PAC 12 players threaten to sit unless demands met
And here we go! Finally using their leverage!
Good for them! Never gonna happen.
there are plenty of student football players that would love a full ride with every available academic support possible. those who do not want it should let others fill those positions. the athletes that dont want to 'play school' should be pushing the nfl for a b league...not going after educational institutions.
burn it all down.
there will not be a season anyway. I applaud them fighting for their rights though. But it will be a moot point in a few weeks.
The Universities have lost control of football and basketball. Those sports are “owned” by the commercial media. The schools are addicted to the huge money paid to them by the media. 5 and 4 star athletes attend schools mainly to improve and showcase their talents to earn better rankings for the professional drafts. Pro basketball is on the right track with their G league. If a kid has the talent let him turn pro in a development league. Then let the universities field real amateur teams made up of students who love to play but know their futures don’t depend on sports. Revenues will fall, coaches salaries will come back to earth, alumni will enjoy renewing ties to their school with a less frenzied atmosphere. College sports are not supposed to be, “throw em to the lions” of the Roman Coliseum.
I don't really see any issues with student-athletes aspiring to be the best possible version of themselves in order to be drafted higher; lots of college students go to college to become the best versions of themselves for their vocations. Also, lots of guys who go pro only do so after physically and intellectually developing in college; expecting every 17-year-old to be able to handle a G League-style environment isn't realistic. Also, I'm not going to get into the usual diatribes about "the love of the game" claims by fans are very selfish and near-sighted, based on the premise that an athlete can only truly "care" about something if he does it the way a bunch of paying customers feels he should.
Anyway, feel free to not watch college sports if guys trying to address social justice, long-term health ramifications from playing sports (because all those amateur guys who stick around for 4 years without dreams of the NFL still suffer from concussions and debilitating injuries), and being able to profit off their skills (something every other college student can largely due without issue) really seems a bridge too far.
Does this violate the terms of their scholarships?
Long term health insurance, I love it.
If the ncaa doesn't bend a separate NFL feeder league is gonna pop up right quick.
It shouldn't matter if the student-athlete is in a revenue sport or not. If the football players are given long term insurance for injuries they may have sustained during their school sport days, it should be applied to all athletes in all sports in the AD. It could also raise the issue of non-athletr students who are injured in the course of their school-sponsored activities.
If the ridiculous amounts of TV and merchandise revenue coming to the schools pays for this instead of inflated coaching/staff/office salaries and facilities arms-races, it would be ok.
I have no opinion on this issue. Sit out or don’t. Whatever.
There demands are bit all over the board (social justice recognition, long-term health care, compensation, etc.), but this is a perfect time for them to push for these necessary changes. It's highly unlikely that there will be a season anyway, but if these conferences want to see any games played (and the revenue that comes from that), they'll need players to be out there.
Aren’t they on football scholarships? Are the scholarships contingent upon playing football if they are able to? Seems like they should be.
Everybody sitting out , now you sitting out too.
I suppose it was just a matter of time before the divisiveness that is poisoning every professional sport (and everything else) in this country made its way to the college level. They are free to do what they believe is in their best interest. More power to them.
But I frankly find myself giving fewer and fewer fucks about any of it.
Universities and coaches are faced with a dilemma. If they don't capitulate to these demands how will it affect future recruiting?
I don't think the compensation part is necessary, and detracts from the other issues. Just allow players to earn money off their likeness. If that's not enough, they can stop playing scholarship football and go get a normal job like some of us had to do to pay our way through school.
Good luck to them on all their other demands, including the health insurance.
August 2nd, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
...as they should!