Z TrainWhile this may seem like a hot topic in the NCAA the last few years, I thought we all were on the side of the fence conceding that the NCAA was in the wrong, but I was very obviously wrong on that assumption. I write this after getting in a massive argument the other night with a couple people about this exact thing: paying college athletes. I couldn't convince anyone I was talking with of this. So now I'm here to convince you. For the sake of addressing my bias, I am much closer with aspects of college football than other sports, so this blog admittedly will probably be skewed towards football. As the biggest cash cow for the NCAA, I think it's a pretty fair central focus of the argument. Either way, I think I'll strike a common chord across all student-athletes with my points. Go to your fridge and grab some ice because these takes are about to get hot. CFB players put in two-a-days every day of the week during the school year. They're virtually under control by the team all Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the season, with the occasional rest day, still littered with film and "mental reps". In the offseason, it's camps, spring practice, weightlifting, and if you want to be a big-time contributor, days off are frowned on by the competitive culture surrounding college sports. Count up the hours however you want, playing a college sport is a full-time job. Go ask any athlete if they have free time. They'll laugh. Every single one of them. Between practice, school, travel, studying, sleeping (they'll laugh at that too) and everything else, there's not much time left in your day. The "student" portion of student-athletes gets a bad rap, whether it's from a big news bomb like Chapel Hill's fake classes, or just the seemingly common knowledge of some athlete at an SEC school skating by in classes. I won't sit here and pretend athletes don't have advantages (tutors, food, etc.), but do they outweigh the disadvantages of having a full-time job? Some athletes are even encouraged to pick easier majors to have more time for sports. While I agree the culture and encouragement is wrong, can you disagree? Could I have performed to my classmates' standards if I was doing what these athletes were doing? Hell no. Get out of here. Yes, plenty of people work while in school, and I don't think anyone who has done that would wish that upon anyone. No one should have to do that. Yet that is their proposed ticket for an education, inevitably diluted because of athletic commitments. Now to the crux of my argument. Of course we know that many of the top-shelf players come to school on a scholarship. Most of these same athletes will get free housing and free food. So what does that cost per player? By my estimations, that's about $30-40,000 per year for education, room and board (out-of-state is crap, just a markup for grant/tax purposes), and other benefits for special services, like health care, facilities, gyms, tutoring and food. I think a safe bet here would be about $10-20,000 but call it whatever you want for contingency purposes. If I was famous, I'd be sure to call up Coach Harbaugh and ask for the number, but (for now) No Brainer doesn't have that kind of pull. That sounds like a lot right? Well sure, but that's a pretty typical investment companies make for entry-level employees. A basic starting salary, on-site services and health benefits, often for your family as well. But here are the two key differences between your job and a starting captain linebacker for a National Championship team: 1. The athletes generate millions and millions of dollars for their university and the NCAA for their image and likeness.
Millions and millions into billions of dollars. This being said, what entry-level position can look up and say "wow, those millions of dollars can be traced directly back to me"? Likely not many. And if you had made this kind of contribution (I'm sure your projects are/were really important and expensive, but that doesn't mean "directly"), do you not think you would be compensated handsomely with a promotion and hefty raise? What job can directly trace millions of dollars back to themselves and what they did, and the "fair" compensation is what's listed above? Put yourself in that place and try to tell me that you would be OK with that. I'm sure if you disagree, you're very noble. But if that opportunity actually presented itself to you, you would demand at least a cut of that money, and you would probably have a pretty successful court case if it came to it. 2. Athletes have a maximum of 5 years and then they're told to beat it, regardless of the massive, lasting impact they've made on a university This is my favorite part of the whole thing. The athletes get the benefits above for a maximum of 5 years, usually for 3 or 4 if they're one of the top contributors to the NCAA's wealth (see Deshaun Watson, Andrew Luck, Reggie Bush, Sammy Watkins, Sidney Rice, and other iconic players who stayed 3 years), and then they're gone. We just conveniently forget about the massive impact Watson made at Clemson after he's gone. Or Ben Boulware. Or Mike Williams, Artavis Scott or Carlos Watkins. Or Charlie Whitehurst, Tajh Boyd, Deandre Hopkins in years past. Think about all of the talented athletes who will come or have come to Clemson because of these guys' success, generating the university and NCAA more and more money off of someone's likeness while they aren't even there. Forget only Clemson: How many fucking CFB commercials have there been with Tim Tebow (class of 2009) on the cover of it? Purdue fans still talk about Drew Brees at every opportunity, his image has carried their football program fifteen years later. Athletes don't even reap the fair benefits while they're in school, let alone the huge financial boost directly from their success that happens in the years to come, especially troublesome for those top-level contributors that could never translate to the pros where their payday awaited. So stop comparing a normal