Should College Athletes Be Paid?

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

NCAA - their true colors.In case you missed it yesterday, Maryland’s head basketball coach Gary Williams made a public statement in which he decried the present system of not paying athletes. His proposal was to give those players in revenue-producing sports a stipend of $200/month. I disagree.

It should be more like $500/month.

His argument IMO is bulletproof. He points out that college athletics – specifically basketball and football are making a fortune for the NCAA, the schools, the coaches, the staff and filtering down to just about everyone else in the athletic department and sometimes even to other parts of the school. However, nary a cent is being given to those who are actually providing the product on the field. You know, the product that we watch!

It’s like the Romans at the Coliseum. The entertainment was the Lions and the Christians. Ok, the Christians didn’t get much out of the deal, but at least the Lions got to eat! The Romans? They made a killing – so to speak.

Are today’s BB and FB players better off than the Christians. Ok, yes! But, the point is that they are being exploited. There’s no other way to put it.

I realize the argument is that they are being given free housing and a free scholarship. Ok, fine. The problem is that there isn’t another kid at the university that has to have a life based upon $0.

These kids can’t work to earn money, so they are always going to be tempted to take some extra cash or a trip or a meal at a fancy restaurant. Who wouldn’t be?

As Williams pointed out, regular kids are allowed to receive living expenses and spending money as part of financial aid. Since athletes cannot, they are clearly being discriminated against. The $tudent-athlete might bring in many thou$and$ to the university in one way or the other, but how much doe$ any other $tudent bring to the $chool?

The numbers are staggering. The NCAA just cut an $11 Billion (with a B) deal for the NCAA tournament. Not the...