Posted on 01/10/2008 10:02:58 PM PST by stainlessbanner
That wouldn't change if they were paid by the school. Like any other school employee, they would be eligible to take cources at no charege if they chose to. Those who wanted the education could still get it, and those with no interest in education wouldn't waste everyones time going through the motions.
Who cares? The NCAA should forget about this goody-two-shoes crap and worry more about its pathetic BCS system.
I’m not sure about taking classes for free though (I work at a university and that isn’t an option). Nevertheless, I think we agree on this.
I guess you are more up to date on that than I. Many years ago, I was looking at a job at the University of Pittsburgh, and free tuition was one of the perks. Didn't take the job, but that option was enticing.
Serious question. If these teams are really amateurs, playing for recreation and the positive life-lesson benefits of competition (what college athletics was at one time and what the NCAA Monopoly claims it still is) why is it so damn important who the 'champion' is?
Now if the NCAA drops the facade of armature athletics and simply admits that these Div 1 schools programs are football factories designed to bring revenues to the schools and begins to pay the players commensurately to the revenue they generate, I'd say have a playoff system that runs till February just like the NFL. Sort it out on the field however they choose.
But if these players are supposed to be students, they should be in class more than they are on the practice field (doubtful for any Div 1 schools) and I don't really give a damn who is the champ. It is unimportant who's the 'best' if you think they are student athletes. If they are pros, then who wins matters.
Which is it?
This "student athletes" stuff is a fantasy. I have known people at colleges who said football stars are given extensive tutoring, are routinely given inflated grades and could retake tests until they passed. If their amateur and "student" status is so important, then why are players permitted to enter the draft before they graduate? The NCAA is simply the minor leagues for the NFL. Shawne Merriman was a Psych major at the U of Maryland. Would you care to ask him questions about Sigmund Freud? Give me a break.
I hadn't read about the recruiting scandal until it was mentioned on this thread.
It does explain why he would want to take another NFL job.
I still don't think that means he's going to be the next Belichick-who's still an asshat, regardless of how many games he wins, BTW.
For every Dick Vermeil there's three or four Nick Sabans, Steve Spurriers, or Bobby Petrinos, or-in the opposite direction-Charlie Weis's.
On a philosophical level, I think the idea that these kids shouldn't be paid-or even allowed to hold a job-while they enrich everyone else is a bit obscene.
Most of them won't make the NFL, or get a degree, but the wealth their coaches and the football programs/universities have made by exploiting their bodies will continue to accrue to the benefit of the people who enticed them with athletic scholarships.
I know that at a lot of schools, e.g. Notre Dame, the children of faculty receive severely discounted or free tuition and preferential treatment in admissions that's equivalent to what a legacy or someone who benefits from racial preferences would receive.
They also give specific incentives in order to retain faculty.
From what I recall, USC is on the west side of the Harbour Freeway, South Central LA (Watts) is on the east side of it. It use to be pretty rugged. Parking to go to a USC game could be an experience if you wandered too far from the Coliseum.
Calling that city a "dump" would be too charitable.
I actually saw a gaggle of crackheads cross the street-against traffic-in the middle of the day when I was unfortunate enough to take a detour through that city a while back.
I remember the worst of the Dinkins' era, and I don't recall ever seeing something like that.
Even Camden feels safe by comparison.
I’m not saying he will be the next Belichick, only that he can’t be 100% written off as some here imply.
I held a job when I was completing in NCAA Div I sports, so I don’t see the problem there as well.
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