In the area of collegiate sports, there have been numerous heated debates about the integrity of many things concerning the NCAA and how it handles legal and ethical issues. Two well renowned scholars tackle this issue in their co-authored book entitled
“College Athletes for Hire, The Evolution and Legacy of the NCAA’s Amateur Myth” written by Allen L. Sack and Ellen J. Staurowsky. In their book, the authors enlighten the reader on such issues as athletic scholarships, professionalism in college sports, and favoritism for athletes as well as many more important legal, and ethical issues that we as a country need to address. In this paper I will not do a standard book report by simply regurgitating the information I read in their book. Instead I will try my best to give you my opinion of the issues previously mentioned, and finally what the authors feel should be done to remedy this dilemma as well as my own opinion on the matter, but first I will discuss the issues involved in athletic scholarships.
“It is not whether an activity is perceived to be enjoyable that distinguishes employment from leisure. Rather it is the presence or absence of instrumental constraint,” ( p.4 ). This quote from the book best describes the problem of athletic scholarships as they exist today. Instrumental constraint is basically the control, or constraint of material rewards and resources, or in this case room and board or extra spending money for athletes receiving scholarships based on their athletic performance. The whole point of athletic scholarships are to free the already over taxed athlete from worrying about getting a full time job in order to pay for classes, spending money, and
room and board, on top of the full time job of school, and sports. But the dilemma is not in the money or in the scholarship itself; instead it lies in the eligibility and ethics of the issues. Take for instance Joe Schmoe, a well-rounded basketball player for the University of Anywhere. Last summer, after graduating from high school, Joe receives a letter from U of A offering him a full ride basketball scholarship starting this fall. Joe, excited as ever and not thinking of the fine print, agrees and leaves that September to attend the University. During that years’ regular season, Joe receives a resounding blow to his elbow and upper arm from a slip and fall ...
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...condly, if an athlete is given a full
ride scholarship, it should not be revocable, but instead should be on a yearly basis, this way if an athlete decides to quit, he has one year to get his grades up enough for an academic scholarship or gives him time to apply for grants and other means of financing his higher education. Third, I feel that since the NCAA continuously runs itself and its member colleges as a business entity, I feel that the athletes and Uncle Sam should get their fair share of the revenues they bring in. Finally I feel that universities should not reap the benefits of our community’s athletic ability solely for the purpose of revenues and athletic prowess; athletes should be upheld to the same academic standards as the rest of the universities students and not treated like some skilled idiot who can jump and put a round ball through a hoop, give me a break, this is college, not the NBA.
List of References
1) “ Bennett pleads innocent to charges” Sports Illustrated. Article.
March 05, 2001,
2) “Crime Among NFL’s Super Bowl Players” APBnews.com. Article.
January 25, 2000, article by Jim Edwards
In my previous two speeches I explored the issue of paying college athletes and the ethical and moral implications it has. In this paper I will formally address the issue using historical background, and, after showing both sides of the argument, I will convince you, the reader, that paying college athletes is a moral justice through the ethical theories of Deontology.
Paul Dietzel, former head coach of LSU, once said, “You can learn more character on the two-yard line than anywhere else in life.” Ever since the beginning, not only children but also college athletes have been playing sports for the love of the game and have used it as a way to grow character, teamwork, and leadership. Although when playing for a University an athletes job is to bring in profit for the school, this is not why these young men and women have continued with these sports they love. It is usually these students passion, a way for them to express themselves like others have art and music. The question has been up whether these college athletes should be paid for their loyalty and income for the University but by paying these students more than their given scholarship, it would defeat the purpose and environment of a college sport versus a professional sport, cause recruiting disputes, and affect the colleges benefits from these school athletics.
There has been a lot of athletic scandals in colleges in most parts of the world. These scandals have been as a result of the coaches and the directors of athletics in the colleges failing to take the full force of the law and giving their players freedom to do everything even if it is against the law. One of this fatal scandals is the Baylor university basketball scandal that occurred in the year 2003. This scandal involved the players and the coaches of the team. The scandal left one player dead and the other imprisoned for thirty five years. The team was subjected to a lot of punishment by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The NCAA is a non-profit organization comprised of 1281 institutions, organizations, individuals and conferences and that organizes the athletic programs of most of the colleges and universities in the United States and Canada (The New York Times, 2003).
