The NCAA and The Student Athlete

In 2003, I discussed one of my favorite topics: Amateur Athletics and the manipulation of student athletes by athletic directors and universities across the nation.

There may be no greater exploitation of American youth than college football and basketball programs.

Universities hire young men to play sports, pay them nothing, pretend to give them an education, hold them to ridiculous social, moral and intellectual standards, prevent them from earning a living while in school, then discard them without any education after a few years.

Of course, we blame the athletes, because we can't blame the schools; but the schools are at fault.

The NCAA is in cahoots with the NBA, NFL and television networks. Nowhere, in no industry, is avarice and exploitation so obvious. Even the pornography and sex-worker industries have more integrity than college sports. Pimps are more honorable than athletic directors. Pimps aren't pretending to do anything more than exploit their staff, while athletic directors pretend to be providing an education.

As I said in the article linked above, all universities who want to participate in sports for profit should be required to establish a college of sports that can teach the athletes how to get a job and survive outside of their sport.

The NCAA, in all its wisdom, has not promoted this.

They do, however, promote the penalization of athletes who want to switch schools.

Mike Wrathell, a member of the bar and a graduate of Michigan, presented his alma mater with a challenge to treat their student athletes a little better. Read about it at AmericaJR.com.



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