[NU Sports] Pay to Play

[Beamsley, Jeff]

If we can put the ethical argument aside for a moment, I think it is an
interesting case study.

There is big money in college football because of the fan interest both
in attendance as well as viewership.

The NCAA is attempting to preserve the concept of the student-athlete
but the only power that they have is ceded to them by the conferences.  

The conferences are the ones who really have the power right now because
they are able to do things (BTN) that individual institutions can't.
The BTN's ability to reorganize itself in a matter of months is just one
example of how big money can drive rapid change.

We've already seen, in areas like grey shirting, that there is a wide
range of interpretation of the 85 scholarship limit rule that the NCAA
so far has tolerated. 

So the NCAA serves a purpose at the moment in helping enforce the rules
which are intended to create a level playing field BETWEEN conferences.
The conferences themselves don't really need the NCAA to enforce rules
among their members.  They already have the biggest stick they need in
the form of revenue sharing.

For the NCAA, however, it is a tenuous existence.

That existence may be tested by the impending OSU scandal. 

This trial balloon from the BT of expanding the definition of
"scholarship" could be in part motivated by what the BT anticipates
could be some serious penalties coming down for OSU.  It could be
interpreted as a shot across the bow, so to speak, from the BT letting
the NCAA know that if they are thinking about blowing up the OSU
football program over this scandal, the BT is going to push hard to
further water down the whole definition of what a student-athlete is.
And where the BT goes, the rest of the conferences will follow.

We are blessed to live in such interesting times.

Jeff


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From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com]
On Behalf Of SjT (Stephen J. Truog)
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2011 9:45 AM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Pay to Play

Interesting story ... I still don't like it. It's a slippery slope that
will be abused by the SEC and a full-ride scholarship is already a hefty
dose of payment.

But it is interesting that it's the Big Ten coming up with this - the
supposed "academic" league of student athletes first - at least
according to them. So if they do it, then it gives cover for other
leagues to do it, and you know the SEC won't be able to stop at a couple
thousand bucks.

It also shows how little control there is over college football and what
a laughing stock it makes of the NCAA. Every other sport would be reined
in by the NCAA on this before it even got out there. But college
football goes wild with its corrupt bowl system instead of an NCAA
playoff, has its own TV deals, "disciplines" its own coaches and players
run amok and now apparently leaves the world of amateur athletics to
become semi-pro?

They really should just separate college football into separate
European-style "sport clubs" loosely affiliated (but not officially
linked) with college campuses. They could keep the names and logos, but
the full rides would be gone and the payment could all be done directly
(and not through Cam Newton's father). The rest of the sports could stay
under the NCAA and be amateur athletics still under the college umbrella
with Title IX and all the rules and playoffs, but as this shows, college
football is obviously different. Not sure that's a good type of
different, either.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT


* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
==========================

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