Not sure if anybody caught this in the news this week, but thought this proposed legislation in California is a really interesting development in the ongoing push to provide compensation to student-athletes.

For those who missed it, LeBron James tweeted his support of the law: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/09/05/lebron-j...

The law -- which would only apply to schools in California -- would make it illegal for schools to take away scholarships or eligibility from any student athlete for making money from endorsements.

In essence, it maintains amateurism while not limiting ability to earn outside income from endorsements, much like Olympic athletes. It would also enable players to work with agents on such deals.

If this law passes, I'd have to think it'd be a boon for California schools when it comes to recruiting top athletes. And if those schools are perceived to have an advantage, I'd expect there to be a domino effect in other states.

Each year I get more convinced that the days of college sports are fading. What began as little more than a club sport in the 1880s has grown into big business, only loosely connected to the core mission of the universities. The current system is based on the principles of socialism, where every athlete receives the same thing, regardless of their success. They get a free education, room and board, nutritional training, healthcare, academic support, etc, and the third string player with a scholarship gets exactly the same as the star.

With virtually every university losing money at athletics, the day is coming when football, and perhaps other sports, will be spun off from universities and replaced by some sort of free enterprise variant. The players will be compensated, with the best athletes getting more than they do now, but with the majority getting less. In the end, each athlete will be compensated based on their ability to generate revenue. Sports that generate little revenue will return to their former status, club sports, where people do it for fun, and for the spirit of competition.

In all of this prediction, I see great irony. The people who normally support socialism are the ones who most strongly favor abandoning the current socialist system, while those that normally favor free enterprise are the ones who strongly support the current system.

Funny enough, I was thinking about this exact thing while my mind was wandering while working the other night. It goes to show how much cognitive dissonance we all allow into our thinking no matter our core beliefs when it comes to things we love. I really don't blame either side. One side loves college football as it is and is willing to overlook a lot to maintain it. The other really doesn't like what has happened to the priorities of universities and is willing to argue for a system they'd otherwise hate.

I understand both, but think we should always err towards the individual having the right to do what they feel best.

It's likely blowing up the system will turn disastrous, but if we're going to really live up to what we preach, adults can't be treated like children in this situation and we can't keep subsidizing the sports that don't make money just because we like the idea of a fair and just college athletics system. Not when so many of our colleges and universities are struggling so much.

No SUCH THING AS A PARTIAL SCHOLARSHIP IN FOOTBALL OR BASKETBALL.

Salaries at the big boys are reflective of an addiction to TV money they have within their means. Salaries at Ohio are indexed relative to the MAC to stay above lower tier conferences and reflect a market rate for a MAC coach. Boals is not paid necessarily what the school has a capacity to pay but what its felt that Ohio needs to pay to attract a coach of his caliber.

Also FBS schools now have merit aid programs. I'll give you an example of a 4 star defensive back from Michigan who is recruited to play at Michigan. At a place like Michigan the line for merit aid is for arguments sake a 30 and the DB has 28 so he's below the threshold. Yet he Michigan a try because with their B1G network the potential exists for a six figure endorsement if he's all Big Ten. He goes to Michigan and can't make the two deep so the DB transfers to a place like Ohio where that 28 ACT will give him a full tuition ride as an out-of-state student and with the sorrid state of Ohio's secondary he's instantly part of the 2 deep with a better chance at earning endorsements with playing time in the MAC. Miami would be up a creek in MAC football with how expensive they are to attend without a full ride.