Should colleges pay athletes

[caojyn]

I'm for paying student athletes a decent stipend. However, I do agree with most of you that our state universities' priorities are completely off kilter. We should be doing our best to produce top level scholars in an effort to I prove our state.

athletes, debate club members, band members, thespians, scholars

 

[SoonerP226]

What about getting rid of the NCAA cartel?

You might as well suggest shrinking the size of the Federal bureaucracy. OU hit the NCAA hard in the early '80s when we and the U of Georgia went to the Supreme Court and broke their monopoly on the TV contracts, but there's too much money involved to truly break the NCAA's stranglehold.

 

[kd5rjz]

HELL NO!

Athletics are the problem with colleges today.

The chemistry department could rake in lots of money by cranking out crystal meth also, but it's not going to contribute to EDUCATION, now is it? (to be fair, I guess it would more than football does)

 

[Cinaet]

They're already getting a scholarship worth as much as a quarter million dollars over 4 years, and sometimes even more. That's a pretty good paycheck for someone who is 18-22 years old.

 

[SoonerP226]

I'm for paying student athletes a decent stipend. However, I do agree with most of you that our state universities' priorities are completely off kilter. We should be doing our best to produce top level scholars in an effort to I prove our state.

Who says we're not? There are some amazing programs at our state's universities--if you want to go into veterinary medicine, you go to a top-flight school in Stillwater. If you want to be anybody in mesoscale meteorology (or in the NWS), you go to a top-flight school in Norman.

And what defines a "top level scholar," anyway? Is someone who gets straight As and is awarded a PhD in (Insert Social Group Here) Studies a "top scholar?" If we assume that someone who gets straight As and graduates with a PhD in Electrical Engineering is a "top scholar," what does he contribute to the state if he takes those talents and takes a high-paying job out on the coast?

There's also the practical side--where do you get the funding for the academic side of things without the athletics programs bringing donors' money into the universities? I don't know about OSU, but the state of Oklahoma is a minority funder of OU; most of its money comes from private sources.

 

[tntrex]

It will have to include golf, tennis, archery, track, swimming, fencing, bowling, rodeo, soccer, equestrian, basketball, fishing, basket weaving, and on and on and on.

I say no.

 

[Tyson C.]

I say no.

BUT might i make a suggestion: I would also say that all athletes have to show face in an accounting/financial class, no matter how good or bad they are. This way they learn what a dollar is and how to use it later in life if they are given the professional chance.

It kills me to see some of these guys in the pro’s (insert sport), be bankrupt in 2-5yrs after they are done. I give a woopty f****** doo if you want to buy a Ferrari, keep in mind the long term cost and the overall bill it takes to fund your 12,000sq ft. home yearly.

I know it’s their life and their choices but imagine if those guys could help give back to the schools, towns etc…. that to me is an example of a PROFESSIOANL athlete, not an a$$ hat that went off on a $80,000 dollar spending spree cause he can……

 

[zseese]

Y'all realize that a tiny, tiny, tiny percent of division 1, or any level college sports schools actually profit from sports, football included. Where is the money going to come from to pay the players?

 

[vvvvvvv]

Y'all realize that a tiny, tiny, tiny percent of division 1, or any level college sports schools actually profit from sports, football included. Where is the money going to come from to pay the players?

Merchandising and other exploitations of students who happen to be athletically talented.

As it is now, college players cannot be compensated for the use of their likeness; the NCAA and the various conferences are who gets paid.

The NCAA is essentially a slave cartel, with the students being the slaves and the NCAA being the master.

 

[zseese]

Merchandising and other exploitations of students who happen to be athletically talented.

As it is now, college players cannot be compensated for the use of their likeness; the NCAA and the various conferences are who gets paid.

The NCAA is essentially a slave cartel, with the students being the slaves and the NCAA being the master.

And the athletes who play but aren't good enough to have successful merchandising? How about them? If you give them the money from successful athletes merchandizing then aren't you utilizing wealth redistribution? The amount of free education, meal plans, housing etc is worth several thousand a semester, and is more than enough. Slave master? Give me a break. They run a business like every other business out there.