College football has become a billion dollar industry. Huge volumes of money come in through TV agreements, advertising, ticket sales, even clothing... the coaching staff has a multi-million dollar payroll... old stadiums come down, and billion dollar new ones come up... and the athletes must come from China, where they work for pennies, with no benefits... the NCAA must assume the responsibility of faithfully representing the players, protecting them first, because without the athletes, the billions of $$$ melt away...
1
Poll after poll shows that the majority of American workers would prefer to be unionized. The reality is that the right to organize has been eviscerated by administrative and judicial rulings that are difficult to reconcile with the statutes that were passed to foster it. Prime example, the Northwestern players self-organized into a union and petitioned for an NLRB election to gain the right to demand that the university bargain. The players are gone, no election has yet been ordered, and the coach has declared that he doesn't want a union--what player fighting for playing time is going to go against him. The only way college players could successfully unionize would be if campus and public pressure was such that university administrators had to cooperate. That pressure will never come. We love the game too much. This act by the Republican controlled Michigan legislature was grandstanding, completely unnecessary, but the message is startling: pay Harbaugh millions; players, on the other hand, you want to get together to try to get a little something for yourselves, please, we forbid you from even trying.
The author of a book, The Ball is Round a Global History of Soccer, aptly observed:
In the end, football will take on and express the politics determined by our collective choices and struggles, the point for me is to remember that to some extent we get the soccer we deserve.
The author of a book, The Ball is Round a Global History of Soccer, aptly observed:
In the end, football will take on and express the politics determined by our collective choices and struggles, the point for me is to remember that to some extent we get the soccer we deserve.
1
Other than threats to the emotional self-image of the pompous alumni, I really don't see what the fuss is about a college players union. Anyone without concussions can see that the college athlete in the major sports (and, probably, the minor ones as well) is taken advantage o on a scale the car-title lenders can only envy.
Unions, or an umbrella national players organization, similar to those in professional sports, are clearly the answer to the grossly unfair working - yes, I said working - conditions of the college athlete. Some level of pay, "retirement" plans (not every athlete makes it to the pro level), with healthcare provisions, limited hours and serious tutoring programs; these are starting points, and all should be made available to the athletes who generate the cash. After all, gush all over the coaches, but without the players, the glass houses would be broken.
Unions, or an umbrella national players organization, similar to those in professional sports, are clearly the answer to the grossly unfair working - yes, I said working - conditions of the college athlete. Some level of pay, "retirement" plans (not every athlete makes it to the pro level), with healthcare provisions, limited hours and serious tutoring programs; these are starting points, and all should be made available to the athletes who generate the cash. After all, gush all over the coaches, but without the players, the glass houses would be broken.
1
The real culprits are the fans themselves, who enable the situation. And don't forget the media, who rush to the feeding frenzy as well.
A union contract would secure three benefits: tuition / academic training, occupational training / care and a stipend. All three should be taxed. And, the contract would have a morals clause.
Be careful what you ask for, it isn't always what you need.
Be careful what you ask for, it isn't always what you need.
Many students work while going to college. So let's pay the athletes, but lets pay them as students, not as semi-pro players.
Pay athletes the same rate as College Work Study Students get paid as part of their scholarships. I think they now make around $9 or $10 and hour. But the College Work Study Program caps the number of hours a student can work to 20 hours per week.
Let's do the same for college athletes. Twenty hours a week, just as other students get paid and then back to the classroom, just like all other students. If we don't reconnect these kids back to college life and the responsibility for learning now it will soon be too late.
Pay athletes the same rate as College Work Study Students get paid as part of their scholarships. I think they now make around $9 or $10 and hour. But the College Work Study Program caps the number of hours a student can work to 20 hours per week.
Let's do the same for college athletes. Twenty hours a week, just as other students get paid and then back to the classroom, just like all other students. If we don't reconnect these kids back to college life and the responsibility for learning now it will soon be too late.
"I'm guessing"??????????????? Is that an opinion? A conclusion? A conjecture? I guess neitther of the above. Let's call it what it is: an idle premise.
What if the majority of the millionaire coaches were black and the majority of the star players were white? Would we get the same legislation from the state of Michigan?
How do you write this article without mentioning race?
If not paying players for their labor to make a small elite of coaches, athletic administrators and NCAA executives wealthy smacks of a "plantation mentality." This story prefers to highlight the occasional "master" that offers a gesture like "travel benefits for families" over the obvious.
The NCAA recently argued in the O'Bannon case that fans like the college game more because the players are not paid. (THEY REALLY DID.) Isn't this the same as liking clothes better when the cotton is picked for free?
Pay the players their fair wages. Isn't that the American way? Or, is there another "American way" that is trumping the free market principles of our economy...
How do you write this article without mentioning race?
If not paying players for their labor to make a small elite of coaches, athletic administrators and NCAA executives wealthy smacks of a "plantation mentality." This story prefers to highlight the occasional "master" that offers a gesture like "travel benefits for families" over the obvious.
The NCAA recently argued in the O'Bannon case that fans like the college game more because the players are not paid. (THEY REALLY DID.) Isn't this the same as liking clothes better when the cotton is picked for free?
