Amateur athletics is truly dead

[BOP]

Okay, maybe not at the high school level. For now. Well, it's been dead since 1992, when the U.S.' "Dream Team entered the Olympics and basically kicked the crap out of everyone else; presumably true amateurs. Who weren't men dressed as women, or men juicing, or anything like that. Presumably.

Confession: I know next to nothing about NIF in college athletics. It sounds to me like colleges and universities are paying athletes outright, and if I had to guess, it's for their alleged "star power," based on name recognition. Which begs the question of are they paying the "star" players, or does everyone get a little somethin' somethin'?

Have We Reached a Tipping Point for NIL in College Athletics?

pjmedia.com

 

[Grumpy]

It was more exciting back in the day when colleges paid the kids under the table and got caught. The NIL stuff has completely killed college sports in my view. Admittedly, I don't follow much since Md left the ACC for the Big Ten. Nowadays, you will see the kids changing teams every year, the program of building a team has morphed into paying for a team. It sucks.

 

[thurley42]

Athletes have always gotten paid....it was just under the table by boosters. Now they get a fair share of the money being made off of them. It only sucks if your team isn't any good. D1 Football is becoming more elite and the matchups are getting more exciting....people will complain, but they do about everything.

 

[SamSpade]

I never had a problem with the Dream Team - the U.S. was finally doing what most of the world had been doing for years, since for so many nations, the distinction between amateur and professional was a little fuzzy. I don't see a huge difference between someone who does a sport for pay - and someone who is paid, to practice and train for a sport.

What I don't know if it still goes on - but I strongly believe it does - is, when I was at U of MD many years ago, the athletes on teams like our (then) awesome basketball team - well those of us who lived in Eliicott with these guys, they didn't do nuthin' but play basketball. When they weren't practicing, they were playing for fun. Academics - was a joke. IF they went to class at all, it was for show. They went to college to audtion for the pros. That's it. And to make money for the sports program. People who knew this voiced the opinion that sports like basketball and football really just need to have a farm system like baseball. Why pretend you're going to college when you're really just there to play ball?

 

[Ken King]

Athletes have always gotten paid....it was just under the table by boosters. Now they get a fair share of the money being made off of them. It only sucks if your team isn't any good. D1 Football is becoming more elite and the matchups are getting more exciting....people will complain, but they do about everything.

You left out the tuition, books, room and board beside that occasional envelope full of cash given directly to them or a family member. They were getting their "fair share".

 

[thurley42]

You left out the tuition, books, room and board beside that occasional envelope full of cash given directly to them or a family member. They were getting their "fair share".

Nah, that doesn't fly anymore....not when programs are making ~50 million a year off of them.

 

[Ken King]

Nah, that doesn't fly anymore....not when programs are making ~50 million a year off of them.

Its never flown, it was what it was and what it should be, straight up barter. How can it be "fair" when other students have to pay what these athletes are getting for free (plus extra pay) and are lucky to get a sheepskin from a top ranked college?

 

[thurley42]

Its never flown, it was what it was and what it should be, straight up barter. How can it be "fair" when other students have to pay what these athletes are getting for free (plus extra pay) and are lucky to get a sheepskin from a top ranked college?

The last time i checked the other students aren't bringing in MILLIONS of dollars to the program, which finance all of the other sports the school has, and pays for new facilities for the average student.

You can have your opinon of what it should be, but that's just not the world we live in anymore.

 

[Ken King]

The last time i checked the other students aren't bringing in MILLIONS of dollars to the program, which finance all of the other sports the school has, and pays for new facilities for the average student.

You can have your opinon of what it should be, but that's just not the world we live in anymore.

Maybe you should "check" better. Here are just a few like Gatorade, Google, several browsers, and plasma screens. Not to mention the numerous patents the universities get, hold and commercialize because of the research/creations are accomplished using the college's facilities.

How many of those athletes actually get a degree? How many would even be considered for admittance without their prowess of a sport?

 

[thurley42]

Maybe you should "check" better. Here are just a few like Gatorade, Google, several browsers, and plasma screens. Not to mention the numerous patents the universities get, hold and commercialize because of the research/creations are accomplished using the college's facilities.

How many of those athletes actually get a degree? How many would even be considered for admittance without their prowess of a sport?

I don't need to "check" better, all of that is moot compared to the annual take home of a Power 5 football season. I'm not here to argue with you about this, I don't totally disagree with you. The answer, like in most things, lies somewhere in the middle. I'm in full favor of student athletes getting some form of stipend of the money they are generating for the university, but i do NOT like how it went from 0-ridiculous overnight.

I've been saying for a few years now, that the Major Football programs should be regulated differently than most other colleges because they are in fact NFL feeder programs, and I'd say a quarter are there just for the necessary stepping stone into the league. I will say programs like OSU have taken great pride in having a graduation rate over 85%. The ones that leave early, more than not come back and finish in their spare time.

But I do stand by my opinion that football programs are a tremendous benefit to the schools and their other athletic programs. I drove 7 hours Friday to go to Columbus to watch the Scarlet Gray scrimmage. Paid 85 a seat to watch a practice and the 115000 stadium was at 80% capacity. That money gets thrown around to all of the programs and gives them top of the line experiences even though they are a defecit to the school.