packer involved in miami scandal

[hoosier]

The answer of course is that the NCAA is making so damn much money right now they don't want to change a thing. But if the NCAA became an arm of the NFL - the developmental league arm - they'd still make their money. It could work. And as for ND, if you're a small-time college player, getting a scholarship and meals is quite a perk. But if you're a big-time player and you see all these big mucky-mucks making money off you while you toil away for your free meals and rooms and yo're an injury away from being irrelevant, I'd say your scholarship hardly makes up for any of it. Cuz once you're hurt they'll take it away.

But I think the amateur thing is a key part of how the NCAA presents itself. Take that away (or, more accurately, acknowledge the true extent of institutional corruption) and the NCAA loses its whole mystique. I just don't think college football could be the industry it is if it acknowledged that many of the players in its top programs were essentially poorly paid pros. Thought experiment: Do you think the Olympics lost something when it started allowing pro athletes to compete in basketball, hockey, etc.? I do.

[Freak Out]

Everything is driven by greed, dear. I can see them not wanting the schools to pay athletes, but to say that they can't hold a job while they're in school is ridiculous. If there is a company that wants to hire them, it is their prerogative to work while in school as long as they keep their athletic eligibility.

I"m down with that.

[ND72]

my thinking is that, if those other sports were bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars to the schools, conferences, coaches, NCAA, the tv networks, etc, well then they could get more too

but lets face it, the mens and womens lacross teams don't bring in anywhere near what football and mens basketball rakes in

Bingo!

One of my college classes on title IX we got kind of pissed. Our extremely lesbian pro-feminist everything professor kept bitching about how the Florida State football team flew to all away games while other sports took the bus to certain events...after 10 minutes of her bitching about football, my college roommate stood up and yelled, "it's because of the football teethe restof those teams even have a bus!".....which, is probably entirely true.

[ND72]

Everything is driven by greed, dear. I can see them not wanting the schools to pay athletes, but to say that they can't hold a job while they're in school is ridiculous. If there is a company that wants to hire them, it is their prerogative to work while in school as long as they keep their athletic eligibility.

Totally agree, but it'd be damn near impossible to have a job. When I played, my schedule was set basically everyday 9am-1pm classes with my lunch in there. 2-2:30 training room, 2:30-3:30 meetings, 4-6 practice, 6:30 dinner, 7-8pm film session, then get to head back and either do school work, or have a life....and this was a D2 school. When the season was over, we would have morning lifts, evening running/speed workouts, and usually some film/study time with position coach.

[Deputy Nutz]

Before people just jump on here and rant, you should all realize that like many others on here have said these kids do get paid in scholarship money, which if put to an actually use and the 90% of the football players that receive scholarships that do not make it to the pros take advantage of their "payment" and graduate college they can have a decent career earning a salary that doesn't include fries and a drink. Unfortunately nobody cares to think of the long term "payment" these student athletes receive once they actually graduate from college.

There are Pell Grants available for student athletes that come from underpriviledged backgrounds up to 500 dollars a month in cash. I didn't have 500 bucks a month in cash when I played DIII football. I got a job in the summer and worked my ass off and then went to work out after building houses all summer. These kids get jobs in the summer working for some alumni(cush) take a few summer school classes to stay eligible then work out.

They also get housing allowances that allows them to live just about where ever they want on campus, they eat better than any other college kid which is payment for their athletic ability.

Not to mention all the "payments" in clothes, shoes, and gifts that ND mentioned above, which is all true if you don't want to believe him.

The fix in all this matter is pretty simple, if these kids want to be professional athletes, then that is what they should be and forget about enrolling in college, and the colleges should refuse to recruit student athletes that just want to be athletes. It is doing a major disservice to all of these programs and to the schools. College football wouldn't be any different for the fans if all colleges and the NCAA plays by the same rules.

Which now brings me to the NCAA. Fucking asshole. Biggest hyppocrites in sports. Dirtiest organization in sports. The school presidents are making boat loads of cash off of the tv deals with ESPN, ABC, CBS and FOX. Interesting enough none of these sporting news outlets ever break these stories it is all ways Yahoo, who doesn't get into bed with the NCAA. Where does this cash from all of these bowl games and tv deals go to? I really don't know. How much money does the a school actually cash in when going to a BCS bowl game? In the Big Ten the schools split all of the bowl money. When my wife sat on the athletic board her junior and senior year of college the Badgers actually lost money going to the Rosebowl in 1998 against UCLA. They university shelled out thousands and thousands of dollars on baby sitters, car rentals, hotel rooms, meals, shopping sprees. Not for the players oh no, but for board members, regents, important alumni, wives of coaches, wives of people that had nothing to actually do with the football team.

[Deputy Nutz]

well, if you haven't heard about this story yeat you must be living with your head in your ass. this is making all other college sports scandals look like childs play

our own sam shields is one of the 72 miami hurricane players that has been named as excepting "illegal" gifts

keep in mind before you read my rant that this shouldn't effect shields at all

now as a huge hurricanes fan, ahem.........

