No stipend
Following college football these days almost requires a rating system. It’s definitely not for children or the faint of heart and nearly every corner of the country — from Florida to Ohio to Oregon to North Carolina and Atlanta — has been tainted.
From sex to tattoos and cash bribes to cars, reading the exploits of today’s “student-athlete” rivals the tales that have been known to originate in Washington, D.C. with our seedier politicians.
Both have plenty in common, too. Imagine that.
Money and power have given rise to carelessness and corruption and the limits to which collegiate coaches, presidents and big-time players will push the envelope seems rather limitless these days. The damaging effects of head trauma on these players even seems minor when compared to the moral compass they are given by campus administrators, coaches, boosters and fellow players.
On the political side, lobbyists and corporations have to play the game in order to gain political favor. It’s all about money, who has it and where it’s spent. Same is true on today’s college gridiron.
Honing in on the collegiate aspect, it’s time the NCAA starts going after athletic directors, college presidents and coaches more. Canning coaches while handing them nice paydays on the way out does little to deter future indiscretions.
Joe Paterno recently discussed the issue of attempted string pulling during media day in University Park.
Discussing his and Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s longevity, he said, “a lot of guys, unfortunately, can’t get into that attitude, because trustees give money and they want you to play this guy or that guy. When I first got here and we got new facilities, I said, ‘we have to go out and raise some money for new facilities.’ I went around and I always said, ‘I want your money, but not your two cents.’ Very few coaches these days can say that to a guy that gives them $8-10 million bucks a year.”
John Calipari come to mind, anyone? Seems he’s had a rather persistent case of ants in his pants since he first came under fire at UMass, four jobs and two vacated Final Fours ago. Still, he’s enjoying life as coach at one of college hoop’s marquee stops, Kentucky.
It’s hard to believe, for instance, at the University of Miami that President Donna Shalala had no idea what was going on while a former booster Nevin Shapiro, now serving federal prison time for embezzlement, was paying players, offering jewelry and women to players and enticing players with bounties for hits on opposing players.
Shalala claims she had no prior knowledge, though she’d been photographed with Shapiro and had to have seen his hands-on approach to the booster life. To not have known the level of his involvement with the program would leave her looking like a pretty clueless president.
At Ohio State, former Coach Jim Tressel oversaw a program where his star quarterback — the most recruited player out of high school four years ago — was taking money for autographed memorabilia and involved in a tattoo scheme that also included several other players. There are also rumblings about the numerous cars he enjoyed while a Buckeye.
With the pay schemes alleged at numerous big-time collegiate football programs, the push to pay players, or at least give them a little more than a scholarship is again being touted as a possible alternative.
Please.
At what point will our entitlement mentality finally give way to the need to earn something? That goes for you politicians, too.
Let’s look at a football player on athletic scholarship at any major-college program. In addition to having the opportunity to attain an education worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, or in the case of the University of Miami, upward of a quarter of a million dollars, these athletes aren’t required to carry the same grade-point averages their fellow students are, receive tutoring the average students aren’t entitled to, travel across the country, are treated to gear and clothing, can be admitted with less than the required SAT scores and are housed in facilities that aren’t exactly run-of-the-mill dorms.
So, should they be paid a stipend as well? Why, certainly. Give them whatever they want.
Please.
Why not give the chemistry student a stipend instead? Our country needs more scientists and mathematicians than it does football players.
If the football player doesn’t want to follow the rules that come with playing major-college football, let him find his own way. He can’t get drafted right into the NFL, so good luck.
Perhaps then they’ll understand what the value of an education truly is.
The (Milton) Standard Journal