You should see if Tom Gores will pay you to use his photo as your avatar. I know I would if I were him!
The issue was that the folks that gave him the $300K squawked and blew the whistle on Bush when he backed out of being the spokesman for their marketing firm....in other words if Bush had kept his part of the deal , then it would still be hush-hush like 75% of the other deals that the NCAA does not find out about and he would still have the Heisman and Ms Kardashian....
Not a wise decision on his part. He needs to remember.... "Man who go to bed with itchy butt, wake up with stinky finger."
He didn't seem to have any problem staying eligible though. (Do you think any of us could come in to 300K @ 20-21 yrs old and not have anyone notice?) I just find this notion of the amateur athlete playing for the love of the game/ra ra school spirit/"student-athlete" to be misleading and unless I was a rich man I would never ever turn my back on that sort of $$.
The only thing misleading is the sports and entertainment industry making millions of athletes think getting a free education isn't important. The way to fix a system where people are trying to unfairly profit off of college athletics is not to throw up our hands and devalue the education by paying football players to pretend to go to school.
I have been both a student-athlete and a college coach. At the beginning of each school year, all student-athletes are sat down in meetings and the rules of what is allowed and what is not allowed are explained VERY CLEARLY. The student-athletes then sign forms indicating that they understand the rules, have not violated the rules, and will not violate the rules. After all this, if an athlete still chooses to violate the rules, he knows that he is not only risking his eligibility, but he is also putting his university at risk.
for all of you saying pay the kids.... where are you drawing the line? If you pay the star QB for michigan you have to pay the bench warmer for the 112th ranked team that wins 1 game a year at best. this is just asuming you draw the line at only football.... do you include basketball and the 200 programs? the hockey teams? the baseball teams? the female programs that funnel players into the pro's of there sports? how about the sports that don't go pro?..... full ride scholarships student ath's are getting roughly what a year between there room and board? the medical care (they get is first rate at most schools).... Its a really slippy slide some of you want to start. IF you pay one athelete in my mind... you have to pay them all.... and then your talking about way more money then the schools as a whole are making.... yea sure michigan, ohiostate, and the texas's of the world might be able to do it.... how about the western, eastern, and central's of the world.
Good points, Round. You are talking about state schools that are partially funded with state dollars. Can you imagine asking Michigan taxpayers to approve of their tax money going to pay the star running back when the state doesn't have money to fix roads, pay school teachers, hire police officers, fund college scholarships, etc.?
I see it as a qualifying program. Student grades are an intrical part of maintaining the stipend. This would have to be set up like a grant style program where donors could contribute to their favorite school. We're not talking a lot of money here, but instead more like an allowance to purchase those things that students like to have. Like I said before, I really think there should be dialogue to investigate such a program and Reggie Bush could go a long way to help correct his image in this area by participating. I have only shared a few ideas, as I'm not as smart as Bill Laimbeer. But I think y'all get my drift.
I think the athlete putting his university at risk is where you lose me. Is that really supposed to be a deterrent to me? If say I pass on the $$ and hurt myself would I warm myself at night with the thought that this school (My school!) was still doing well? You got to get yours. I am not really disputing the rules, but I am saying that they wouldn't stop me from profiting when I don't have to kill someone. It is a victimless crime to me and they are offering me something for nothing. I do not know if it is still the case, but in the late 80's if a scholarship D1 athlete tested positive for weed (the first time) it did not result in any penalty and wasn't even reported to their parents. Is that in line with the good 'ol school spirit? To sit and act (not you personally) like the USC football team is at the school for academic purposes or that the coaches would be fired up if all the players decided to become pre-med majors or physicist is folly.
Most big university athletic programs are self funded. The university may pay some of the senior administrators, but usually the money spent comes from ticket revenues, tv contracts, etc. Often big money sports send funds down to sports that don't generate revenues. So, no state money, no tuition money, etc. typically goes to athletics. Neither do any athletic revenues flow back to the university, other than through the support of non revenue generating sports. No money goes to libraries, staff salaries, etc. Athletics does typically generate a lot of alumni giving, much of it, but not all, earmarked back to the athletic program rather than to the general fund for the institution. I imagine no two programs are exactly alike but typically big programs are institutions unto themselves. Many revenue sports offer full rides to student athletes, which - I'm guessing - with tuition, fees, books, room & board, probably comes out close to around $50k, which happens to be the median income of the U.S. So, a full ride athlete at a big place is already making more than half the HHs in the country.
I think we encourage and enable it more now by pretending it is not happening and that this crew cut, letterman's jacket world is somehow above professional sports.
This is an interesting article about how college athletics work and how they perhaps aren't the most efficient way to distribute scarce resources. The Case Against College Athletic Recruiting - Newsweek - Education