Pay the players their fair wages. Isn't that the American way? Or, is there another "American way" that is trumping the free market principles of our economy...
2
Congratulations to Ohio State for their Win. I don't watch college sports,especially football ( I call it Slavery 2.0)
College Players are supposed to play for "passion or the fun of the game" when Coaches, ESPN and All the other people involved make tens of Millions.
I was told a story of Two college kids on Spring Break in Miami. The Son of one of those making Millions from NCAA games was living in a 4 stars hotel thanks to Daddy's money. When the player who generates all that money while putting his health at risk (injuries,concussions, etc...) lived in a cheap motel.
How many of those players have a career besides those who make it to the NFL?
Unless those players get compensated for what they do I won't watch a NCAA game.
The NCAA could create a funds ,that ill compensate all players based on the number of games played,victories, etc...after graduation
This will not take away the passion for the game, but it will at least make sure that those generating those billions get a piece of the pie.
College Players are supposed to play for "passion or the fun of the game" when Coaches, ESPN and All the other people involved make tens of Millions.
I was told a story of Two college kids on Spring Break in Miami. The Son of one of those making Millions from NCAA games was living in a 4 stars hotel thanks to Daddy's money. When the player who generates all that money while putting his health at risk (injuries,concussions, etc...) lived in a cheap motel.
How many of those players have a career besides those who make it to the NFL?
Unless those players get compensated for what they do I won't watch a NCAA game.
The NCAA could create a funds ,that ill compensate all players based on the number of games played,victories, etc...after graduation
This will not take away the passion for the game, but it will at least make sure that those generating those billions get a piece of the pie.
To Times Readers:
How do you make this playing field somewhat more level? Unionization is the only way to go. Those in the first wave will take their knocks, as they always do. But the players are the content, the talent. Everything else is merely the vehicle, the platform, the medium. Without the talent, they are nothing. Yes, the non-players have ramped up the money pie. The players won't get their piece unless they demand it and take it.
Submitted by ROGER LATZGO www.rogerlatzgo.com Germansville PA
How do you make this playing field somewhat more level? Unionization is the only way to go. Those in the first wave will take their knocks, as they always do. But the players are the content, the talent. Everything else is merely the vehicle, the platform, the medium. Without the talent, they are nothing. Yes, the non-players have ramped up the money pie. The players won't get their piece unless they demand it and take it.
Submitted by ROGER LATZGO www.rogerlatzgo.com Germansville PA
Not Paid? What does it cost a non-football player to go to Northwestern to get their degree? The problem is that football is the priorty at the university level instead of education. We have a professional league, we don't need to make college another one. How about changing priorities, telling the football players at all the schools that they have to pass their classes, or lose their scholarships, like all the other minor sport athletes in college.
1
Why do the players at the big football factories need to be students at all? The fans only want a winner, few really care about the players as persons, and university presidents seem incapable or unwilling to enforce true academic standards.
Perhaps a relationship with professional football needs to be forged, a farm system if you will. The universities could use the players as gladiators to represent the school while leaving the finances of paying the players to professional organizations. The universities would share gate receipts, marketing, and glory without those pesky graduation rates and scandals.
It would be one sure way to lower coaches salaries.
Let the smaller institutions have true student athletes that actually attend meaningful classes and actually graduate.
May as well drop all the pretense as the large schools will soon form their own version of the NCAA with rules that will insure their dominance and eliminate the ability of the smaller institutions to compete on the national stage.
Perhaps a relationship with professional football needs to be forged, a farm system if you will. The universities could use the players as gladiators to represent the school while leaving the finances of paying the players to professional organizations. The universities would share gate receipts, marketing, and glory without those pesky graduation rates and scandals.
It would be one sure way to lower coaches salaries.
Let the smaller institutions have true student athletes that actually attend meaningful classes and actually graduate.
May as well drop all the pretense as the large schools will soon form their own version of the NCAA with rules that will insure their dominance and eliminate the ability of the smaller institutions to compete on the national stage.
With all the money the NCAA makes providing health insurance to players and former players and insurance to support those injured while playing should happen if greed is controlled.
4
Hooray for Colter! The exploitation of young athletes by universities, is shameless! Hooray too for President Schlissel. I am an avid fan, and a graduate of two big ten Universities ,each with a long tradition of fine football.
I am also clear about who it is who brings in the money that funds college athletics and the trappings that have become part of the game.
In any other business there were be protests about the exploitation of young workers.
College athletics has a business model that doesn't exist in any other industry!
I am also clear about who it is who brings in the money that funds college athletics and the trappings that have become part of the game.
In any other business there were be protests about the exploitation of young workers.
College athletics has a business model that doesn't exist in any other industry!
7
We have socialized team sports and privatized education. Our competition has socialized education and privatized team sports. Which model do you think will generate the most patents over the next century? I wouldn't bet on publicly-subsidized brain-damaged football players.
