I wrote my dad a very long e-mail about this possibly happening.
I believe it will singlehandedly bankrupt SEVERAL schools. I believe this because,
the NCAA did a study/survey and discovered only like 12 school out of 122 NCAA Division 1 schools have self-supporting Athletic Departments.
Teams like; Texas, Florida, ohio state, Michigan, etc. This is if no alumni donated money or anything. Only 12 schools roughly can do it.
That's not alot and unless you travel well, you'll take a financial hit going to a bowl game...team costs alot to move and you'd better hope your fans want to go to Pontiac Michigan in December to a bowl game.
So you have schools who can barely afford to stay afloat with their athletics.
You've got schools who have over a dozen varsity sports...mainly the big name state schools.
You've got schools (like Stanford) who excel in ALL sports and have high academic standards.
Good luck paying all your athletes. If a school wants to focus the payments on just football players, I'd wholeheartedly expect all other athletes of different sports in the same school (who might be multi-national champions) to accept this...NOT!
Look at Iowa. Their wrestling team sells out their basketball arena each year and is, by miles, more accomplished than any sport Iowa has ever produced. Do you really think their wrestlers are going to sit back and allow their football team, who can be mediocre, to just be paid? When wrestlers work just as hard, if not harder, and achieve far and beyond what their football team can ever do?
Let's also not forget the women.
A whole team of them pissed off at you is even worse. Girls sports in the NCAA rarely generate any money vs. the cost of having them (travel, team meals, etc.) it just doesn't. Whatever the lack of appeal is...just doesn't make much money nationally.
Now, you're going to be funding for a team who actually nets you a loss because they deserve equal share of what's being distributed.
Plus,
You have to make everything equal on all accounts or else you'll find lots and lots of lawsuits on your hands.
This would lead to many schools cutting their sports entirely. Have fun dealing with the disgruntled coaches and players (some of whom are Valedictorians in your top law school) coming back at you 10 fold with demanding equality because you truly showed their value to you...cutting them out despite their winning ways...and throwing them to the curb for a football or basketball team who might barely make it over .500 that season.
What is the payment of a player? How much are they really worth?
The star QB vs. a benchwarming scrub on the sidelines...should they both be paid the same amount of money? The free housing a university would provide is pretty equal enough...it's called a scholarship. But that's reserved for the best players. Now, you have to give it to everyone.
Ask a school president what is more important to them...a great academic university...or a powerful sports team?
Why shouldn't scholarship students get paid? They're just as effective of people for a university as an athlete. They're actually a much better investment. They'll likely stay out of trouble, they'll graduate and make money in the world further boosting your school's reputation, and finally, in the long-term, come back and donate to your school as a graditude for what you did for them.
Don't %^&* that up! Seriously.
Its bad enough for students who don't get academic scholarships who are still very strong students, get shafted by having to go into debt by paying an insane out-of-state tuition. They'll definately be affected by the paying of athletes.
For the schools who have large numbers of students...like ohio state...many of whom (despite their needing for an MRI examining their reasoning centers of their brains for having chosen to go to such a cancer of a school like ohio state) are likely good people and study and do what is required of them as a student...are going to demand some fair equality, especially since their parents are working double shifts to help pay for their education while a dum&^$r*( like Terelle Pryor sits around, does nothing but throws footballs, has an easier life and gets paid for it.
Yeah, again, you'll be dealing with a mob holding pitchforks at your door.
As a university president...do you think it's worth sacrificing your academic prowess for a collective group of idiots taking advantage of your school's finances and resources?
Athletes, are not the smartest bunch...by far. Some are but the majority are not.
The coaches do not always encourage the athletes to take courses...I'm sure most sensible coaches would say,
"take a course you'd be good at and want to take"
The athletes can take full advantage of a school's #1 biology department...or their top 25 Psychology program...and still play ball. Several athletes do it. It's not out of the realm of possibility.
But the majority feel (like the case of Matt Leinart at USC) Ballroom dancing as a course is going to get you places. Nothing like Film theory or something in the sciences, which USC is known for, is worth it. No, learning to move like a Ballerina on a dancefloor is going to really do you wonders after an NFL career...and you're saving yourself $40,000 in tuition (USC is a private school in Southern California) at the expense of someone who's nearly dead from the workload of their Biology research department.
So, as a president, I ask again, is it worth forking out funds to your athletes, many of whom are already recieveing a very important, yet often overlooked, gift...a FREE TUITION, ROOM AND BOARD, MEAL CARD, TV EXPOSURE! To be paid?
The arrogance of athletes, notably ohio state's athletes, is already bad...just imagine if you paid them. There would be ALOT I mean an ASTRONOMICAL increase in student athlete incidents involving drugs, crime, and the law.
Let's not forget where many of these players come from. Sadly, they come from broken homes and urban enviornments. Their skills as a player help them get further in life.
This would be exponentially compounded if you gave an athlete money...especially if he/she has had a history of drug related incidents growing up.
The towns and cities these kids are in with schools, already cater to their value with spoken words and under the table gifts...imagine if it was legal...these kids would think they're above the law!
Finally,
Who in the blue hell is going to pay for all this? Certainly not me! You're lucky dad, you went to a school where the sport is a bloodbath of moving parts and mechanized nightmares...robots being built then sent to destroy each other...or to see who can make the best Rube Goldberg Machine at MIT.
But schools like Texas and Florida...where football is a religion? Those schools will raise tuition for people almost to the point of undeniable financial obligation for life.
It's bad enough Brookes' girlfriend went to Penn State (actually I like Penn State) but the tuition...for a 4 year college like that...with no job during (or soon after) that could give you a financial umbrella to work with...is insanely high. You're in debt the moment you are accepted.
She's not the only one. Another girl I know didn't go to ohio state because she had to pay over $300 for football tickets she wasn't even guaranteed to get as part of her already insane tuition.
I highly doubt schools with major research in them, would want to give up (again, another lawsuit) their money to fund for dumb jocks to piss around taking "Alphabet 101" or "Remedial Reading 1a" because they're not in better courses.
Do you ask the alumni? Do you think they'd go along with it? Sure...if you're from Texas or Florida. It's not likely to happen if you're from anywhere else.
Let's also not forget the fact that WE'RE IN A DAMN DEPRESSION RIGHT NOW!!!
Also, the population of America is starting to question the effectiveness of higher education. Is it even worth it to go to college? they'd be on the fence but an increase in tuition would certainly draw them away.
There's no doubt there will be a ton of things to look into in regards to all of this. I know several schools would have to cut their programs which isn't pretty...and it'd look grossly immoral and greedy.
It's just not a good mix right now. However, I am fortunate someone like Mike Hamrick is building us back up and will hopefully be able to make a case for us to become part of the pack. It'll be a real struggle to do so but I don't doubt he'll give it his all for Marshall.
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