sportbooks > should college athletes be paid?

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drunkguy
Registered Member

Date Joined Mar 2005
Total Posts : 945

Posted 4/13/2005 2:35 AM (GMT -5)

A decent USA Today editorial on the subject:

Pay the players

By Tim Wendel

For the past four years, Hakim Warrick and Josh Pace have helped the Syracuse University basketball team average more than 25 victories a season. Two years ago, they were instrumental in the Orange taking home the NCAA championship. In fact, Warrick's blocked shot put an exclamation point on that March Madness tournament.
On the eve of their last home game, the two seniors, a rarity in today's game, were asked by The Post-Standard of Syracuse, N.Y., what they would change if they were NCAA president for a day.

"Maybe pay the players," Pace said.

"I know it'd probably be impossible," Warrick added, "but I'd definitely try to get some type of money back to the student-athletes as much as I could fairly, equally."

Warrick's right. It is near impossible, yet it is the right thing to do. Despite Syracuse's upset loss in the first round on Friday, he and Pace can take heart that they will now have the opportunity to make some money playing the game.

They depart knowing that paying athletes a stipend in college basketball and football — the two major revenue streams — wouldn't dramatically reshape NCAA athletics. Paying athletes would simply:

• Make them less prone to taking money from boosters and sports agents.

• Give those from poor backgrounds the ability to fly in their parents for an occasional game.

• Give athletes walking-around money that many of their campus mates are accustomed to.

Indeed, pay-for-play has been talked about for years. But the college sports machinery is cranking like never before. If, a decade ago, we could have glimpsed the kind of money that big-time college sports would command in 2005, we would have assumed that, surely, the money would eventually trickle down to players. And we would have been wrong. There has been no movement in a system that works for everyone but the players.

The money game

The nation is coming off four days of basketball glory. Fans in bars or living rooms nationwide experience a Pavlovian rush when the CBS basketball jingle fills the room. (No doubt the same rush that the NCAA, its member universities and, yes, even the coaches experience for a different tune — the ringing of cash registers.)

Coaches at traditional powerhouses are increasingly pulling down CEO-like bucks. Syracuse's Jim Boeheim had a base salary of $669,089 in 2003, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski made $853,009 and Marquette's Tom Crean, $807,128.

Such figures, however, don't include endorsement deals from shoe companies or such perks as country club memberships, cars or complimentary tickets.

This inequity has spurred Nebraska state Sen. Ernie Chambers to push legislation that would allow college players at his state university to receive a stipend. "What I want is the athletes to have some spendable money," he told USA TODAY last year.

Nobody can say the money isn't there. In 1999, CBS signed an 11-year, $6 billion deal with the NCAA for the TV rights to the men's basketball tournament. In addition, the schools earn millions from ticket sales and merchandising.

The NCAA argues that even a meager stipend — a few thousand dollars a year or $500 a semester — ruins the integrity of the game. "The NCAA historically has been against pay-for-play," NCAA President Myles Brand says.

But in refusing to address the disparity between the haves (the schools and coaches) and the have-nots (the players), the NCAA leaves itself open for criticism and worse.

The players know the score. They know how deep the hypocrisy runs in the collegiate game. In Fab Five, Mitch Albom's book about the University of Michigan basketball program, star forward Chris Webber stops by a take-out place for lunch in 1992. He cannot afford his original order, though, after counting the last of his change.

Back out on the street, he nods at a replica of his jersey hanging in a store window. Webber knows he will never see a cent from its sale. According to the NCAA, players are not allowed to work during the school year. They receive a room-and-board check and a modest per diem for road games.

"How is that fair?" Webber asks. "I mean, how is that fair? Will you tell me that?"

No wonder Webber followed in the footsteps of Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and scores of other basketball superstars who left school early for the pros. In addition, Webber later pleaded guilty to criminal contempt for his role in a money-laundering scheme at Michigan in which he collected $280,000 from a booster.

False hopes of the NBA

A modest stipend would be even more important for the players who will never be as good on the court as NBA-caliber stars such as Warrick or Webber. According to the NCAA, that's nearly everyone: about 1 in 100 college players will be drafted by an NBA team. And being drafted doesn't ensure a long and prosperous career.

Year-round, the college athlete serves the school to the detriment of his academic career. He is expected to work out, on his own or with his team. Many are advised not to take classes that will interfere with practice time. They're herded into core courses, which help keep them academically eligible. Several times this season, Pace and Warrick played two games in three days so that the Orange could be seen on national television.

We may love the NCAA basketball tournament, but we need to remember that the stars of the show aren't TV analysts Dick Vitale, Billy Packer or even Coach K — who are all well compensated.

The game is nothing without the players, and it's time they were modestly compensated for their efforts. To think any differently in this day and age is truly madness.

bigboydan
Registered Member

Date Joined Mar 2005
Total Posts : 4906

Posted 4/13/2005 2:42 AM (GMT -5)

theres no doubt they should be paid. then maybe when i bet a 6 point favorite i might not get screwed with 5 seconds left in the game :D

a good capper is only as good as his info.

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