The Shame of College Sports

A LITANY OF SCANDALS IN RECENT YEARS HAVE MADE THE CORRUPTION OF COLLEGE SPORTS CONSTANT FRONT-PAGE NEWS. WE PROFESS OUTRAGE EACH TIME WE LEARN THAT YET ANOTHER STUDENT-ATHLETE HAS BEEN TAKING MONEY UNDER THE TABLE. BUT THE REAL SCANDAL IS THE VERY STRUCTURE OF COLLEGE SPORTS, WHEREIN STUDENT-ATHLETES GENERATE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR UNIVERSITIES AND PRIVATE COMPANIES WHILE EARNING NOTHING FOR THEMSELVES. HERE, A LEADING CIVIL-RIGHTS HISTORIAN MAKES THE CASE FOR PAYING COLLEGE ATHLETES—AND REVEALS HOW A SPATE OF LAWSUITS WORKING THEIR WAY THROUGH THE COURTS COULD DESTROY THE NCAA.



http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/pri ... orts/8643/

Actually if you look at the money, a lot of college football and basketball teams barely cover expenses, and the ones that do make money like Nebraska support the athletes involved in other sports at the school like softball and gynmastics.

How much should we pay the athletes? $500 per month? Thousands of kids are getting a free education with little chance of making it into pro sports so it might be that the stars of college football support the bench players while they get an education. I know parents who encourage their kids to play in high school mainly to earn athletic scholarships.

And the big college stars do get delayed pay, with big contracts later on. Like an apprentice before he becomes a master plumber?