Mark Emmert was on Face the Nation this morning. It went about as well as you’d expect.
College football fans, this is why we can’t have nice things.
And keep in mind, it’s not going to improve. If the NCAA keeps losing in court, eventually it’ll turn to Congress for relief.
So those of you opposed to unionization, ask yourselves a simple question: how should student-athletes seek to have their grievances addressed?
Get The Picture 
I think the NCAA should do away with Emmert and his ilk. Then replace him with a board made of former players and coaches.
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Have rules from each sport created by a board of former players and coaches of that particular sport, and an overall board for atheletics in general made up from all the individual sports boards.
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I hope everybody realizes Kain Coulter was actually born in Kenya and is not really an American.
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You guys can come up with all the common sense solutions you want. The issue is that Emmert is more interested in having lawyers fight for the status quo than going through the painful process of meaningful reform. He is every bit the tine deaf beurocrat that legitimizes these sort of union movements.
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Tone deaf
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+1
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Honest question here: Does Emmert take his marching orders from the school presidents and AD’s? The NCAA serves the schools/universities. It is very possible that in an effort to protect their millions, the AD’s and presidents have told Emmert to figh this battle for them.
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Don’t forget that the NCAA has its share of skin in the game with the basketball tourney.
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I am just wading through the muddy waters here. If the presidents and AD’s were fed up with Emmert it seems like he would be dismissed with ease. However, he continues to prove his lack of worth on a daily basis. Maybe he stays because he is advancing the directive provided by the schools.
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Please, everybody here knows Emmert is in charge, does all the thinking, all the talking…that board, they are just a figurehead.
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Reliance upon Congress to pull one’s chestnuts from the fire is a fool’s errand.
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If Emmert were CEO of a major corporation he would have been canned by now. Even GM and Microsoft know when to cut losses. How he stays employed is beyond me. Seems that he has all his chips in the basket of Congress pulling the NCAA’s ass out of the fire when they lose all these court battles. And they will lose.
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So those of you opposed to unionization, ask yourselves a simple question: how should student-athletes seek to have their grievances addressed?
I don’t think they have any legitimate grievances. A few things that need tweaked maybe. But not grievances.
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I’ll admit I have not done my homework on this subject, but a player such as Eric LeGrand could, not sure he does but if the NCAA or Rutgers is not helping with his situation I would say he definitely does.
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With their respective schools…
If it is so hard, stop playing sports and pay up like regular Joes.
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Is the guy who runs this website smart enough to even realize that Georgia is a Right-To-Work state, and athletes at UGA wouldn’t be able to unionize no matter what the Supreme Court or anyone else says?
I discovered this website a few days ago, and as a UGA alumnus, season-ticket holder and huge fan, I thought it would be an interesting site to peruse.
After only a few days, I’m turned off. This obsession with paying players is absurd. This site offers no viable proposals to pay them in accordance with Title IX and no consideration/discussion of unintended consequences. All I read are sob stories about Eric LeGrand and Kevin Ware and juvenile name calling of people who dare to say that paying players may not be the perfect panacea so many think it will be.
If I want to read about compensation for college athletes, I’d like it to be written by someone who has a clue what he’s talking about. Whoever runs this site has the mental capabilities of a 14 year-old, and the more of it I read, the more likely I think it is that he is indeed a teenager.
There are a thousand other websites I can be wasting my time on. I’m done with this one.
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Liar.
If you were a huge fan, you would have already known about this site.
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I tell you what… I’ve gotten more personal insults about this topic from self-identified Georgia fans than any other one I can recall. I wonder why that is.
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Dang Senator did you piss in 98’s corn flakes? That boy needs to take his stuff to the AJC.
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You lack the photo links of Bleacher Report. 😉
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It’s the exact same reason our country is so politically polarized. We’ve reached a point where you can’t say the words “Obama”, “union”, “Bush”, “Iraq”, etc. without certain people losing their collective shit and being completely unable to engage in reasonable discourse. Kinda makes me sad when you stop and realize that we’re all on the same team here, but it feels more like it’s two competing teams at times.
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Really? A fan of the Georgia Bulldogs? From 98?
Okay, fine. Maybe you are, but I find it hard to believe considering the popularity and quality of this here blog that you have just heard of this site…whatevs’
Anywhoo, your presence will not be missed….
Furthermore,
For all those that whine for $10 tickets, $2 hot dogs, and $1 cokes…wake up! Your dream is over.