Ever since college students started playing sports, back in 1879 when Harvard played Yale in the first collegiate sports game, the question of whether college athletes should be paid was addressed. From that point on athletes, coaches, and college administrators have brought forward points agreeing or disagreeing with the notion of paying college students. The students argue that they deserve to be paid due to the revenue that they bring for the college and because of the games they play and the championships they win. At first the idea of paying college athletes was out of the question, but now the argument has gone from a simple yes or no to a heated debate. Since college athletes are given a free education, they should not also be paid.
Another restraint to college athletes working is a time restraint. College athletes have very busy schedules they follow and when finished with their schedules they are left with very little free time. Student athletes are required to take a minimum of twelve credit hours to start the semester and required to pass at least nine credit hours by the end of the semester. With this standard having to be met, the athletes are spending hours studying and attending class. Besides from studying and attending class the athletes then have to go to practice. Going to practice and participating takes up about four to seven hours of the athlete’s day. After all of this is completed, the athletes are left with only a couple of hours for them to enjoy time with their friends or even to just relax and watch a movie. But, because these athletes are college students and do not receive any money for their commitments they are supposed to squeeze time in for work in. If athletes apply for a job they are limited to only a couple of hours a day to work. Also a large number of jobs request their employees to be available on the weekends.
Student athletes should not be paid more than any other student at State University, because it implies that the focus of this university is that an extracurricular activity as a means of profit. Intercollegiate athletics is becoming the central focus of colleges and universities, the strife and the substantial sum of money are the most important factors of most university administration’s interest. Student athletes should be just as their title states, students. The normal college student is struggling to make ends meet just for attending college, so why should student athletes be exempt from that? College athletes should indeed have their scholarships cover what their talents not only athletically but also academically depict. Unfortunately, the disapproval resides when students who are making leaps academically are not being offered monetary congratulations in comparison to student athletes. If the hefty amount of revenue that colleges as a conglomerate are making is the main argument for why athletes should be paid, then what is to stop the National Clearinghouse from devising unjust standards? Eventually if these payments are to continue, coaches, organizations, and the NCAA Clearinghouse will begin to feel that “c...
In 1798, the French Directory ordered Napoleon Bonaparte to invade Egypt. Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader. He entered Egypt with the goal of spreading the liberal ideals of the French Revolution. Napoleon very quickly occupied the populated parts of the country. He proclaimed himself the liberator of Egypt and the protector of Islam. Muslim scholar Abd Rahman Al-Jabarti’s chronicle of the French invasion of Egypt provides eyewitness accounts to Napolean’s invasion with an opposing viewpoint to the belief that Napoleon held of himself. Al-Jabarti was critical, judgemental, and did not always agree with Napoleon’s intentions due to the cultural misunderstandings occupying both the French and Egyptians. Initial
59). Primitively, scholarships were unheard of and universities were bribing athletes in order to convince them to attend their institution. After the media became aware that college sports were getting involved with fraud and gambling the proposition of offering athletes a free education (i.e. scholarships) was believed to help eliminate this dilemma. The principle of Universalization demonstrates an understanding of how equal respect is due, unless an ethical reason exists for not doing so. This is being violated by the NCAA because a student body president can receive five thousand dollars for his contribution to the institution, but a student-athlete can receive zero for their contribution athletically. NCAA critic, Taylor Branch publicly spoke in 2011 about student-athletes and equal rights by explaining, “[The real scandal in sports] is not that students are getting illegally paid or recruited, it’s that two of the noble principles on which the NCAA justifies its existence ‘amateurism’ and the ‘student-athlete’ are hoaxes…so they can exploit the skills and fame of young athletes…”
Over the years, the debate on whether or not to pay collegiate athletes, specifically Division 1, has increased greatly. With athletes bringing in millions of dollars to their respective schools, many believe it’s time to make a change. The debate has been ongoing since the 70’s, maybe even earlier, but it really came to the attention of many in the early 90’s, specifically 1995. Marcus Camby, a basketball player for the Toronto Raptors, admitted he took money and jewelry, from somebody who wanted to be his agent, while he was playing at the University of Massachusetts. This was one of many incidents that involved a player accepting money and other gifts from an agent and/or booster. I believe that college athletes deserve to be paid in some fashion. They devote their whole life to their sport, whether or not they are the starters, and most will not go on to the pros, even though they contribute to the team. They sell tickets, jerseys, T-shirts etc. for their school, and see none of the money. Coaches sign six figure deals with shoe companies, like Nike, Reebok, Converse, and the players are the ones wearing the shoes and jerseys, the coaches have on whatever they want. Even though just recently the NCAA Committee allowed athletes to get a job; between schoolwork, and practices, they don’t have enough time to find a job. Most of the kids come from poor backgrounds, and don’t have enough money to do normal college things, like going out to eat, going on a date, or out to the movies.
