Paying College Athletes... Do You Care? Why?

Sept 23, 2019

Paying College Athletes… Do You Really Care? Why?

***.

The Great Debate over “Paying College Athletes” lumbers on … like an aging pachyderm trudging across The Serengeti towards the mythical Elephant Graveyard. Will it (the aging pachyderm) ever reach it’s final destination… or is it all about The Journey … not The Destination?

NOTE: I do NOT have strong feelings about The Issue. While not as “long in the tooth” as Bre’r Kennel or “Coach” or even Prince Albert… I have lived long enough to know that nothing stays the same…

… except a Claxton Fruit Cake.

Big Time College Sports (BTCS) – as we Baby Boomers have known it – has been evolving within our lifetime and will continue to do so… “We” (at least most of us) have evolved. Why can’t BTCS?

The California legislature recently decreed that it IS OK to defecate in the streets of San Francisco – preferably not on historic Lombard Street – … it is not OK not to “pay college athletes”. Then a New York state legislator – while not sure if a football is inflated or stuffed – proposed a similar edict. It is only a matter of minutes before Beto O’Rourke, Alyssa Milano and “AOC” will weigh in… and then Hang On Sloopy!

No one knows the exact moment that The Great Debate began. I proffer that it was about the time that former NFLer Dexter Manley – a graduate (?) of Oklahoma State Univ – AKA “Boone Pickens U” – was, at age 35, discovered to have the reading comprehension of an average pre-kindergartener. OUCH! That was give/take 20-25 years ago.

Dexter’s functional illiteracy exploded the comfortable myth that college athletes were bartering their blood, sweat and tears in exchange for “a legitimate college education”. Leaving America’s hard-core sports fans with only the one myth that “all (any) Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders are virgins”.

The “Play in exchange for a College Education” Barter worked remarkably well for all concerned. “All concerned” defined as The NCAA – College Admins – College coaches – Fat Cat Boosters – and leather-lunged board monkeys far more concerned with why their idiot coach doesn’t throw more to the Tight End.

ASIDE: An annual poll of “leather-lunged board monkey fans” has, for the past 25 years, revealed that The Most Troublesome Issues in BTCS are … #1 – Throw more to the Tight End … #2 – Teach the Defensive Backs to “look back for the ball” … #3 – Drop the Death Penalty Hammer on our Hated Rival for their blatant cheating … and #4 – Why does ESPN (and every referee) Hate “Our School”?

“Pay the student-athletes” never breaks into the Fans’ Top Ten Issues… and never will.

The “… in exchange for a legitimate college education” myth was “a myth” long before colleges with 99.4% Caucasian student bodies began importing 100 or so Af Am “student-athletes” for the sole purpose of Just Win Baby. Sure, that exaggerated the “myth” but “Jocks” making a mockery of academic rigor was an established reality long before there were face masks, Jumbotrons… and 85% AfAm two-deep depth charts.

Yes… Millennials, there WAS a Pre-Jumbotron Era. Find a copy of that infamous photo Steve Spurrier took of a certain scoreboard in Kenan Stadium.

Now its 2019 and every Social Justice Warrior (SJW) worth his/her bleeding heart is DEMANDING that college athletes be paid. Again… I’m fine with “paying them”… or not.

I could debate any angle of this issue if called upon but – as a Lover of Chaos – I’d prefer to watch the endless ALLCAPS bandwidth expended on the subject.

No one has yet addressed WHO gets paid / WHO does NOT get paid / HOW MUCH does WHO get paid / … and “if we pay them, will my school still have to play all noon games in September when it is really hot?”

Does a 5-star QB get paid “X” … and a walk-on Field Hockey goalie (does Field Hockey HAVE goalies?) get paid “Y”.

Does a QB get paid more than a Deep Snapper? They DO in The NFL. UNC had a former QB switch to Linebacker… would his $$$ be effected?

Does “paying athletes” only apply to Big Time Athletic Programs? Define “Big Time”?