job with fair compensation to college athletics. It's just incorrect, and there's no other way to slice it or dice it, regardless of your "perspective". Google what the NCAA made last year (I did it for you). It's a massive entertainment business. This is a massive case of employee exploitation squarely in the public eye, the modern day equivalent of industrial robber barons (sound the hot take siren). Don't let the NCAA feed you their flaming pile of crap about how it's for "students" and "school is the main priority." In what world do you live in if you think that's true? It's about making money, what it's always about in the world. I agree that shouldn't be the case, but that ship sailed with fucking evolution. Look around you. Physically dominant alpha males (and females) have ran society since the beginning of time, and don't feign ignorance like you haven't known that your whole life. While I, not a collegiate athlete, knows there is plenty of notable merit to all kinds of talents and professions, the previous fact is unarguable, whether it feels cozy in your brain or not. If you disagree or are trying to poke holes in my argument, that's fair and I invite it. I know I'm right about this, and would love to think about any potential holes further so that I can destroy you better in the future. A lot of people a lot smarter than me have made this case, and I'm sure can do a better job of defending and explaining it than I can. My opinion about any disagreement is this: you're a salty bitch. You're mad that these athletes have continually beat the system. You don't want them to be fairly compensated because you think they've already benefitted so much from their talents, and you view that as unfair, even though you, I and everyone know that's not true. My advice if you're mad about this blog: reevaluate. Celebrate other's success. If you want a better system, propose it and act on it if it fires you up that much. If not, shut your mouth, and reevaluate. It's fucking sports. Give these guys and girls what they've earned and let's move forward from there. This take is so hot that I think I fried my laptop. Z Train OUT.
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Eazy EIn the year of Lavar Ball, I thought I had seen it all in the world of family members of aspiring professional athletes. Not so fast my friends! The sports gods have blessed us with Ibrahim Johnson.
Ibrahim, brother of McDonald's All-American and Texas Longhorn commit Mo Bamba, has dropped a bomb on Facebook. In a lengthy video Johnson claims that Bamba has been receiving $200 a week, vacations and a king sized bed (it's a damn travesty that a 7 foot man didn't already sleep in a king sized bed) from an investment banker known as Greer Love. Due to allegedly receiving such benefits, Johnson continues to state the NCAA has been notified of the issue and that he believes that Bamba will not be able to dress out for the already floundering Longhorn basketball program. Many of you may be asking, "why would Mo's brother do this?". It's quite simple. Ibrahim Johnson and Mo Bamba had a gentleman's agreement in which Bamba would play ball wherever Johnson went to grad school. Then upon entering the NBA draft, Mamba would hire Johnson as his agent and the two would live happily ever after. However, Bamba has since broken this agreement with intentions of seeking the services of an actual professional. This series of events ultimately leaves us with a 22 minute display of good, old fashioned, brotherly love. The public takeaway from this situation seems to be wildly in favor of Bamba, and rightfully so. It is a warped idea to throw your brother directly under the bus for the sole reason that you are no longer set to receive a cut of his hard earned paycheck. We far too often hear tragic stories of young athletes who place their financial security in the hands of friends, family and cohorts who are uneducated in the world of financial management. So let's all applaud Bamba for making the well calculated decision to stiff arm his brother. Bamba is preparing to enter a strictly business world, and he made a business decision. Kudos to him. But before I completely dive head first into a final takeaway from this wild story, I would love to know if Johnson and Mamba are actually blood related brothers. Outside of this story and his elite stature in the landscape of college basketball recruiting, I have minimal knowledge of Mo Bamba's personal life. Call me crazy, but it seems as if Mo Bamba and Ibrahim Johnson do not share the same last name. So it should be fair to raise the question of if they are actually blood related. For the sake of argument, I'm jumping the gun straight to the conclusion that these two guys are step brothers and do not share an ounce of the same blood. If there's no direct relation in their bloodlines then fuck it, feel free to hop on the team Ibrahim bandwagon. No blood, no foul done. Do you and run over everyone in your way that doesn't share your DNA, Ibrahim. Johnson saw his dreams of living the high life and taking a percentage of a potential multi million dollar salary vanish all while watching his so called "brother" sleep in a free, king sized bed. Anyone would be salty in that situation. There's only one group of people that you are obligated to owe favors to, for better or for worse, and that's family. I'm not convinced that these two are actually related. I'll need more proof to convince me other wise. Bamba didn't owe Johnson a gig as an agent and Johnson does not owe Bamba his silence. So until further notice, let's give slight props to Johnson's pettiness and decision to drop the hammer on Mamba's collegiate career. Definition of an eye for an eye move and I low key love it. PS- For everyone getting all bent out of shape that Johnson may have sabotaged Bamba's college career, take that sob story elsewhere. One year away from the wonders of a university's hardwood will not significantly change his draft stock. He's a first rounder regardless. |