Spring Break
Keep the student in the athlete
Whether or not players deserve to be paid, they shouldn't be.
By: Patrick Hayslip
Issue date: 6/24/09 Section: Sports
Let's face it, college athletes deserve to get paid, considering the kind of money their respective colleges rake in. However, there are a multitude of reasons why those very same athletes do not deserve to get paid.
From a sports fan's perspective, most people will tell you that one of the main reasons they enjoy college sports more than professional sports is that college athletes compete for the love of the game and aren't driven with the figurative cash carrot hanging at the end of the stick. Taking that away will shake the foundation of sports. Look at March Madness, or the last game of the football season for Texas A&M. The aura of a college basketball game with the tournament right around the corner is electric and often times indescribable. You rarely see that in the NBA. For A&M, it doesn't matter how terrible of a season they have had, playing Texas is the highlight of the year and a rivalry like that brings out the passion in every fan, regardless of records.
The majority of college athletes continue sports careers in college from high school to help them get an education and if they are good enough, the education comes free. A free education should be the extent of the athletes' compensation. There is also room and board included along with other expenses, but anything more can be easily misconstrued as a bribe and get the contributor, often the recruiting coach, and the athlete, in big trouble.
The University of Southern California has been at the heart of this debate lately with former running back Reggie Bush and his family accused of taking more than $300,000 from marketing agents while Bush was playing at USC. Another Trojan, O.J. Mayo, was rumored to have accepted $3,000 in high school to play basketball at USC and just recently, their coach Tim Floyd resigned when he was accused of giving $1,000 to the man responsible for bringing Mayo to USC.
You would have to be a blind fool to not realize that college athletes are paid to go to certain schools and perform a certain way. The difference between the pros and college is that college disguises their payments in various forms, most frequently under the table.
From a sports fan's perspective, most people will tell you that one of the main reasons they enjoy college sports more than professional sports is that college athletes compete for the love of the game and aren't driven with the figurative cash carrot hanging at the end of the stick. Taking that away will shake the foundation of sports. Look at March Madness, or the last game of the football season for Texas A&M. The aura of a college basketball game with the tournament right around the corner is electric and often times indescribable. You rarely see that in the NBA. For A&M, it doesn't matter how terrible of a season they have had, playing Texas is the highlight of the year and a rivalry like that brings out the passion in every fan, regardless of records.
The majority of college athletes continue sports careers in college from high school to help them get an education and if they are good enough, the education comes free. A free education should be the extent of the athletes' compensation. There is also room and board included along with other expenses, but anything more can be easily misconstrued as a bribe and get the contributor, often the recruiting coach, and the athlete, in big trouble.
The University of Southern California has been at the heart of this debate lately with former running back Reggie Bush and his family accused of taking more than $300,000 from marketing agents while Bush was playing at USC. Another Trojan, O.J. Mayo, was rumored to have accepted $3,000 in high school to play basketball at USC and just recently, their coach Tim Floyd resigned when he was accused of giving $1,000 to the man responsible for bringing Mayo to USC.
You would have to be a blind fool to not realize that college athletes are paid to go to certain schools and perform a certain way. The difference between the pros and college is that college disguises their payments in various forms, most frequently under the table.
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