https://twitter.com/LeadingNCAA/status/787334702491324416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Really, this is a perfect reaction to Nigel Hayes. If you’re someone who thinks every college player is just like them, that is.
“For, me, personally, I think it’s totally bandwagonning,” Escamilla said of Hayes. “I think if he really thought this through, I think he would’ve done it (earlier). Everybody knows it’s been going on for, what, two, three years now?
“I think, personally, I feel it’s going to take away the focus of the team. I just think he should be worried about the season, and everything else tied to the season. If something happened to his family, I could kind of relate. But they should focus on the season at hand.”
Yes, yes, everyone knows these kids can’t focus on more than one thing at a time. And obviously, other Wisconsin players will lose their focus because their star player has an opinion that fans don’t share.
Why can’t these players just shut up and do their damned job?
Get The Picture 
Anytime any player, especially one of color, has anything to say these days. “Why can’t these players just shut up…?” seems to be the reaction. I guess people just want to watch dehumanized robots play the games and not have to be bothered by trivial details like, say, life.
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Don’t you know that college is not the place for young adults to learn they have a voice?
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I appreciate and understand where these kids are coming from but I have to wonder if they weren’t on full athletic scholarship at nice schools what else would they be doing. I wondered that back in the 70s before big money and TV took control of college sports.
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Clearly they would all be out robbing and raping.
Oh, is that not what you meant? What did you mean?
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Jeez man, I think he means most athletes wouldn’t get into the colleges they play for. Seems like you’re making this thread more contentious just for sport.
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Isn’t that the point?!?
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It sure seems to be for you, anyway
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Yes, I meant SOME would be robbing and raping, some on scholarship are doing that anyway, SOME would be on probation or in jail, SOME would be working minimum wage jobs barely getting by, SOME would be in the military getting screwed by the government, SOME would be living with mom and dad, and SOME would be successful college graduates making a decent living.
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“Yes, I meant SOME would be robbing and raping, some on scholarship are doing that anyway”
Really? Which ones?
Is it fair to assume criminal behavior in student-athletes? Does that mean you wonder what the rest of the student population would be doing if they weren’t in school, and that some are “robbing and raping” regardless?
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I submit that your wondering is not innocent. I forgot to even mention “at nice schools”… Jesus.
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Escamilla’s response above, seems selfish (prepare for the season, so I’m better entertained) in that context.
However, The only difference between this broke student and many of the others on campus, is no one knows who the others are as they scrape and scrounge to get through school, they’re likely taking a more difficult course load with fewer resources to help while working 1-2 jobs. Some of them may have to drop out because they’re out of money. Many of them will take several years to pay off student loans while making less than the average for their chosen profession. They for sure won’t make a CEO’s salary their first year out of college.
These guys don’t get my sympathy one bit. He’s welcome to choose another path in life. Is it hard? Sure. Great opportunities are always hard. That’s why we call it work. Otherwise, we’d all be sipping champagne on our super yachts in Monaco.
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Yep.
I worked a job and a half during my college years and took four years paying off my student loans. While I was microwaving Ramen noodles and pulling all-nighters to get my papers done the ball players got free tutoring and steak every night.
Cry me a river.
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those players worked harder for longer than you did.
You should have worked harder to earn those benefits.
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..and got more for it.
Those complimentary tickets for my family were nice. The training table was nice.
Etc.
Etc.
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Damn, Ward. Quit injecting reason and thought into what seems to be a discussion of what someone “feels” things should be like.
Here’s a tip for all the current players, whatever color or background you are: Life is hard. Sometimes, it isn’t fair. If you work hard, you may still not succeed, but your chances of success are lots better than if you don’t. If you get an opportunity which gives you a better chance of success, take it and run with it.
I get the idea that “college sports are generating millions of dollars, and I should be getting more.” On the other hand, there are a lot of young people playing sports that are getting an expensive college education at schools they otherwise probably couldn’t afford to attend or qualify to attend in the absence of their athletic skills. I know one of them at Georgia Tech, oddly enough. He’s a middle class white kid from DeKalb County, and he understands football is a means to a better life for him IF HE TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE FREE EDUCATION. There are kids of all colors who understand this, and kids of all colors who don’t.
Nobody makes any of these kids play sports. A lot of them quit because they just don’t want to put up with the grind anymore. And, it is a grind. There are a lot of kids grinding who cant shoot jumpers or throw spirals. If you have a skill that makes you more desirable to a place you couldn’t otherwise attend, take advantage of that. Most college athletes aren’t going to play pro ball. For the few who do, most aren’t going to make enough money to live the rest of their lives without working. For the few or THOSE who do, an awful lot are going to blow it before they’re 40. Might be a good idea to pay attention in school.
I understand the laissez faire economic argument about money generated. Start a league for pros and fight over the money like the NFL guys do if the money is the only thing that matters, but quit pretending a fully paid college education is a thing of small value or no value. It only has no value if you don’t make the effort.
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Well said. I agree with the content and tone of your post, fully.
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If only we lived in a country where you were free to pursue financial success on your own. Sigh, a girl can dream.
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When I was his age, I was doing push-ups while wearing MOPP 4, so if it is sympathy you want from me, you have to try harder. MUCH harder. And I have no regrets for what I went through because I chose to do it. Period. Win, lose, or draw (and there was a lot of each), my actions are just that: My actions. To quote Shelly Winters:. There are 3 things I don’t share, blame, credit and dessert.
