Abolish College Football By Josh Barro Jul 13, 2012 2:10 PM ET Yesterday’s release of the Freeh Report, assigning responsibility for Penn State’s failure to act on reports that Jerry Sandusky was sexually abusing boys, has people talking about whether the NCAA should shutter Penn State’s football program. That would be setting our sights too low. For the good of both universities and athletes, we should end the NCAA cartel and get high-level football and basketball off all college campuses, not just Penn State. What the NCAA does is fundamentally abusive: it holds the wage for minor league football and basketball players down to zero, under the pretense that its workers are students. The person who put this best was Robert Barro (my father), writing for Bloomberg Businessweek in 2002 that the NCAA is America’s most effective monopoly: Football is even worse: it has the same labor dynamics as basketball, and is also bad for players’ health. Yet these enterprises are hugely profitable for universities, in part because labor costs are held so low. And that makes it difficult for university administrators to rein in their athletic programs, as we saw when Penn State’s administrators let Joe Paterno overrule them about notifying the state of Sandusky’s behavior. Football was the lifeblood of Penn State, so it was more like Paterno was the university president’s boss than vice-versa. There is demand for minor league basketball and football, but there’s no need for it to be tied to universities, or for the leagues to abuse their workers. By spinning off these profit centers, universities could return to their educational missions, and treat athletics the way the NCAA's Division III does: as an amateur activity to complement students’ education.
End Penn State program for 5-10 years yes , but ending college football as a whole no. That will never happen too much money being made. The governing body for College football would rather slap their mothers before they vote to do that.
Bruce, How much money are those sports making the university to make them better overall institutions? It takes money to make those places go around and tuition isn't going to cut it. Sure we can cherry pick bad situations that college football has created. But as whole, I think it has helped the schools more than it has hurt. Just my 2 cents.
For me no organization that profits from the abuse or exploitation of children should remain intact. And 5-10 years will resolve them to do better and clear all those derelict pedophiles from the present slate. I still hold firm that there are far more skeletons in this tragedy. I still for the life of me can't understand how any man just can't do all that's possible when they see anyone molesting a young child without trying to kill them. I just can't understand it
Brad, I probably should have put a disclaimer: I am not really for ending college football but I did think this guy had an interesting point of view. Perhaps have the college own the minor league team and pay the players. Something like that.
End the football program for 5 or 10 years? Really? I think the NCAA should just stay out of it as no NCAA rules have been violated. The courts will deal out punishment.
This guy is a total whack job. You can't punish the kids for something the administration of 1 college program did. That's mass punishment. It never works.
I don't think he is advocating punishing anyone. He is suggesting making college football/basketball a minor league and then the athletes can be paid instead of exploited.
I get that from the author. He may or may not be right. The Amateur wants PSU shut down for 5 or 10 years.
Considering a college education is well over a $100,000 these days at many institutions and there are many more using sports to get an education than to make it to the professional level, I would consider that getting "paid". If an actual salary is allowed, then how much. Who governs it. How does one control it. Much easier to hide payments if payments are already allowed. Richest schools get the best talent (nothing changes here) but now they have to get the best players because the program is better or atleast better suited to get the best players to the pros. I believe we open pandora's box if college athletes draw a salary. My daughter's boyfriend is going to to play football on a full ride and was glad to get the scholarship. Saved him a bunch of money. My daughter will be dancing at the same school and got a small scholarship for that and glad to get it. How would all the other sports be handled? Other sports and activities don't bring in big money( they benefit from those that do) so where would they fit in. Pay them too? Keep them under Scholarship ? Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
College athletes shouldnt get paid. And College football should not be banned. Everything else is a byproduct of the environment ESPN and the media have created.
Just postulating here: If athletes were paid then there would be no college scholarships. Then, if the athlete wanted an education he could use the money to pay for college. The college would still make money from the sports, the athlete could either make money and prepare for a pro career or pay for their education and prepare for a career after sports.
So what happens to the other sports/activities that benefit from those big money sports. Do they still receive scholarship or just tossed out. Everyone at a university benefits from the money made from a sports program that is making money. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
Like I said the college would still make money and they could scholarship other sports or just pay those athletes money, their choice. Maybe the student could get an academic scholarship. Studying is not as fun as athletics but you can't beat it for its educational value. Or students could pay for their college education like so many already do.
The salaries for minor league baseball don't even come close to the compensation a college scholarship offers. For one, the athlete has an opportunity to better their situation by earning a college degree and a chance at a professional position once they have graduated. It's up to the athlete to put out the effort though. If we did away w. that system, and had a similar system to minor league baseball, they would not have that same opportunity for an education, plus they wouldn't make enough money to even pay for that education once their time in the minor league are done. See below for a pay scale for minor league baseball players as of 2010. The current salary system for the minor leagues is a follows: • First contract season: $850/month maximum. • Alien Salary Rates: Different for aliens on visas – mandated by INS • Triple-A – First year: $2,150/month, after first year no less than $2,150/month • Class AA – First year: $1,500/month, after first year no less than $1,500/month • Class A (full season) – First year: $1,050/month, after first year no less than $1,050/month • Class A (short-season) – First year: $850/month, after first year no less than $850/month • Dominican & Venezuelan Summer Leagues–no lower than $300/month The author of this article is living in fantasy land looking for utopia. Sorry, there's just no perfect system, and instead of blaming college athletics, which offer 10's of thousands of young people an opportunity to better their situation, let's just look at the source. That source is Sandusky, Paterno and all that were involved w. covering up these horrible acts. I am, however, not opposed to banning Penn State from participating in college athletics for the next 5-10 years. Allow the athletes an unconditional transfer and shut down the program. People want to argue that the NCAA doesn't have the authority to do this since these were not necessarily NCAA violations, but I would argue that the act of covering this situation up constitutes lack of institutional control and therefore give the NCAA the authority to shut them down, which they should do.
I agree with skywalker, a scholarship is worth far more than playing minor league. College prepares the for life after sports, we all get old
I think what gets lost in discussions like this is the fact that high school and college athletes make better grades and have a higher graduation rate than those that are not involved in sports or school activities. That reason alone should be enough to not change the current system. I would be in favor of more help to those in need. Many parents never get to see their kids play in college simply because they can't afford to go. It would be hard to monitor but i think its something worth looking in to. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
