Should college atheletes get paid? Options

[impala454]

This subject came up at work and we fiercely debated it for a while. We all kinda came to the general conclusion that paying atheletes a salary is a bad idea.

The general argument ended up being whether or not the players deserved anything extra. My thoughts were that it seems pretty crappy to me that a star player can go out and literally make millions of dollars for the school and not be compensated any more than some 4th string tackling dummy who never sees a down in a real game. Do you cut them a check? No... but can you increase their monthly stipend or give them some extra perks? I dunno maybe. Some were saying having a free education & all the services/training the athletics coaching/facilities provides is payment enough. Or that the chance of making millions in the NFL is good enough. Well in a lot of star player's cases, I'd be willing to bet that their contribution to the team made far more money for the school than the cost of an education.

Also on the reverse side of that, do we really need to give a full ride to some guy who goes and plays golf? Or jumps hurdles?

Anyhow I thought it was a pretty interesting topic and figured it'd fire up the college sports forum here

[GOB]

i don't have a problem paying them because it's the equivalent of what they already do. give an athlete a paycheck, let them pay for their own equipment/travel/tuition/housing/food/books. all the shit they've been getting for free.

it's actually a better idea because it prepares those mongoloid retards for life after graduation when they aren't good enough to go pro and they have to leave fantasy land for the real world.


the real problem with scholarship athletes is the fact that a good majority of them (with the exception of football) are from other countries. fuck other countries. the ncaa allows "freshmen" who are 23 years old from africa to steal scholarships and gain "all american" titles.

[schwab]

i dont think they should be paid....they already get free education/food/housing etc...that is payment enough. Soon if they got paid players would only go to schools that pay the most and then they also get free education? where would the money come from to pay them...from our tuition...? would that cause them to cut back on our education money? its not a good idea....and it wont happen any time now...

i get theoretically why there "should" be a reason...but if they did get paid, they dont get any extra perks (as in housing/education/food) for free...unless they truly earn it (through scholarships only due to their grades)

[impala454]

well if the data exists, I'd be interested to see something like, say the amount of money vince young helped bring to UT the last couple years. it would seem pretty shitty to me if say that number was several million dollars, and they feel that his just compensation was a $50,000 education (the same compensation the no name 3rd string tackling dummy recieved).

[cmac]

i can see both sides. i don't think that they should be paid millions like pro athletes or even close to anything resembling that. but, i know that often times athletes can't hold real jobs to make money when they participate in a sport because practice and games take up a lot of their time, not to mention class. interesting topic.

[Epic]

this is a bit of a stretch, but it makes sense to me


college is overall subsidized. between government money, and the philosophy of having everyone pay for everything even if you never go into the library goes into the idea that you pay into a community that provides you services, opportunities, and an education, but you still have to take responsibility for whether you take advantage of it or not.

so i apply this to athletes. keep in mind that the word student comes before athlete in this case. if we pay them for their work on the field in a manner that doesn't support their education, we've flat out said that they are more important as an athlete than a student. since everyone else has to pay money for their education, an athlete pays with effort. yes, a star athlete does wonderful things for the school, but maybe for only a year or two overall can we say that one player is the direct result of fundraising.

its a few years of an athlete's career, and they are paying it forward. just as students in many ways support the athletes to play and go to school, the athletes support the students by bringing prestige to the school.

so should athletes get paid a salary for what they do? I don't think so. Should we pay first string more than the scout team? No, because the tackling dummy knows that he's not going pro and is getting an education and the star knows that his time is coming.

and after all, this is why i love college sports. they aren't playing for a bonus trying to get one more sack when they should have held back and just hit the tackle saving a first down.

[Rocky]

well if the data exists, I'd be interested to see something like, say the amount of money vince young helped bring to UT the last couple years. it would seem pretty shitty to me if say that number was several million dollars, and they feel that his just compensation was a $50,000 education (the same compensation the no name 3rd string tackling dummy recieved).

The UT football program that year brought in over 50 million I believe, for their national championship season. The data is out there and mentioned in millions of articles.

That paid for all UT athletics for the year, and more.


Bull fucking shit these kids don't deserve something. The best idea I've heard is that they get a check, but not until they graduate.

[jonathan83]

i'm sure most of these guys would be totally irresponsible with getting a paycheck and just go over the top (cockier, etc.) and that's not what college sports should be about. it should be about school spirit and all that jazz.

things would totally go downhill if they got paid. but i like the idea of maybe getting a check ONCE you graduate. that way they have something to look forward to IF they graduate.

[RitalinJunkie]

i'm sure most of these guys would be totally irresponsible with getting a paycheck and just go over the top (cockier, etc.) and that's not what college sports should be about. it should be about school spirit and all that jazz.

things would totally go downhill if they got paid. but i like the idea of maybe getting a check ONCE you graduate. that way they have something to look forward to IF they graduate.

This is my rundown of how they should do it.....

They must keep an acceptable GPA, and gain their degree within 5 years. Then they would be eligible to recieve money. HOWEVER, they must take a course that covers basic money management their senior year.

For every class they fail, that amount is taken out of the check they recieve after they graduate. They will sign a contract stating that should they fail out of college, that they are not entitled to any sort of compensation for what they have done on the field.

[impala454]

well i wouldn't think how they spend it really matters. all i'm saying is if vince young helped bring in 50 million to the university, he needs some type of kick back. i really like the idea of cutting them a check when they graduate, it addresses several problems:
1) encourages them to actually graduate and not leave early for the NFL
2) say they do really well fresh-soph year then have a career ending injury. they still have graduating and also getting something out of those couple of years to look forward to.
3) gives every single player on the team more drive to excel

[The Fanatic]

Athletes are practically already paid, so the debate is irrelevent

[woody]

well i wouldn't think how they spend it really matters. all i'm saying is if vince young helped bring in 50 million to the university, he needs some type of kick back. i really like the idea of cutting them a check when they graduate, it addresses several problems:
1) encourages them to actually graduate and not leave early for the NFL
2) say they do really well fresh-soph year then have a career ending injury. they still have graduating and also getting something out of those couple of years to look forward to.
3) gives every single player on the team more drive to excel

a chance to pay in the NFL and make millions is a reason to excel

What about students who do research for the university & bring money into the university, do they get a check cut to them too?

what about the minority students who go to college & make the university look better & more diverse, do they get a check too since all those minority groups praise the college for it's rich diversity?

[Billy]

a chance to pay in the NFL and make millions is a reason to excel

What about students who do research for the university & bring money into the university, do they get a check cut to them too?

what about the minority students who go to college & make the university look better & more diverse, do they get a check too since all those minority groups praise the college for it's rich diversity?

I agree with this.

[Dogmeat]

scholarships + stipends = getting paid to play, period.

[griseyeux]

I had a friend who introduced me to one of the guys on the football team my sophomore year...we went with this guy to go get some food and when I asked him where he got his beautiful new Cadillac Escalade he winked and said it was a gift from the alumni......


I don't really feel like college athletes deserve any more special treatment than they already get....at least not football or basketball players.....track, softball, etc...yeah, those athletes kind of get a bum deal