You know what makes me so angry?...

Assemble Bobcat Attackers:


All of this ridiculous talk about NFL agents offering and college football players accepting illegal benefits has been driving me crazy. Of course this has been going on forever but ESPN and everybody else has decided it is huge news that everybody should be aware of. Now you got high profile coaches like Nick Saban and Urban Meyer among others weighing in on the situation and using words such as "pimp, scumbag, predator, sleezebag" to describe NFL agents. They fail to mention the fact they employ some of these pimps to help them secure multi-million dollar per year salaries while their players are living as penniless college students. The same players that they supposedly care about when they will be sure to jump on the next promotion that comes their way. Most of these players came from nothing and barely get by with the NCAA mandated scholarship checks. The whole world of college football is screwed up and the greed does not lie with the players who lay everything on the line for a chance to play a game they love. The opportunity for free college education is not something that should be taken lightly but the fact that college football is a billion dollar industry should also open some eyes as to some change that is needed. We all know the BCS only perpetuates this greed but I promised myself that I wouldn't talk about this real life Evil Empire that creates the virtual "monopoly" that is college football today. Instead I'd like to propose a few solutions to this agent problem even though they are much too progressive to actually take place anytime soon.

A) Allow players to commit and sign with an agent while still in school at anytime during their career. I'm not naive to the problems that this could potentially cause but there would still be some regulations needed in place to keep things standard across the board. If an agent is so interested in a potential client then make them man up and offer to pay the kid a set salary per year. Whether you set it at $10k or $50k per year make sure it's something that will make agents put their money where their mouth is if their going to express interest in a client. It also would make things much easier for players who can't afford a simple luxury such as a car or if they have family they need to help support in some way shape or form. The agents would know who their guys were and would be able to keep tabs on any other agents who were potentially trying to offer more benefits and steal their clients. You better believe agents would keep a close eye on this type of behavior.  It also doesn't take money away from these college football money factories which won't hurt their bottom line or the money they will be able to spend on coaches, AD's, facilities, etc.

B) Universities increasing the stipend they are allowed to pay players who are on full scholarship. These schools with huge football programs are not hurting for money and paying players a couple more thousand per year is not going to put much of a dent in their finances. An idea that would go along with this would include providing different incentives for teams who succeed on the field and in the classroom to make all payments to players based on achievement. Another scenario that goes along with this would be putting a ceiling on pay raises for coaches no matter if they are moving on to another school or staying with the same. Reward the coaches who have been doing it the longest because those are (for the most part) the best coaches considering how cut throat and tough it is to maintain continuity at that level. With the way college football is today I can't justify MAC schools spending extra money paying players when they are already in the red how it is. The BCS would need to be destroyed for this to happen which would ultimately be the best scenario of all.

C) Keep doing what you are doing NCAA. Continue to let greed rule the college football game and keep pinning the "amateur" tag on the players to keep them from earning what they deserve. The percentage of guys who actually make it to the NFL is very low and the number of players who earn substantial money in the League is even lower. It's crazy to me how much money head coaches and coaches in general are making in college football while the players who do the actual labor are earning next to nothing. I understand that a free college education is a great thing to have but if you break down the amount of hours players put in over a four year career I guarantee the total dollar amount per hour is well below minimum wage. And for what? A lot of these players get degrees in bull*$#@ majors and don't have a future in the professional world degree or not. Their real chance to earn some what of a keep is by their talents on the football field which ultimately don't pay off.

The last thing I'll leave you with are Nick Saban's comments at the SEC media day which to me are utterly stupid. "I have no respect for people who do that to young people, none," Saban said. "I mean, none. How would you feel if they did it to your child?" How in the H E double hockey sticks does this make sense? Agents being empathetic and offering money to help support a student athlete financially when nobody else is looking out for them should be commended, not damned, in my opinion. I also doubt that most parents out there feel like their child is being preyed upon by being showered with money when most of these parents are most likely doing everything they can at their own expense to help get them through. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills sometimes when I read these quotes.

For now this is all I have. I would like to sincerely thank anybody who took the time to read all of this and hope it stimulates some thought. A former player myself; it's tough for me to stand by and watch coaches, ESPN anchors, journalists, and others talk about players being greedy when I've seen the true struggles that a lot of student athletes face while trying to play the game they love to play. The crooked business of college football tries so hard to make everybody think that the way things are is the only way they can be. I prefer to think outside the box and look for real solutions.