I support paying players for the hard work they do. If an athletic scholarship student can have their scholarship ended (be fired), he's/she's an employee. I support mandatory 4 year scholarships, making the schools liable for future healthcare and lost income resulting from on-the-job college athletics injuries, and tutoring to ensure that athletes get a real education.
7
like Cardale said, "we're not here to go to class, we're here to play football.
"And those blown knees and concussions? Most players are on their own. Unlike the N.F.L., the N.C.A.A. has made no financial reckoning with the damage wrought on students by concussions."
In fact the NFL Owners Association and NFL Players Association did reckon.
Beware of unions who fail to fund pensions and benefits. Read the final rullings of the 62% or so of US steel producers who sought either protection or liquidation in bankruptcy simultaneously for the reality of unfunded employee benefits and pensions.
Why single out coaches instead of parking lot operators or revenues that make coaches compensation packages pale in comparison. Even movie chains can earn more on concessions that from ticket sales.
In fact the NFL Owners Association and NFL Players Association did reckon.
Beware of unions who fail to fund pensions and benefits. Read the final rullings of the 62% or so of US steel producers who sought either protection or liquidation in bankruptcy simultaneously for the reality of unfunded employee benefits and pensions.
Why single out coaches instead of parking lot operators or revenues that make coaches compensation packages pale in comparison. Even movie chains can earn more on concessions that from ticket sales.
The best part of this was that it was a young, smart Northwestern graduate who led this unionization effort. Oh yes, Michigan conservatives, feeling their oats right now, made unionization for college athletes illegal. But, given how young people are by nature more bull-headed than neutered-by-age older people, this illegalization of forming and joining a union just turns into a ridiculous challenge by an older generation, something to be overcome, ridiculed and "by gosh, I'll show you" by kids who really have everything to gain and little to lose. They could stop college football one fine Saturday in the whole state before the grownups even know what's going on, if they so desired, and be in a commanding position from then on, once they figure out that they, the athletes, put on the show, and that if they don't go on stage, the colleges lose millions. No picket lines, no violence... Just a few well-placed social media messages, some strategy, some solidarity, and then sleep in. That's all it would take, state-wide, no matter how the coaches threatened them.
3
What was really disturbing to me was listening to a player on the #1 basketball player talk about how they didn't get enough on their meal tickets to eat.
1
One smart, determined kid managed to shake up the college football establishment. Well done, Mr. Colter. There is no question that players should be paid a generous stipend, have scholarships guaranteed, and should have full medical coverage paid for by the school while they are there and after their eligibility ends for any injuries or medical problems sustained as a result of playing football.
8
This is the very reason why I cannot watch college football and basketball, as much as I love those sports. A whole industry, coaches, ADs, trainers, doctors, stadium management, concessions, apparel, legal, marketing, radio, television, internet, journalism, and on and on, billions of dollars of commerce, created on the promise of a free college education (wink, wink....even Duke athletes are given passes) while accepting the pressure of a 40 hour football/basketball work week. These kids are entertainers, pure and simple. Figure out how to pay them a wage, a salary, give them health benefits, remit tuition for classes they and their families take (just like other employees), and give them a reasonable time after their football/basketball eligibility is up to complete their degrees. $5M coaching salaries does not an amateur sport make.
1
It's 2 pm in Dallas and the players from both teams (let's not "confuse" them with the term student-athletes, because they certainly are not) mutually declare that they will not play the game unless....yes, unless they are each paid the rather modest sum of $20,000 for the "privilege" of enabling the aforementioned "teams" (oh yes, universities) and coaches to make the countless hundreds of millions that ESPN, et al have bestowed upon those universities and conferences.
Now wouldn't that be something? What in the name of education and decency would ESPN and those "teams" do?
Oh, if it would only come to pass...
Now wouldn't that be something? What in the name of education and decency would ESPN and those "teams" do?
Oh, if it would only come to pass...
4
These jocks are already getting an expensive education--if they bother going to class. They leave with a degree and no debt, unlike the average student who owes $29,000. Sure, the coaches are paid obscene salaries, but not one is forcing the jocks--the so-called "student-athletes" to attend.
The idea that most college football players are exploited is ridiculous. (The real stars obviously could make money, but there are only a few of them.) All of the players get scholarships, housing and meal money -- worth 40-$60,000 per year. If they are employees, can the university fire them and cut off their scholarship for poor play? At least, 90% of the players do very well under the system.
JD
JD
1
Actually, up until this year (and only in certain conferences), they could cut their scholarships for poor play or because they were injured or a new coach came in or for any or no reason.
If they aren't willing to pay the employees wages, the first step should at least be to guarantee lifetime health benefits. These employees are engaged in seriously hazardous employment with a substantial risk of lifetime injuries -- the least these employers can do is ensure that the money they make off of their employees' bodies is used to compensate them for their work-related injuries!
A unionize threat! What a frown!
But benefits now trickle down.
It would be far more wise
To just organize,
Have players really go to town!
But benefits now trickle down.
It would be far more wise
To just organize,
Have players really go to town!
13
In the meantime the Ivy League and many colleges can continue to be play “college football” that within their leagues that is as exciting as the spectacles put on by these uneducated, semiliterate “pros”.