Pay Me Now and Later...

The great American athletic dream has been somewhat easy when you think about it. Learn how to play the game, polish your skills and get better everyday so that one day you will catch the eye of a recruiter, visit a major college and have the head coach ask you to sign a letter of intent to play a sport in trade for a college education.

I don’t know many kids who play Little League or pee wee basketball or football who haven’t at least thought they had a good shot when they hit a home run, made a couple of baskets or outrun a bunch of kids to score a touchdown.

If there is a hang up about playing in the big time it may be the part about going to school and getting educated. For some, going to school is a breeze in comparison to the athletic competition whereas for others several tutors won’t hurt.

For anyone paying attention to the problems that occurred at Ohio State one may wonder who is in charge. To recap, last year about five football players where found to have sold or traded championship gear for money and tattoos. By the way, this is against NCAA regulations. The five players were not banned from the Sugar Bowl played last January but would have to sit out the first five games of the 2011 season starting in September.

Head coach Jim Tressel was accused of lying about his knowledge of the incident. He would eventually ban himself from the first five games of the season. He finally resigned as the head coach after much scrutiny.

Now there have been a few people that have come to the defense of Tressel, many are coaches and former NCAA athletes who honestly believe that the answer is for players receiving a stipend for each game. The amount that has been mentioned is $300. The reasoning behind paying the players is simply this: Since the players are the ones the fans are coming to see and the NCAA and the universities are making a whole lot of money off of their talents with TV contracts they should be reimbursed somehow.

For those of you who are paying or who have paid or are now saving to send your child to school, you may wonder how any of this is fair. The athlete gets an education that is worth around $10,000 a year for four or five years and yet they need payment just to play? I know a few kids who would walk on to get paid. Oh, it’s probably just for the scholarship athletes, now isn’t it!

There are a few problems that I can see with this plan. First of all, is it just for football players or are the other sports a part of the money mix. If other sports are part of the mix, how can it be fair for the football players who only get 12 games compared to basketball that gets 28-30 games?

What about baseball players who play about 40 games? Do they generate the revenue that affords them to even get a payday? We need to bring the women in the mix with volleyball, tennis and how about golf? Who is going to see that these athletes are paid? And where is the money coming from?

Seriously, if the athletes are going to get paid why would the starting QB care if he were getting the same $300 that the fourth team guy is getting? If you are one of the assistant coaches down the ladder a ways, I’m sure your job is to get the guy whose family can afford to pay for his tuition and see if he is willing to give up half his share to make sure the stars are a little happier, monetarily.

We have come to this point because many of the big time athletes have most likely been treated like prima donnas growing up. Things like the local car dealer letting the star drive a loaner to the prom; or the steak house owner picking up the tab for a Saturday night dinner with his girlfriend; or the guy down the street giving the kid some concert tickets because he decided he had other plans that night.

Star athletes who are treated a little better than the rest of the team will always think they are deserving of more. Maybe it is tough love that we owe kids like this because the only thing that they really need is a good education and we are paying for that with an athletic scholarship. Do they really need more?