WAKE UP UUUHHMERRICA!

Cheerguy,

                Not sure why you decided to counter every single point that I was trying to make instead of maybe building off a few things. Especially, when a lot of what you say doesn't seem to hold much water. I do appreciate the constructive comments and will give credit where it's due.

Bobcat50 wrote:

A) Allow players to commit and sign with an agent while still in school at anytime during their career. I'm not naive to the problems that this could potentially cause but there would still be some regulations needed in place to keep things standard across the board. If an agent is so interested in a potential client then make them man up and offer to pay the kid a set salary per year. Whether you set it at $10k or $50k per year make sure it's something that will make agents put their money where their mouth is if their going to express interest in a client. It also would make things much easier for players who can't afford a simple luxury such as a car or if they have family they need to help support in some way shape or form. The agents would know who their guys were and would be able to keep tabs on any other agents who were potentially trying to offer more benefits and steal their clients. You better believe agents would keep a close eye on this type of behavior.  It also doesn't take money away from these college football money factories which won't hurt their bottom line or the money they will be able to spend on coaches, AD's, facilities, etc.

I counter this by saying do what baseball does....from MLB.com:

Right off the bat this makes no sense. How does this solve any of the problems with agents offering football players illegal benefits? Allowing players to get drafted and still return to school is a good idea that would be worth throwing out there but not totally changing the subject and calling it a "counter".

Quote:

The Major League Rules govern which players are eligible for selection in the Draft. These Rules are detailed, but the basic eligibility criteria can be described as follows: Generally, a player is eligible for selection if the player is a resident of the United States or Canada and the player has never before signed a Major League or Minor League contract. Residents of Puerto Rico and other territories of the United States are eligible for the Draft. Also considered residents are players who enroll in a high school or college in the United States, regardless of where they are from originally. Certain groups of players are ineligible for selection, generally because they are still in school. The basic categories of players eligible to be drafted are:   High school players, if they have graduated from high school and have not yet attended college or junior college; College players, from four-year colleges who have either completed their junior or senior years or are at least 21 years old; and Junior college players, regardless of how many years of school they have completed A Club generally retains the rights to sign a selected player until 11:59 PM (EDT) August 15, or until the player enters, or returns to, a four-year college on a full-time basis. A player who is drafted and does not sign with the Club that selected him may be drafted again at a future year's Draft, so long as the player is eligible for that year's Draft. A Club may not select a player again in a subsequent year, unless the player has consented to the re-selection. A player who is eligible to be selected and is passed over by every Club becomes a free agent and may sign with any Club until the player enters, or returns to, a four-year college full-time or enters, or returns to, a junior college. This description is a general one and the Major League Rules themselves, not this summary, govern eligibility issues. Players and coaches with questions about particular players are referred to the Baseball Operations Department at the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball.

Just drop the blurb about high school students and I think it's a pretty fair deal.  Or, better still, why stop at college?  Let's open it all up and let agents talk to high school seniors.

 

Bobcat50 wrote:

B) Universities increasing the stipend they are allowed to pay players who are on full scholarship. These schools with huge football programs are not hurting for money and paying players a couple more thousand per year is not going to put much of a dent in their finances. An idea that would go along with this would include providing different incentives for teams who succeed on the field and in the classroom to make all payments to players based on achievement.

There already are incentives for going to class and doing well for college football players; it's called getting an "A."  Your solution to the problem is by having the school PAY students to go to class and do well, just because the HAPPEN to be on the football team - are you serious? 

Here's thinking outside the box for you:

Have a team's GPA factor into the final BCS standings.  I've now created an incentive that rewards players for on the field achievment as well as exceling in the class room.

I won't even go into why or why not a college football player DESERVES a luxury.

Once again, I'm throwing ideas out there and paying kids to get good grades in class doesn't quite hit my point on the nose. All I was saying is that I believe that college football players deserve some sort of extra pay considering how much money is made on football alone. I thought that possibly putting some sort of APR that included wins, bowls, grade point averages, graduation rate, etc. could possibly be a good way to determine how much of a slice each player receives.

Bobcat50 wrote:

C)  I understand that a free college education is a great thing to have but if you break down the amount of hours players put in over a four year career I guarantee the total dollar amount per hour is well below minimum wage.