A huge debate has been on the rise lately relating to why division one athletes should get paid on top of obtaining a scholarship. The proposal states that athletes should be eligible to receive money based on a percentage of profit their school makes. Although some say division one athletes already have all of their needs taken care of, helping athletes with extra expenses in college is essential. Because full ride scholarships take care of most costs for athletes, many argue they already have school paid for, and extra money isn’t necessary. On the other hand, athletes spend so much time and effort in their specific sport they don’t have time to earn extra money, which establishes the need for money from their school. Either way, the decision to pass a law of this magnitude is still up in the air.
The proposal of payment toNCAA student-athletes has begun major conversations and arguments nationwide with people expressing their take on it. “This tension has been going on for years. It has gotten greater now because the magnitude of dollars has gotten really large” (NCAA). I am a student athlete at Nicholls State University and at first thought, I thought it would be a good idea to be able to be paid as a student-athlete.After much research however; I have come to many conclusions why the payment of athletes should not take place at the collegiate level.The payment of athletes is only for athletes at the professional level. They are experts at what they do whether it is Major League Baseball, Pro Basketball, Professional Football, or any other professional sport and they work for that franchise or company as an employee. The payment of NCAA college athletes will deteriorate the value of school to athletes, create contract disputes at both the college and professional level, kill recruiting of athletes, cause chaos over the payment of one sport versus another, and it will alter the principles set by the NCAA’s founder Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Under Roosevelt and NCAA, athletes were put under the term of a “student-athlete” as an amateur. All student athletes who sign the NCAA papers to play college athletics agree to compete as an amateur athlete. The definition of an amateur is a person who “engages in a sport, study, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons” (Dictonary.com).
The NCAA prides itself as an organization dedicated to safeguarding the well-being of student-athletes and equipping them with the skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life. In order to ensure that participants are students first and athletes second the NCAA has specific rules pertaining to athlete amateurism. The requirements prohibit contracts and tryouts with professional teams, salary for participating in athletics, prize money, and representation by an agent. (Amateurism) These rules not only limit the freedom of the player but also put the player at risk of being taken advantage of due to the lack of a players union and illegality of employing an agent. Other aspects of the NCAA’s rule book have been under scrutiny as well. Marc Edelman, Professor of Law at Baruch College, wrote in his treatise: Why the NCAA’s No-Pay Rules Violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act that courts are now beginning to overturn certain rules that are deemed anticompetitive. This development is important because according to the Sherman Act “Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherw...
I believe that college sports should be considered a profession. Athletes deserve to be paid for their work. College athletics are a critical part of America’s culture and economy. At the present time, student-athletes are considered amateurs. College is a stepping-stone to the professional leagues. The NCAA is exploiting the student- athlete. Big-time schools are running a national entertainment business that controls the compensation rate of the players like a monopoly (Byers 1).
The NCAA is a global, and well-known company that regulates collegiate sports with thousands of universities across the country. The NCAA organizational assessment shows its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats relative to all competitors. In this current market environment, I assessed and prioritize what strengths and weaknesses were most important and which strengths have to continue to grow and what weaknesses needed to be mitigated. It is tough for the NCAA to have great competition due to the fact that it is far beyond any competitions and doesn’t seem to show any sign of slowing down soon. Issues, whether political or ethical, or whatever the case may be, as long as the NCAA continues to analyze its “SWOT” then they will always be the leader in the current market
If you or anyone else knows a college athlete, especially one who is on scholarship, you would think that they have it easy. Free tuition and room and board; meanwhile you have to work at a part time job and actually pay for your schooling. But in all reality these people earned what they got, because many of these students did not come from wealthy families. According to USA Today, 85% of college athletes who are on scholarships live below the poverty line. So by receiving a scholarship for athletics it is giving them a chance to improve their own quality of life, and as humans we deserve to at least have some sense of self-worth. Athletes get many accommodations while attending school, aside from them going for free; they c...