Paying College Athletes

This has been in the news recently with Johnny Manziel being paid for signing sports memorabilia.  At first I was thinking why shouldn't someone be able to sell their own autograph, that seems unfair.  Let me start off by saying I do not think college athletes should be paid.  That's not to say I don't think they deserve to be paid, they do after all bring in hundreds of millions of dollars to the NCAA.  However, I think it's a bad idea to start paying college athletes in any way and here's why.

First and foremost, college athletes are told they are to be student athletes.  We've all seen those commercials about how they are going pro in something other than sports, well they'd better be focused on getting an education.  A free one at that.  There is real value that we should help people see in getting your whole college education paid.  Also, let's not act like this is some awful burden these players have to carry around, playing college sports.  Please, it's a dream of all these athletes to play sports at this high of a level.  That's my first reason.

Second,  lower level teams aren't going to be able to compete.  Say we allow players to get paid for signing a jersey or a card or something.  Now, for example, say we have a high level recruit that has always dreamed about playing for his local school, let's say BYU, and being the star. However, his family has financial troubles and a bigger school, let's say Alabama, comes out and starts talking with him.  They can tell him that boosters will pay him thousands of dollars for signing one thing.  Boosters would soon turn out to be the new recruiters.  It's going to become a game of how much money are your alumni willing to put into college sports.  Small teams aren't going to be able to compete to get high level recruits.  They already have so many other disadvantages such as equipment and facilities that this would just completely demolish low level teams having a chance to compete.  A booster can offer anything they want in exchange for an autograph they don't even care about and that is where this whole system can break down.

In the end I feel like it would be less detrimental to all of college sports to only allow players to be paid a small "stipend" by the school.  There has to be a line somewhere and in the end it really is just simplest to have no money paid to student athletes.  That's my two cents.  Don't pay the players, it will just get out of control.

Start of School

Another semester of school.  Hopefully I've only got a couple more of these left.  I'm not very good about being consistent with the whole blogging but I'm trying to be better.  School is going to be brutal again, more math classes...  I'm starting to realize as well that last summer just might be my last "summer" vacation.  If I can, fingers crossed, get a job next summer I won't be having another summer break like this last one.  

Summer is fun.  Kelsey and I got to go on some trips, see some shows, learn to play tennis, go boating, and hang out with family.  It's really too bad the working world can't take a note on the education world.  Breaks are needed.  I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving break.  Some day in the future maybe I'll miss having these math classes, but I probably won't.