Hours broken down:

NCAA allows a coach  20 hours of  a players time for team practice/lifting/meetings ect. per week during the season, this works out to 360 hours for 18 weeks out of the year.

The NCAA allows for no more then 8 hours of required work outs during the off-season.  I'm just going to go ahead and call the remaining 35 weeks of the year the off-season.  This works out to 280 hours.

We'll add in another 45 hours to count for actual in-game time (12 games + a potential bowl game x 3 hours per game).  This brings our total to 685 hours per year that a player is required to 'work' for a game you later go on to say they love.

Average cost of a 4 year degree?  80k...or 20k per year.

$20,000 over 685 hours per year = $29.20 per required hour.

That's almost twice my hourly earning

Based on your name I assume that you were a cheerleader and not a football player. I could be wrong and please correct me if that's the case. However, if you ever were a college football player or student athlete in general then you would understand that all your hour calculations are totally incorrect and I don't care what the NCAA manual says. In season (Monday thru Friday) you really think that players put in only 20 hours per week? Well the reality is this: meetings start at 2pm and last until roughly 4. From 4:30 until 6:30 the team is on the field practicing. By the time they are off the field and showering, treatment, lifting weights it's about 8 o'clock. Many of the starters will eat and come back EVERY night to watch film until about 10 o'clock. This is the real typical day and I don't care which of it is mandatory and what is not. It's what good players and teams do and even the bad teams that are trying to get better. That's equals about 40 hours per week which doubles your calculations. After that think about travel to games on buses and airplanes and time spent away from campus. Games last three hours a week as well. Sundays are off days but you better believe that players are in the facility getting treatment, watching the previous days game film, and getting a head start on scouting the next week.

Offseason wise, it's the same thing. The NCAA mandates a certain amount of hours but I guarantee you that every player that cares about being on the field on Saturdays puts in much more time than the rules say. So therefore, once again, your estimations are way off.

Bobcat50 wrote:

And for what? A lot of these players get degrees in bull*$#@ majors and don't have a future in the professional world degree or not. Their real chance to earn some what of a keep is by their talents on the football field which ultimately don't pay off.

If a player decideds to use thier free education to get a degree in underwater basket weaving, how is this the fualt of the coach, university, NCAA, or general population at large?  If the argument is "anything else would be to hard" well then they shouldn't be allowed into college in the first place.

I never said it was anybody's fault. I'm still just trying to make a point that these athletes have a skill that is valuable. If you look at the amount of money the NCAA and universities in the BCS make from football then you will see that this talent is something that is possibly worth compensating for.

I say we go the other way with it. As much as I dislike Notre Dame, I do like thier policy of holding players to the same academic guidlines for admission that they do regular students.  If the Universites were to adopt this as an atual policy - it would completely solve your whole 3rd point.

I actually like this point and think that standards should not be so low in order to get football players in school.

That or allow anybody that can run a 4.2 to be admitted, reguardless of what thier class rank and SAT scores were.  I'll gladly bench press my way into grad school.

Totally off base and thoughtless response. Bench press in to grad school? Yea good point.

Bobcat50 wrote:

Agents being empathetic and offering money to help support a student athlete financially when nobody else is looking out for them should be commended, not damned, in my opinion.

 
Agents are not doing this out of the kindess of their hearts.

You're right it's not out of the kindness of their hearts, it's an investment. All I'm saying is that giving kids money when they are in dyer need isn't exactly my defiintion of predatory. Everybody's mind is framed around the NCAA's version of "amateur" athletes that aren't able to earn money when these athletes are the only ones not making ridiculous sums of money.


I'm not saying that the NCAA shoud be making the crazy amounts of money they do (I actually do think the NCAA should be forced to pay athletes for useing thier likenesses in video games) nor do I think the system is totaly fair.  However lets not forget that the mission of a university is academic, not to produce a BCS title.

Maybe the NFL needs a D-League.

Next time actually read something and put thought in to a response instead of simply refuting every single point just to be a d*ck.


Last Edited: 7/22/2010 5:42:22 AM by

Next time don't write a manifesto the size of a David Foster Wallace novel and then get pissy when someone adds something to the conversation.

Or maybe we can lock this thread and let your glorious reasoning fester by itself, with everyone else nodding in approval.

Jeezus....someone comes off as a d&ck in this thread, but it's not Cheerguy...