NCAA’s Official Position

[kryptonite]

It matters if you're trying to find a fix.

I'm no fan of the NCAA but mostly because of their uneven enforcement of the rules. I see no good coming out of this for UM. It willing only create a more uneven playing field. Recruiting will devolve into which schools have the most lucrative endorsement contracts (combined with the bags).

As I've said to others, allowing schools to profit unevenly will kill the sport. We're already at a point where it's hard to believe that outside of a few schools anybody has a chance. That was always true in a particular year, but it's become true long term. Right now there's no reason to think the next 10 NC won't be won by bama, Georgia, LSU, Clemson, or OSU. There are other teams that might sneak one, but if those teams don't make catastrophic coaching choices, there's no reason they won't stay on top for the foreseeable future.

Yeah, I'd be less bothered if Miami were one of those teams, but even then I'd think it was bad for the sport. What are the rest of us cheering for if we know we can't win it all?

 

[g8rh8rMD]

I want fun so I hope the ncaa takes it ball and goes home - throws the CA schools out and doesn't let them play against any members. Lets see what recruits go to CA schools then. Of course there will be ligation and ncaa usually loses in court but absent a restraining order the damage will be done before the case is lost. Even with restraining order, recruiting might suffer for the unknowns. CA might control the cost of our cars but football and basketball are ruled elsewhere. What happens to Pac 12 tv contracts if CA can't play outside the state? Lets have a fight worth watching.

 

[dookie blaylock]

So maybe a limit on how much you can spend on football then? That would help put the money other places, and to be honest football facilities are getting ridiculous. Maybe the reason we cut sports is because we have to build a mini-golf course to keep up with Clemson.

then you'd cement bama, clemson, texas, ohio st, uf and a few other schools at the top because they're not going to tear down what they already have, and we wouldn't be able to build up to that. not that it would ever happen anyway.

 

[kryptonite]

Here's a question: how do pro leagues do it? What stops billionaire owners from offering a little more on the side to get a player? Why aren't they out here bribing kids in the draft to declare they won't go to this or that team? What keeps the money above board and why can't college do it too?

 

[PanamaCityCanes]

The things that make college football special will be gone... and college football will be minor league NFL. Nothing more.

And that won't last either, because no one is going to pay to watch minor league football teams that aren't affiliated with a university.

 

[kryptonite]

then you'd cement bama, clemson, texas, ohio st, uf and a few other schools at the top because they're not going to tear down what they already have, and we wouldn't be able to build up to that. not that it would ever happen anyway.

We might build to it if there were a ceiling. Right now bama will just keep increasing what they spend at least as fast as we do. Cap them and others might catch up. Not to mention I'd be more likely to donate more if I didn't think it was ****ing in the ocean.

 

[PanamaCityCanes]

Here's a question: how do pro leagues do it? What stops billionaire owners from offering a little more on the side to get a player? Why aren't they out here bribing kids in the draft to declare they won't go to this or that team? What keeps the money above board and why can't college do it too?

The billionaire owner has a lot to lose, such as his franchise, with blatant cheating like that. It's a lot harder to keep tabs on the boosters from hundreds of schools who really have no risk.

 

[dookie blaylock]

We might build to it if there were a ceiling. Right now bama will just keep increasing what they spend at least as fast as we do. Cap them and others might catch up. Not to mention I'd be more likely to donate more if I didn't think it was ****ing in the ocean.

there is no way to cap it because the hard, accounted for funds are not the issue. the soft money from payouts, cars, friendly cops, friendly media, jobs for mom and dad, payouts to handlers, and $100 handshakes are the issue, and those can't be accounted for. we're not losing recruiting battles to locker rooms and football facilities.

 

[dookie blaylock]

Here's a question: how do pro leagues do it? What stops billionaire owners from offering a little more on the side to get a player? Why aren't they out here bribing kids in the draft to declare they won't go to this or that team? What keeps the money above board and why can't college do it too?

because bribes are illegal, and smart players (at least ones getting good advice) and teams aren't going to risk their futures on a maybe. players shoot up and down draft boards after the combine and during individual workouts every year, and there's always someone that is supposed to go high that hurts himself or screws up heading into the draft. what happens when the player says they won't go to whoever is picking #1, so that team trades #1 away to someone else that didn't bribe him? it's not that simple.

 

[A1cane]

In my opinion the ncaa should allow students to be paid but make the rules clear. I would do it as such d1 power 5 schools each athlete under scholarship receives $2000 a month the money that comes from is Jersey sales,ticket sales, t.v deals and sponsor deals within the university along with and money made from bowl games. Then I would crack down on paying students to come to their university because you know some schools will stil try to do it and every time they are caught they lose 10 scholarships for the following year

 

[kryptonite]

there is no way to cap it because the hard, accounted for funds are not the issue. the soft money from payouts, cars, friendly cops, friendly media, jobs for mom and dad, payouts to handlers, and $100 handshakes are the issue, and those can't be accounted for. we're not losing recruiting battles to locker rooms and football facilities.

The billionaire owner has a lot to lose, such as his franchise, with blatant cheating like that. It's a lot harder to keep tabs on the boosters from hundreds of schools who really have no risk.

Maybe I'm being naive, but it seems like there should be a way to regulate this. And I can't believe there aren't rich NFL fans who would be willing to pay to help their team win a super bowl.

 

[PanamaCityCanes]

Maybe I'm being naive, but it seems like there should be a way to regulate this. And I can't believe there aren't rich NFL fans who would be willing to pay to help their team win a super bowl.

It's regulated now, but boosters still find a way to sneak money to recruits. And even if someone is caught, the penalties really don't matter. If an NFL franchise was found to be cheating in that way, the penalties would be monumental.

