The Solution to the NCAA Pay for Play Controversy - Page 2
No wonder so many people jump at the chance to skip college and go professional early. Why deal with all the rules and regulations of the NCAA when you can go off and do your own thing? Why not go make your own money, eat what you want to eat, and take gifts from whoever wants to give you gifts? The problem is that so few people are put in the position to make that choice that the NCAA doesn't feel enough pressure to make any changes. Since the NCAA refuses to change, needy athletes are continuously tempted to take things that are now against the rules, even though they were able to have them in the past.
I would love to see the NCAA allow colleges to give players a small stipend just so they can have a little bit of cash in their pocket. A little taste of currency to satiate the cravings of a teenager longing for something to call his own. What's the harm in paying student-athletes? There is no harm, providing everyone receives an equal amount of payment. The problem lies not in the morals of whether it is right or wrong to pay players, but rather in the proposed logistics of how to keep the payments from getting out of hand.
Allowing colleges to pay players would be disastrous. Any initial limits on stipends would be lifted within a decade at the minimum. Soon enough, colleges would be able to pay students as much money as they would like to. There would be no distinction from college sports and professional sports. One of college athletics oldest traditions, recruiting, would be turned into an all out bidding war like those of the MLB. Student-Athletes would be sold to the highest bidder. All that collegiate athletics stands for; sacrifice, amateurism, and pure love of the game would be swept by the wayside, never to be considered important again.
Heres my solution to the whole problem: Don't let the colleges themselves pay the players, let student-athletes freelance. Let them do commercials. Let them sign endorsement deals. Let them play professionally during the summer. Why is it that every college student has the right to go professional in their field of choice except athletes? If a college student wants to be an artist he can sell his work if he chooses. Same thing goes for journalists who can freelance. Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook out of his college dorm. Aspiring authors can publish books while in college. This is exactly where the NCAA becomes overprotective. Everyone can go pro early, except athletes, who would have to forfeit their college eligibility to do so. Doesn't that seem unfair?
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