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I thought most all of the Power 5 athletes were getting the stipend now….free room and board plus pocket change..must be tough.
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knee jerk to an effective display of juxtaposition
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Because their damned job does not pay enough.
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Fair is fair.
If you want college athletics run like a business, let’s run them like a business. Close the 200+ athletic departments that aren’t self-sustaining and start paying players at the two dozen schools that are.
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There are plenty of schools that are profitable. They just use those profits to pay coaches and AD’s a lot more money. And they give a good portion back to the school. Coaching salaries are probably a lot higher than they would be if college players were paid. Supply and demand would work it out.
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Since it is a government school, not a lot can be done. (Of course, I guess the ex fire chief of Atlanta would disagree.) Thing is, its one thing to express your opinion after hours. Its another thing to express your opinion while you are on the job. Oh wait, he’s a student not an employee. Silly me.
Pay these players and put in their contract when and where they can and cannot share their opinions and make their pay depend on it. What they say after work, too bad. Your a public university run by government. Free speech is part of the deal. (Excepting of course, the ex Atlanta fire chief.)
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There is a group…a small group of us….that has about had all the whining they can take from players who complain about free education. I know there’s lots of money out there, but it only takes a small drop 5-10% in support and football teams start to go away. Where will those kids go?? Not to a good place for most. Here it is simply….when the NCAA becomes the NFL it’s gonna be toast for a HUGE group of players. I am not watching any NFL games this year because of political protests. I haven’t missed it a bit It’s a small group, but those last 5% are all profit. Take that away and it hurts. I watch CFB whenever I can, but crap like this will put an end to it. You might think I’m wrong, but that won’t make me keep supporting college sports if they keep heading towards being paid. And the real victims will be the non star players who play for a scholarship
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Well said.
The truth is, it won’t just hurt the non-star players.
It’ll hurt a huge swath of individuals in track and field, field hockey, swimming and diving, tennis, soccer, softball, baseball, lacrosse, hockey and more.
Like it or not, the day the first paycheck is cut to a player, the NCAA will be bombarded with Title IX lawsuits from womens sports participants asking why they aren’t being paid as well. Then other sports will follow. The NCAA will have no legal defense as to why it treats one athlete differently then another.
Schools will then be forced to remove non-revenue sports, removing those scholarship opportunities.
We hear the “coaches make millions” line as part of the social justice perspective on this debate, but the average FBS salary is $1.7 million which when divided into 105 pieces yield about $16k per player. That’s just with coaches making zero dollars. And that’s just football. How are you gonna pay the softball players, swimmers, rowers, baseball players, gymnasts, et al. There are no million dollar salaries to raid there.
And how will all the lower level schools that already have to play sacrificial lamb games on the road just to have a program operate when the UGA’s of the world can no longer fork out a million bucks for a glorified scrimmage?
We haven’t even delved into the soon to be a reality class action lawsuit over head trauma that will almost certainly cripple football and drive liability insurance costs to critical levels.
The number of losers in pay to play college football will be palpable. The “solution” will be to raise ticket prices, but CFB is already seeing a downward trend in game attendance.
When tickets go up, when cable rates go up, when merchandising gets to costly, eventually people just drop out and stop watching.
I’ve already seen it happen in NASCAR, where Bristol tickets required being on a waiting list for years just 10 years ago. Now the stands are not even at capacity.
The end is near for college football and it will come at the hands of social justice warriors and law firms.
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Not sure how “near” the end is, but it getting closer and greedy entitlement babies like this guy will help accelerate it. But it is what they see succeeding in the greater society around them, if falling off a financial cliff is truly succeeding. The “great divider” has succeeded, and we are at each other’s throats. The professional whiners will never get enough handed to them, and they damn sure aren’t going to work their way through life when they can extort it.
I never did watch much NFL until CFB was over, I also have watched zero this season and don’t expect to. But I would never have missed it anyway. Never thought I could see a way I could get turned away from CFB but it does seem to be coming into focus in the last 2-3 years. I thought the lawyers and financial model would sink it slowly, seems the Radical Left may take it down quicker. Screwed up everything else in this country, why not collegiate athletics? Don’t care much for the current protest group’s problems going forward but they are hurting some guys who might have appreciated free room, board, education, books, and some walking around money.
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That punk can cry me a river. If life is so bad as a scholarship college athlete, quit and go put your skills and intellect to work where you can make the money you are obviously entitled to. These punk ass thugs don’t want to be treated like employees, they want to be treated like scholarship athletes who get paid beyond a free education, room, board and stipend for cost of attendance. The last thing they want is to be a real employee where their ass can be fired and put on the street if they don’t live up to expectations.
The end is near for college athletics.
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You guys never fail to amaze. It’s one thing to disagree with paying students athletes or to have reservations about the unforeseen implications of changing the amateur model.
But you guys always got to take it to some weird place. You start judging the student athletes, call them names(mostly coded slurs for blacks), and just in general run down their character and their efforts.
I dont know this guy that well, but I imagine that his path to college basketball star included a lot of long hours in the gym, lots of hard work, sacrifice, and resilience. it wasnt given to him, he earned it.
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