Pay for Play: College athletes

Concurrent to the onslaught of March Madness, once again the debate flares over whether college athletes should be paid to play. Talk about madness!

The objections to paying college athletes to play are myriad. The benefits are next to nil. Let me elucidate.

First of all, excuse me, but it seems that a 4-year scholarship, room, board, and books (and tutors for those who – surprise! – can’t keep their grades up) IS payment. If an athlete does not take advantage of these things, well, that’s his or her own fault.

Second, who are you going to pay? A university only makes money on one or two sports, usually football and basketball (maybe baseball or hockey too, depending on the geographical location). So if the logic is that the players are making money for the school and they should therefore be compensated, the question arises as to what you’re going to pay all of the athletes in sports that COST the university money. Are you going to charge wrestlers, golfers, water polo players, gymnasts, soccer players, sprinters and shot-putters to play? Or do we begin at the college level (and far earlier, in reality) to send the message to kids that you should do something that’ll bring in the green, not something that you love?

And what of women athletes? None of their sports make money. Do we charge women for participation, or simply pay them less for the same job, just like corporate America does?

Finally, let’s be honest. Big-time college athletes in big-time sports DO get paid, beyond the scholarships. Everyone who is not a complete Pollyanna knows this and will admit it.

Several years ago, I was playing golf at Michigan State, where I was working on my doctorate. I was paired with a couple of undergrads, one of whom had been a highly recruited running back out of high school. He was telling the other undergrad about how, while he was still in high school, boosters from various universities vied for his letter of commitment by buying his mother an SUV, by flying his family to Florida for a vacation, etc., etc.

During his sophomore year at State, he tore up his knee and his career ended. But his scholarship didn’t. His free ride was guaranteed, and his afternoons were free to play golf. He was a semester away from finishing his accounting degree, and had a line on a good job.

Oh, and the sports car that a booster bought for him when he came to State? Yeah, he got to keep that, too.