FUCK THAT MOTHER FUCKING BULLSHIT, YOU GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME. you're fooling yourself if you think every single BCS team doesn't also do the same damn thing. now miami is probably gonna be banned from ever playing in a bowl game again, be stripped of all its scholorships, and they might even separate the whole miami area from the rest of the country and push it out into the ocean.

you start to read these story and they make this players out to be the worst animals in the world. when you read the laundry list of players and what they recieved, you quickly realize that most of them received food and drinks at this dudes houses or yacht.

keep in mind, the school, conference and the NCAA are raking in millions from these players

now brace yourself for this

sam shields he accepted a 42 inch TV. he also got free drinks and VIP access at a bar one time. he also went to the guys house once for more food and drinks. HOW DARE HE EAT AND DRINK.

thats it for him, and that's it for most of the players. most received a few thousand dollars worth of shit over the 4 years they were there. while everyone else made billions

the NCAA is a complete joke at this point and needs to just go away

you forgot about the strippers, the hookers, the cash, the abortions, the apartments, and the cars. Cash payouts on bounties of opposing players.

[Packgator]

The real problem is that ultimately there's really no way to stop this sort of thing. I mean, no matter how much you're getting paid to do what you do, if a booster or other fan offers you a TV or some cash under the table on top of that, are you really going to say no to that? I'm not sure there's anything that can be done to prevent this sort of thing from happening

That's exactly right. If you pay them (say 1000 per month) it won't stop those so inclined from giving them more on top of the pay.

[Deputy Nutz]

The real problem is that ultimately there's really no way to stop this sort of thing. I mean, no matter how much you're getting paid to do what you do, if a booster or other fan offers you a TV or some cash under the table on top of that, are you really going to say no to that? Do you even necessarily believe that this is wrong? There's really no threat of being found out until it's too late, anyway. I'm not sure there's anything that can be done to prevent this sort of thing from happening. I mean, it ought to be expected that a college would stop this sort of thing before it went as far as it did in Miami (Shapiro lead the team out of the tunnel on two occasions, his luxury box was right next to the AD's, somebody should have looked into this), but stuff like this is pretty impossible to completely eliminate.

I suppose you could probably allow college athletes to profit from personal appearances, signing autographs, selling their personal property, and other perfectly behavior that the NCAA bans profiting from, so taking money under the table would be much less appealing for star players. But that's unlikely to happen.

Also, who is going to have the responsiblity to deside who gets how much money? Is it set in stone? Does the 2nd string kicker get as much as the all american qb?

.........................

Football makes a lot of Money but it sure spends a lot of money.

[mraynrand]

Say, are you guys trying to tell me that college football players get paid? Oh, the Horror! Oh, the HUMANITY!

No Gear for Tats, that's what I say! Fry the scofflaw bastards. You want to play college ball - no money - except for the schools, TV, the leagues, etc. etc. But no money for the players. A useful scholarship for all those brainiacs should be plenty.

[mraynrand]

who is going to have the responsiblity to deside who gets how much money

I'd be happy to take care of it:

[King Friday]

I think Title IX pretty much makes it impossible to pay the football players what they are truly worth. Besides, giving them a few hundred bucks more a game is a joke, when guys are pocketing six digit checks to sign on with a program.

I think you need to hold coaches and athletic departments more responsible for this type of crap. Forget skipping bowl bids, eliminating scholarships and vacating wins...what does that accomplish? Write up some bans on coaches and ADs from the NCAA depending on the level of infraction. If a head coach knows he is risking a 5 year ban from the NCAA, he'll be less likely to look the other way on a lot of stuff. If the AD knows his cushy gig is at risk, he'll ask a lot more questions of the coaches and compliance dept.

[Patler]

What about the athletes on so-called "minor sports". No less uniquely talented than their football-playing counterparts. Don't they deserve 42" TVs just as much? They get along fine without all the perks that football players seem to think they are entitled to and some seem to think they can't live without.

One of my kids was a D-I athlete at a well-known "sports school". Living within the NCAA restrictions was just a matter of paying attention.

my thinking is that, if those other sports were bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars to the schools, conferences, coaches, NCAA, the tv networks, etc, well then they could get more too

but lets face it, the mens and womens lacross teams don't bring in anywhere near what football and mens basketball rakes in

That argument doesn't wash when you compare it to nonathlete students who work on research projects that bring in millions and millions beyond what the football programs do. The football players are compensated much better than their intellectual counterparts as it is.

Colleges and universities have many, many ways of making huge sums off the labors of their students. It's not just football players who are taken advantage of, yet for some reason people are concerned for the fairness to the football players.

[Packers4Glory]

I honestly haven't followed the story very closely at all. I'm as burned out about these NCAA violations as I was from the MLB steroid BS. Just tired and uninterested.

What is funny is how these guys decide to throw people or teams under the bus. I don't know why this guy chose to just rooffie the entire Miami athletic program and then drive a bus over it but its pretty ridiculous.

[Upnorth]

That argument doesn't wash when you compare it to nonathlete students who work on research projects that bring in millions and millions beyond what the football programs do. The football players are compensated much better than their intellectual counterparts as it is.

Colleges and universities have many, many ways of making huge sums off the labors of their students. It's not just football players who are taken advantage of, yet for some reason people are concerned for the fairness to the football players.

They get research grants which include pay

[mraynrand]

That argument doesn't wash when you compare it to nonathlete students who work on research projects that bring in millions and millions beyond what the football programs do. The football players are compensated much better than their intellectual counterparts as it is.

The Principe Investigators - the heads of the labs - write the grants that bring in the money. Undergraduates who work in the labs, at an equivalent level to football players, do mostly low-level, entry-level work, including glassware washing. A few contribute significantly, but they are rewarded with research publications and better resumes. They are mostly paid or get piddly internship level money. They do not bring in the money. No one travels hundreds of miles to watch them work in the lab on Saturday and no television crew broadcasts their glassware washing. ESPN doesn't show highlights.