 

[kryptonite]

because bribes are illegal, and smart players (at least ones getting good advice) and teams aren't going to risk their futures on a maybe. players shoot up and down draft boards after the combine and during individual workouts every year, and there's always someone that is supposed to go high that hurts himself or screws up heading into the draft. what happens when the player says they won't go to whoever is picking #1, so that team trades #1 away to someone else that didn't bribe him? it's not that simple.

Pretty much all of that is true of college as well. Bribes are illegal as is not reporting income and/or helping somebody else by telling them how to do it. There's no way the government is cool with people moving hundreds of thousands of dollars around and not telling them. It's funny, Uncle Sam usually gets all ****y when you try to hide money from him, but he doesn't seem to care about any of this.

 

[kryptonite]

It's regulated now, but boosters still find a way to sneak money to recruits. And even if someone is caught, the penalties really don't matter. If an NFL franchise was found to be cheating in that way, the penalties would be monumental.

That's kinda the point...why can't there be for real penalties for college teams when their boosters get caught? Not to mention a legit effort to catch them.

 

[FourFingers]

If the NCAA had any forward vision they could have avoided the complete catastrophe they created soley because of their own greed and corruption.

Instead they sat idly by, feeding like the gluttonous pigs they are at heart, randomly smashing minor offenders that didn't affect their botttom line while turning a blind eye to massive cheating that's created a system where only a hand full of teams have a chance to win.

All of it off the sweat off the backs of young men who can't benefit one dollar from the billions they are helping these greedomongers stuff their wallets with.

Then they have the balls to stand there, pontificating bull**** about shamateurism and doing what's best for the kids.

Here's an idea, when your program is bringing in anwhere from $100 to $250 million a year, set aside a fraction of it for players after graduation as a reward for the thousands of unpaid hours they dedicated to making you rich. Or let them make a little money from the jerseys you sell in your team store for a hundred a pop.

**** them. They are getting exactly what they deserve,

Extinction.

Beautifully said. Emmert is scum.

 

[nikkoum]

I feel like this letter opened the door for people to rip the NCAA and thus didnt do themselves any favors. Its like they still want to play that holier than thou line and this inadvertently highlights everything that's wrong with it.

My personal feeling is that, the NCAA has never had the interest of the student athlete at their core. From a marketing standpoint, sure they did. Otherwise they really couldn't exist. In actuality first and foremost its the money. Conference alignment, TV deals, marketing angles, story lines around games etc.

In the end what did everyone expect? This is what happens when you want to look the other way for so long while everyone feeds at the trough and gets fat. They ignored the opportunities to address this and find common ground. If they had sucked it up and negotiated as much of this in house... Maybe bit the bullet and swallowed somethings that they didnt want to do it wouldn't have gotten here.

Now the only entity bigger than them comes in out of left field and levies a decision that they REALLY dont want and in the process throws the whole thing into bigger chaos.

Now what? They kick out the most storied college basketball team of all time? Are they going to dump USC, UCLA, Stanford, Cal etc out of football? You think that the PAC - 10 is going to just disappear. No way man. Too much money to be lost. I guess, no problem. USC and Notre Dame will just stop playing each other..

If I were a better, I would say you are going to hear of similar lawsuits coming up in other states in a hurry.

In the end this will change the balance of recruiting in football and basketball. It just becomes another category and people may have to deal with it. If you are in a big market you get a benefit. If not you dont. It may or may not be important to the individual athlete at the time of them signing on. Not to mention that there are plenty of athletes who dont become big until after they finally get to play. Hidden gems. Its not like there aren't a bunch of guys on NFL squads that come from non power houses..

Also keep in mind. Some of these big programs in rural areas like Alabama in football and Kentucky in Basketball already have multi million dollar marketing firms and operations in place. I fail to see that they can't utilize there brand as a way to assist in said endeavors if it becomes legal.

Im sure there are holes in my opinion. Just a gut reaction.

 

[dookie blaylock]

Pretty much all of that is true of college as well. Bribes are illegal as is not reporting income and/or helping somebody else by telling them how to do it. There's no way the government is cool with people moving hundreds of thousands of dollars around and not telling them. It's funny, Uncle Sam usually gets all ****y when you try to hide money from him, but he doesn't seem to care about any of this.

big programs know how to utilize cash and how to cover it up (don't deposit the money into a bank account, don't make enormous splash purchases, etc). the sb nation bagman article (linked below) is an incredible insight into how it works. plus, the irs isn't using its resources hunting down essentially untraceable money and then jumping through hoops to hunt down someone with plenty of plausible deniability and the cash for very good lawyers.

Meet the bag man: 10 rules for paying college players

How to buy college football players, in the words of men who deliver the money.

www.bannersociety.com

 

[nikkoum]

The American economy is adapt or die. Oldies never like it. It gets in the way of the things you grew up with and or interferes with your business model that you haven't bothered to change.

The NCAA HEAVILY participated in said economy and hasn't adapted. This is, and always was the inevitable outcome.

 

[dirtyred786]

boosters and conference tv contracts.

And dont the tv contracts come in due to the hard work of the athletes? Should they not get a piece of they pie?

 

[dookie blaylock]

And dont the tv contracts come in due to the hard work of the athletes? Should they not get a piece of they pie?

they do, but there's title ix that gets in the way. if title ix as it applies to athletics went away, then i would be all for it. the problem is that it's interpreted in so many different ways that it would be an absolute quagmire to navigate. i'm absolutely against universities paying athletes as it stands right now because only schools with massive programs and budgets would be able to compete while staying compliant.

and even without title ix, the optics of paying the revenue-generating sports (deservedly) far more than the others would turn into another equal pay for women debate that has no good solution. if you were to pay athletes based on their team's contribution to revenue, most athletes would get nothing (and by the numbers/logic alone should owe money to the school).