I agree, the NCAA is a slavemaster. It has a phenomenally good scam going - in what other arena is highly competitive talent completely uncompensated? NCAA activities have nothing at all to do with education, anyway, they are the legacy of the long-forgotten age when athletics and physical health were considered an essential part of a well-rounded education. Now that they've divorced the two completely (what NCAA star could get into his college on academic merit? 1 out of 100, tops), it is only logical to continue the process and spin off the NCAA as an independent business.
I remember taking a undergraduate calculus for management class at Georgia Tech to pad my GPA one quarter in grad school - About a third of the class was football players I recognized.
I went out for a hamburger with one of the players. He wasn't allowed to have a job and didn't have a rich family so he didn't have much money. I picked up the check without thinking about it.
So we are sitting having coffee after the meal and he asks why I never come to class but get good grades. When he finds out that I'm in grad school, its no big deal but when he finds out my undergraduate was at Georgia Tech - that makes me an alumni.
I thought he was gonna have a heart attack right there - he couldn't breath - he was saying that an alumni giving a scholarship athlete something worth money (even a meal at Steak and Shake) made me a "booster" and would cost him his scholarship.
That's not a fair burden to put on a student. Everybody else his age can associate with whom they want and get a job that will get them experience and let them buy their own hamburgers.
BTW, He paid me back every cent but he was still nervous about it all quarter.