If the athlete is only getting paid for the use of his “likeness” in promotional advertising… if colleges use generic figures in their advertising can they avoid paying altogether. … except, of course, for the “$1,000 handshakes” from Fat Cats after “a good game”. NO ONE is suggesting THAT be eliminated. Certain “traditions” are sacred.

To The Above Rhetorical Question:

Do YOU care whether “college athletes get paid” or not? … WHY do you care?

So long as the gladiators on the playing field / court that are wearing your school’s “colors” whup the gladiators wearing your hated rivals’ “colors”… isn’t Bragging Rights all that really matters.

Whether your gladiators or their gladiators “go to class” … or “get paid” … or “beat up their girlfriends” … or … or … doesn’t really matter, does it? So long as the playing field is level… and even then “your hated rival” is still going to cheat… right?

Sure… every school’s fan base contains a few “traditionalists” who still bristle that there is commercial advertising in Our Sacred Stadium. Unless those “traditionalists” are Very Very Fat Cats who threaten to revise their wills relative to “… and to my Alma Mater I bequeath the ungodly sum of …” nobody much cares.

I PREDICT… There Will Be some form of “payment system” within 5 years … certainly within 7-8.

Where will the $$$ come from? Not to worry… the $$$ will come from Secret Foundations (?) and/or from the same bottomless Fat Cat deep pockets that pay for those silly Indoor Practice Facilities and palatial locker rooms with oodles of “charging stations”. Joe Fan with his foam finger and D-Fence sign will be spared.

It will NOT effect “tailgating” or halftime pass-outs … or your right to bitch about “not throwing more to the Tight End”.

Bet you didn’t know that …. UNC’s Legendary Women’s Soccer Coach – Anson Dorrance – spoke to the Chapel Hill Sports Club last week. I was not present but was informed by a reliable source who was. … What was expected to be a typical “How’s the team gonna do this season, Coach?” talk kinda went off the rails.

In a choked-up, almost tearful admission… Coach Dorrance went all-guns-ablazing into the issue of Lesbians Playing Soccer.

I’m paraphrasing here… he acknowledged that his multi-decades of umpteen National Champion teams have included “many lesbians” and they are all very fine people. He got specific that he has known America’s Most InFamous Lesbian Soccer Player – Megan Rapinoe – for many years and she, likewise, is a very fine person.

I’d have paid cash money to see… the facial reactions of the assembled Chapel Hill Sports Club members. 96.8% of CHSC members are quite comfortable believing… (1) Dean Smith was “born of a virgin and was resurrected on the 3rd day” … and, of course, that (2) all State and Duke fans are “pure evil on a soda cracker”.

Was Coach Dorrance asked “Why are Lebanese(?) girls such good soccer players?” My source did not say. I would not be surprised.

UNC’s new WBB Coach was not in attendance…

BTW… seating on that Mack2.0 Bandwagon is now readily available … sigh. No reservations required.

I PLEDGE TO YOU… Henceforth, I WILL post a new BLSays column EVERY MONDAY AM. I promise!

My laxity in posting has been 100% due to Lack of Self-Discipline. I am NOT “burned-out” or devoid of Incredible Insights AT ALL. This world is more chaotically YeeeHaa than ever. Reminding you of that fact is still my personal raison d’etre.

I start each day with a brisk 3-5 mile walk with a rip-roarin’ audible book. Getting close to 3,000 miles total! I get back home… rehydrate … overflowing with all good intentions. Then somehow it’s time for “the Cardinals’ game” and the day is done. Where’d It Go?

In 20+ years, I have never had a posting deadline or an editor barking in my ear. I simply churned out 2200 commentaries one at a time. I figure I have AT LEAST another 1,500+ in me.

I might post MORE than One Every Monday… but, for sure, you will start your new week with A New BobLeeSays … or the occasional re-post of an Old Favorite. In the past month, three different folks have told me how much PDEW – Pretty Down East Women changed their lives… YIKES!.