It’s 2014.
The NCAA is at the hands of deep pocket bow ties willing to throw their hands up saying “I dunno?”
Their buddies in Washington write the rule books and will outsource the problem to the NWO/UN.
Do kids in college deserve cash? Yes have some.
Do universities deserve millions in revenue on the backs of students playing the most popular sport? Yes have some.
Sit back and enjoy NCAA purgatory while it lasts…
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Obviously, 98, you learned little about labor law at Georgia or wherever you actually went…right to work states restrict unions from forcing workers to join in order to have a job. Right to work laws do not forbid unions.
thank God that’s your first and last post. GTP has a “right to be an idiot” law, but you, good sir, are over the line.
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Actually, it’s the fifth. All on the same subject. Kinda strange that a rabid Georgia fan wouldn’t comment on posts about spring practice, no?
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Tone is very familiar to your SC antagonist. Trolling…something to distract from an otherwise pathetic existence.
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There ARE unions in Georgia, e,g, the Communication Workers of America union. You just don’t HAVE to join one. There are laws that regulate the establishment and recognition of unions in the workplace, but as a right-to-work state, no worker in Georgia is required to join any union.
Let’s say the the NU players unionize and seek to spread their union to the UGA. Let’s say some UGA players take it upon themselves to attempt to get the union organized in accordance with the law. Let’s further assume that enough players vote to allow for union representation. That doesn’t mean that players opposed to the union would have to join the union. Nor would they be removed from the team. Nor would any future players have to join, as they would be protected by Georgia’s right-to-work statutes.
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Wah wah wah
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Labor and union laws vary, but the key difference, as I understand it, lies in the actions the union can take. In both Alabama and New Jersey, for example, teachers (public service employees) can join unions. In New Jersey, that union can collectively bargain with the government and order work stoppages as leverage. Alabama? Collective bargaining is against the law, as are work stoppages.
So, Alabama players can join a union, but they can’t strike or bargain collectively with the Nicktator or Battle or the SEC or the NCAA or anyone else for that matter. I am going to guess it’s that way in many states, but I honestly do not know.
Emmert: Conspiracy theory: I think Emmert’s NCAA is going to fund these lawsuits all the way through the system and see what they end up with – and then the Big Boys will know exactly what their legal parameters are moving forward. So far, I see the liability all with the NCAA and the money in the conferences. For Slive/Delany, how much risk is really in that arrangement? Again, I honestly don’t know.
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How should student-athletes seek to have their grievances addressed?
Depends on the program.
At Alabama and Auburn, you hold out for hush money.
At Georgia, you tell Ron you’re hurt. If that doesn’t work, leave your drivers’ license in your room and roll a stop sign.
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Sad to see the NCAA-paid trolls throwing a hissy fit. Also sad to see Emmert saying he’s willing to trash the whole thing rather than compromise. Kind of like the MLB owners in the 70s, turned down very limited deals for no-trade clauses and better arbitrators and got real free agency instead.
Question: with the mix of private and public schools, can the NCAA be a “bargaining unit?” Or would each school have to be a bargaining unit?
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Do they still have a Student Union bldg on campus? Most campuses have them and what is the significance of the group? Student relations and grievances with their U? In this case are we speaking of student-athletes and their relationship to the U or are we speaking of football players with grievances toward their team/coaches/school?
There is a student-athlete fund with contributions each year from the NCAA. How is it currently used? It is intended for use by student athletes for problems that go beyond their means. Couldn’t this be put to work to ameliorate the problems now facing a student-athlete? My understanding was that the fund was in excess of 1M in the last several years.
Student Councils help to vent problems that affect many, but individual problems with money and family not so much.
There are many organizations on campus to help even to the soul of the problem. I’d like to see them listed as to function to determine how much help exists on campus(s) and what forms they take (even out into the local community) before replying to the conundrum invented and presented.
My contention all along is to look for ways to solve some problems with what we have before opening Pandora’s Box with no solutions available. Yep, I know you are speaking of individual rights, but if much of the angst vented is to assist players during recruitment, then have at it. It might be that many problems can be reduced to the collegiate level except those only satisfied by a college Tea Party.
If we could exhaust the present day college organizations present for all students problems before undertaking solutions to problems being created, I’d be a happy Dawg. Hey, AHD, your kids are now at UGA: how about a listing from them? Or any others who can get info in front of us.
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