Around the Big Ten

[WM Wolverine]

Yup, that is exactly what they are looking into; paying all scholarship athletes. It sounds like the other 4 BCS conferences (SEC, ACC, Pac 12, Big XII but not the Big East) are considering it as well...

Only C-USA has taken a stance and they are obviously against it...

As for the $2500-$5000 figure, not sure where I read that so don't hold me to it. To me that sounds about right, that is a decent amount of money for a college kid who worked a summer job that really has little to no expenses other than clothing and entertainment. Also realize that a lot of non revenue sports are largely partial scholarships and are far more limited in total scholarships allowed (per league of NCAA rules) relative to the amount of players to field a team.

[Ghengis Jon]

Cheese and rice, they are getting paid. Even with a 'limited' scholarship (no books or fees), how much is out-of-state tuition plus room and board at U-M? Add another 25% cuz if the scholarship was not awarded, (won as a gameshow prize or whatever), it would count as taxable income. Thats a good chunk of change. An education that can never be taken away, unlike material objects, has some additional value too. And if professional sports is your ultimate goal, how much value do you derive from the school's media exposure? Athletes are being paid. Discussion of a "stipend" is little more than narcissism imo.

[Ghengis Jon]

Maybe I sound a little harsh. I advocate a full ride, not a free ride.

[Hannibal]

When I discuss this issue, I am often reminded of the fact that most of my wife's friends have returned to work, many of them for one reason -- to save money for college. That's a huge sacrifice to make. So atlhetes don't get beer and movie money from the university? Cry me a fucking river. They leave college with no student loans. Their parents never have to save a dime. And yet somehow, I'll bet that most of them are still carrying around iPods and have Playstation 3s in ther dorm rooms. Where can I sign my child up to get "exploited" by this system?

Are you kidding? Every school in the country would sign up a roster of "non-booster agents" that would pay every good kid on their team. And no one would be able to directly link the agent to the school, but it would be unbelievably easy to have some periphery booster direct cash to the agent for taking care of their kids.

Don't agents register with the professional leagues? I think that you could come up with a system that has less abuse than what the system has now.

How much money are we talking about with a few grand per athlete? A million bucks a year? How much is that compared with the sum total of all of the under the table cash that goes to players nowadays? If colleges end up paying players, I'll bet that every university will end up shelling out more cash than all of their shady boosters are doing nowadays. So much for preserving the "amateur" status of the system. And by doing this, you're still going to get some players taking cash. The unversity could never pay Cam Newton or Terrelle Pryor enough to deter them from taking money from an agent or a booster.

Cheese and rice, they are getting paid. Even with a 'limited' scholarship (no books or fees), how much is out-of-state tuition plus room and board at U-M? Add another 25% cuz if the scholarship was not awarded, (won as a gameshow prize or whatever), it would count as taxable income. Thats a good chunk of change. An education that can never be taken away, unlike material objects, has some additional value too. And if professional sports is your ultimate goal, how much value do you derive from the school's media exposure? Athletes are being paid. Discussion of a "stipend" is little more than narcissism imo.

EFZ.

If it's so impossible to live without a stipend, then how do the thousands of student athletes that come from dirt poor backgrounds who aren't good enough to harvest the money from jock sniffers manage to do it? How does a guy like Vincent Smith get money for clothes, ordering pizza, or going out on a date? I guarantee you agents aren't buying him jewelry and cars. How do the poor kids who play college football for a crappy program like Temple or Toledo get by? They must do it somehow.

Lots of misleading arguments surrounding this issue IMHO. Along with a lot of class warfare and language that references black slavery. It's being hijacked into a "poor black kids need more money" issue when:

A. A four or five year ride at a major university is worth ridiculous amounts of money.

B. A cursory glance at who's taking money and who's not doesn't show a link between economic background and who gets money under the table. It's more of a character issue than an economic one. I know that Webber didn't grow up dirt poor, and as far as I can tell, Cam Newton didn't either.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Excellent post.

I am firmly against any kind of stipend for athletes.

I don't know where these conference clowns are coming up with these ideas? IMO, it's a weak attempt to DO SOMETHING to stop the rampant rule breaking that involves under the table payments to athletes. It does nothing to solve the problem just adds to it.

The answers to stopping this kind of behavior are stiff penalties for players, coaches and administrators. Athletic programs owe players they recruit an opportunity. If they blow it, for whatever reasons, that's on them. Same for coaches and administrators ...... start hammering them and they'll figure out a way to stop it.

If conferences want to spend money in a productive way, they'll spend it giving the NCAA more investigative authority and more clout. The current BS about stipends is simply a smoke screen to get folks looking closely at this off their back.

[entropy]

Yup, that is exactly what they are looking into; paying all scholarship athletes. It sounds like the other 4 BCS conferences (SEC, ACC, Pac 12, Big XII but not the Big East) are considering it as well...

Only C-USA has taken a stance and they are obviously against it...

