Anybody can play (Just Not By The Rules)

Washington Times ^ | 21FEB04 | By Dan K. Thomasson

[.cnI redruM]

An old friend was asked by his college basketball coach many years ago to help recruit a promising high school player with whom my friend was acquainted.

Sitting in the front room of the house, with the prospective recruit and his mother, my friend was going over the merits of the institution where he also played when the mother interrupted his pitch. "Tell me," she said. "Do they go to church where you go to school?"

[.cnI redruM]

People need to stop supporting colleges and pro franchises who will do literally anything to win a game.

[cyborg]

When hell freezes over I think. There's too much money wrapped up in it.

[basil]

Amen, brother!

[Hank Rearden]

Watching dolts play silly games is a ridiculous premise to begin with, much less paying to do so.

[.cnI redruM]

I'll keep attempting to fix the AC down there...

[proxy_user]

The fans are like that too.

They are part of the problem.

They are willing to do anything for their team to win. Sports is all they think about. They don't care who is elected or what the Supreme Court rules. Another Hitler could take over the US and they wouldn't notice.

[.cnI redruM]

There's truth in that. Nothing quite plugs a group of guys into The Matrix like a football game and a case of beer.

[cyborg]

Good because college sports are getting too much like the pros. Some college teams are more popular than pro sports.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Statement: "...It is a problem so large one can hardly imagine how, if ever, it will be resolved..."

Response: It will not be resolved until some future Emperor bans "The Games." Bread and Circuses are here to stay for a long time!

[.cnI redruM]

Which isn't surprising. A school like UT or Michigan can afford to compete in both Basketball and Football. They're on TV 8 months a year. The Cowboys and Lions only get 4 or maybe 5 if they're good.

[.cnI redruM]

One of my old tag lines read "Bread and Circuses are fun until you run out of dough." Perhaps that's what it will take.

I noticed that most MLB free agents actually lost contract money this year.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

If and when private parties can no longer afford to pay for the games-directly- then the government will subsidize them. They are too important as a tool of 'modern' governance. They keep the mob occupied and provide 'role models' for certain groups.

[Hank Kerchief]

Watching dolts play silly games is a ridiculous premise to begin with, much less paying to do so.

You don't expect the mind-numbed "sports-fan" to understand that, do you?

Hank

[Rodney King]

The problem is very straightforward. What is going on here is exactly the same thing anytime that there are price controls on a good: People figure out ways to undermine the price controls - and they ALWAYS do.

Right now, there is a wage control on college athletes. Basically, it's about 25K per year (the cost of the freed education and housing, etc).

However, some athletes are worth more than 25K per year, therefore the colleges try to find away to pay them more than that.

There is not much that can be done about this. Price controls always and everywhere lead to this type of behavior. Until the players can be paid what they are worth, the colleges will find ways to pay them "in-kind" for the massive financial contribution that the good players make to the school.

I know that the very thought that college sports is not one big Olympic style feel good festival where the students should be happy not to get paid anything for their valuable service offends a lot of you, but it's the way it is.