Most of us average joes out there have a job where we go and work hard to make money for the man. So I would like to make a comparison, average joe=college athlete. Coaches will represent supervisors and the university/NCAA will be indicative of the evil corporation.
Pretend for a moment now (this will be harder for some than others) that you have a job. Now in this job you are the low man on the proverbial totem pole. You are not paid a regular salary; instead you receive room and board for nine months out of the year, clothes for work, and a meal ticket for the company cafeteria. Now you are required to work those nine months as well as being strongly encouraged to work the other three on your own, without pay of course. Your job is only guaranteed for four or maybe five years. There are very rare occasions where you could earn a sixth year of work but it is not very common. If you really excel at your position there is a remote chance you could earn an opportunity to move on to another company and be paid extremely well, that is however a rare occurrence as well. What happens after your allotted time is up? You move on, left alone to find your way in a cold cruel world, where the rest of us poor untalented saps live. Doesn’t sound so bad, huh? Four or five years of free clothes and room and board for a little hard work. Well remember the following points before signing up. The work is very grueling and you have supervisors who constantly push you to do better and work harder sometimes screaming nonstop for 2 hours at a time. The work day usually begins very early and you take large amounts of work home with you. You must earn all your spending money for the official nine months you are working, in the three months “you are not working.” Still seem like something you might consider, remember your supervisors and their boss, they get paid 6-7 figure salaries if you and your coworkers excel at what you do, and the company rakes in millions of dollars that you will not get any part of. The company is not necessarily against doing a little more for you but their governing body will not allow it.
Now all can agree, I think, that athletics in general create a large sum of money for athletic departments all over the country, some more than others. I know women’s cricket is not a big money sport but my point will still be somewhat accurate even in that scenario. I am not proposing large salaries destined over time to grow to the levels of pro athletes. I am simply suggesting a small stipend for some walking around money. With the schedules most athletes have, and the silly restrictions the NCAA puts on those same athletes that are making them rich, the athletes cannot work enough to earn money for movie and dinner out. And let’s be realistic the majority of athletes come from families who cannot afford to give them money on a regular basis. I have not even mentioned the car issue. While most if not all universities have a basic transportation system how many of you would like to have invited a young lady out and had to meet her at the nearest bus stop. What if we gave each athlete a $100 a month? How much would that total to? In the grand scheme of what we already give in the way of scholarships not a lot. Perhaps it could be prorated to match the amount of scholarship you receive, i.e. you have a 50% scholarship you get $50.
The other option is to just allow athletes the opportunity to work a real job and earn their own money. I realize this opens the door to jobs like watching the grass grow at the stadium but the NCAA and the universities have the resources to monitor this if they wanted to. Really, do you think there is not any “misappropriation” of funds being handed out now, if the NCAA set rules in place that were realistic and fair, violations could be as limited as any other that occurs in collegiate sports today.
What is fair? I am not sure but I do not believe limiting an athlete’s ability to create his own business with his artistic talents is fair, Stacy Augmon or Desmond Mason anyone. Both talented artists not afforded the opportunity to sell their forms of artwork while on scholarship because of NCAA “guidelines”.
Will this ever change? No, because of the same reason we will never have a college football playoff, the National Communist Against Athletes, and the universities are afraid to stand up to them.
