The debate is on in college basketball. No, I'm not talking about the debate on who is going to be selected to participate in March Madness, but in fact, I am talking about the debate going on today about whether college athletes should be paid or compensated for their participation in athletics.??
Now, I'm sure a lot of you look at this debate for the first time and think the same thing I did the first time I looked at it: \F*** that! You have got to be kidding me! Paying college athletes? Those guys get enough preferential treatment.""
In today's age, providing additional money to a scholarship athlete would be considered a special benefit and any school that paid it would put the athlete's eligibility at risk as well as face potential penalties for the entire program. Well, the idea that I'd like to get across is the notion that colleges should be allowed, not necessarily required, to compensate their student-athletes if they want to. Here are a few reasons why.??
First off, it is important to recognize that these student-athletes are raising a lot of money for their respective schools and by a lot of money, I mean millions. Not only that, a lot of people get rich off them, including the coaches and everyone from top to bottom in the athletics department and they all know this. One way to look at this is that they are being used for the schools' benefit without any kind of compensation.
According to Iowa State men's basketball Head Coach Larry Eustachy in a story from ESPN, ""They create a lot of revenue. To take a stipend out of a coach's check, to do something like that, I don't think there would be a coach in the world that would be opposed to it. I know I wouldn't.""
For these students, participating in athletics is more than just an extracurricular activity or an after-school job, it is a lifestyle. This lifestyle really makes it tough to find a job to make some extra cash because of the commitment sports demand year round. It is very idealistic to think that these student-athletes are covered by their scholarship and do not need any other sort of income.
The first thing that comes to mind here is a story I read on Chris Webber about his days at Michigan. There were times he did not have enough cash to get a meal at McDonald's, and at the same time could see people all over campus selling his jersey for money. People used his name to make money, yet ironically enough, he got none of it.??
Now, I am all about the education and enjoying the college experience, but my experience is far different than any single athlete here on campus. If I were to make an impact on UW that some of the athletes do, I know I would be asking for more than a few bucks. Frankly, with all the money that UW made from the Final Four in 2000, I don't think it would be too much to have given Mark Vershaw or Andy Kowske a little piece of the cake.??