As for the $2500-$5000 figure, not sure where I read that so don't hold me to it. To me that sounds about right, that is a decent amount of money for a college kid who worked a summer job that really has little to no expenses other than clothing and entertainment. Also realize that a lot of non revenue sports are largely partial scholarships and are far more limited in total scholarships allowed (per league of NCAA rules) relative to the amount of players to field a team.

$2500 is basically 200 per month. Take a date to the movies and dinner, that is probably 80-100 right there. seems reasonable.

[entropy]

When I discuss this issue, I am often reminded of the fact that most of my wife's friends have returned to work, many of them for one reason -- to save money for college. That's a huge sacrifice to make. So atlhetes don't get beer and movie money from the university? Cry me a fucking river. They leave college with no student loans. Their parents never have to save a dime. And yet somehow, I'll bet that most of them are still carrying around iPods and have Playstation 3s in ther dorm rooms. Where can I sign my child up to get "exploited" by this system?



Don't agents register with the professional leagues? I think that you could come up with a system that has less abuse than what the system has now.

How much money are we talking about with a few grand per athlete? A million bucks a year? How much is that compared with the sum total of all of the under the table cash that goes to players nowadays? If colleges end up paying players, I'll bet that every university will end up shelling out more cash than all of their shady boosters are doing nowadays. So much for preserving the "amateur" status of the system. And by doing this, you're still going to get some players taking cash. The unversity could never pay Cam Newton or Terrelle Pryor enough to deter them from taking money from an agent or a booster.



EFZ.

If it's so impossible to live without a stipend, then how do the thousands of student athletes that come from dirt poor backgrounds who aren't good enough to harvest the money from jock sniffers manage to do it? How does a guy like Vincent Smith get money for clothes, ordering pizza, or going out on a date? I guarantee you agents aren't buying him jewelry and cars. How do the poor kids who play college football for a crappy program like Temple or Toledo get by? They must do it somehow.

Lots of misleading arguments surrounding this issue IMHO. Along with a lot of class warfare and language that references black slavery. It's being hijacked into a "poor black kids need more money" issue when:

A. A four or five year ride at a major university is worth ridiculous amounts of money.

B. A cursory glance at who's taking money and who's not doesn't show a link between economic background and who gets money under the table. It's more of a character issue than an economic one. I know that Webber didn't grow up dirt poor, and as far as I can tell, Cam Newton didn't either.

it is because the kids are getting money already. I will bet my life Michigan football players are getting money or free stuff.. or selling stuff. Too many players and too many fans for them to control it all. The reality is EVERY school has this problem because you can't stop a store from giving a kid a free pair of shoes. You should notice the free cars, but a shoes or a movie or food, no way a program can watch that. And that is how many kids get by..

also.. full rides do not cover all your costs of college. And I'm not talking beer, movies, etc.

[entropy]

Excellent post.

I am firmly against any kind of stipend for athletes.

I don't know where these conference clowns are coming up with these ideas? IMO, it's a weak attempt to DO SOMETHING to stop the rampant rule breaking that involves under the table payments to athletes. It does nothing to solve the problem just adds to it.

The answers to stopping this kind of behavior are stiff penalties for players, coaches and administrators. Athletic programs owe players they recruit an opportunity. If they blow it, for whatever reasons, that's on them. Same for coaches and administrators ...... start hammering them and they'll figure out a way to stop it.

If conferences want to spend money in a productive way, they'll spend it giving the NCAA more investigative authority and more clout. The current BS about stipends is simply a smoke screen to get folks looking closely at this off their back.

the other option is to regulate how much a scholarship athlete can make via a part time job. Meaning.. so much per hour and only so many hours. (that assumes they have time to get a job, since athletics today is basically a full time commitment.) I think that would be tougher than a stipend to control.

[Hannibal]

it is because the kids are getting money already. I will bet my life Michigan football players are getting money or free stuff.

Denad Robinson -- possibly. The third string cornerback who was a 3-star recruit in high school? Highly unlikely. If you could truly trace every dollar that is paid out, I'll bet that the overwhelming majority is going to a very small minority right now. The guys with first round earning potential in the NFL, and impact players in college that boosters desperately want to recruit and keep happy. Even at an extremely dirty program like Ohio State, we're probably not talking about more than a few athletes at any one time.

[Jamie H]

the other option is to regulate how much a scholarship athlete can make via a part time job. Meaning.. so much per hour and only so many hours. (that assumes they have time to get a job, since athletics today is basically a full time commitment.) I think that would be tougher than a stipend to control.

They already do this. Athletes are limited to $2000 per school year, though I believe that only comes into effect during the year--over the summer there is no cap.

[entropy]

They already do this. Athletes are limited to $2000 per school year, though I believe that only comes into effect during the year--over the summer there is no cap.

I did not realize they had a cap during the school year. thanks

[entropy]

MSU upping Texas presence

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[Mackenzie]

$2500 is basically 200 per month. Take a date to the movies and dinner, that is probably 80-100 right there. seems reasonable.

You're kidding, right!

[entropy]

You're kidding, right!

yes, I've been supporting this position as a big joke.

[Mackenzie]

Thanks for clearing that up.