By now we've all heard the saga of Reggie Bush and the 'improprieties' he was engaged in at USC.
Yeah, I know: The Rules Are The Rules.
Bush is accused of bringing shame to himself and his school, and the latest news is that the Heisman people are considering taking his trophy away from him.
This is where I draw the line.
Reggie Bush would have won that trophy regardless of what extra gravy he was able to bring to his family while playing as an 'amateur'.
And can you really blame a young man, not much more than a kid really, for taking advantage of a situation while the taking was good?
What needs to be dealt with is the mirage of young athletes being presented as amateurs while they receive hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of compensation over their tenure in the form of a free education, food, lodging, publicity, chicks... They're getting paid, and paid plenty, at some of these elite schools, like USC.
The other end of the bargain is that the school gets to market them and make millions more.
So why is it OK for Pete Carroll to earn millions of dollars off of the likes of Reggie Bush, while denying Reggie's family a little benefit,too?
Where is the call for Pete Carroll to payback his earnings for that season?
Anyone? I'm sure he knew why he didn't know anything, if you get what I'm saying...
Reggie Bush just got a better contract, is all. He was able to avoid the maximum wage level set by the NCAA, and learned plenty about life at the next level. I'd say he got an education in sports marketing. It doesn't need to be a degree program to be education, if you ask me.
And now they want to take away his trophy. How about requiring Reggie to return to USC and run all those yards backwards,too.
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I think the point is that if you allow big name schools to give better offers than others, you end up with about five schools who can clobber all the others, and the sport really suffers.
That said, given that most footballers have SAT scores 200 to 500 points lower than the rest of students, maybe it's time to simply end the farce and set up junior pro leagues like they have for hockey and baseball. It's not like the 40% or so that actually get a degree are actually getting an education, by and large.
Making ends meet on a minor league salary probably would be a far better education for most of them.
Well said Gino, but rules are rules. Slap on the wrist, sure, but don't mess with the Heisman.
It's sticky...for every Reggie Bush, there are a couple of hundred college players that never have even the slimmest hope of a pro career, and still put up with the time commitment, damage to their bodies, and the NCAA's restrictions on working while on scholarship. These kids can't even work at McDonald's to make ends meet.
Something's gotta give. It is probably long past time to start treating athletes in the money sports as the semi-pros they really are.
That said, I really have no problem with them striping the Heisman, since it is an award for AMATEUR players.
Also, I have a general policy of non-sympathy towards multi-millionaires.
"an award for AMATEUR players."
Scholarship recipients should not be considered then?
Don't be ridiculous. A scholarship isn't the same as getting paid to play...scholarship money is earmarked for tuition, fees, books, maybe room and board if you are lucky. And you have to go to school and remain a student in good standing. That's a long way from being paid as a professional player (where the only condition on the money is that you have to show up and do your job, just like any other job.)
I wasn't talking about academic scholarships.
Neither was I...
compensation is compensation. and education is payment in the hundreds of thousands.
not to mention the babes...
its a farce.
i'll only accept acdemic scholarships as amateur players.
my friend got tuition, room and baord, and meals. he says he didnt have to pay for a damned thing unless he wanted to go out for pizza hut, or something like that.
he says that he literally could have gone through college without ever touching a quarter tween his fingers if he wanted to, as long as was playing.
BINGO! Nail, meet Gino.
Our kid had some friends on the Husker team when he was there... He said they ate like kings... Much different than your average college kid... Not too mention the babes...
Along the lines of what Gino and K-Rod say, it's worth noting that the treatment of footballers at universities conditions them to have Cadillac tastes when their non-education is going to give them a Chevy budget. Just ask most of the guys who blocked for Reggie Bush.
Gino and K-rod: spoken like true USC fans...
;)
Perhaps my experience is skewed by having attended a school where football--though certainly important--was and is still subordinate to the academic mission of the school. I took classes (hard ones) with guys that towered over the rest of us, and they were not living the high life. They certainly had perks, but not out of proportion with what they were giving back to the school in terms of time and revenue.
But I really don't think we disagree on the larger issue here: that certain players in certain programs really are semi-pro players, and it has become pretty silly to pretend otherwise. Maybe the NFL and NBA should start ponying up cash to support their farm systems, and let scholarship money go to people who actually want an education.
And OK, I'll admit that I just really hate USC and would love to see one of their guys have the Heisman taken away...
brian: i hate USC. I hate people who attended USC. I hate people who wear USC shirts and put bumper stickers on their cars.
my favorite college team is whoever is playing USC this week.
that is the limit of my college football fetish.
but, i do give the players of USC a pass after they leave USC. cept for mark sanchez. i never was a fan, even when he was high school.
i'll grant that you and i have had very different experiences with college athletes that would color our perspectives. my athletes tend to work in box mills alongside myself, and yours were classmates at UGA.
Gino, your "hate" is misplaced and transparent. (sorry) You are a good man and your thoughts are true. You do not "hate" and never have. You are good to the core!
As for this blogger, cue the Who (behind blue eyes),... well the song says a lot...
...just remember to tell me some bad news before I laugh and act like a fool...
...no one knows what it's like to be the bad man...
i only hate USC. everything else about me is pure love.
I went to GA Tech, not UGA. Not that I expect you to know that.
i knew that.
gotcha!
late to the game, but as a full-academic-scholarship student, I can cleanly state that I viewed my scholarship monies as deferred income ... from working my butt off in high school academics. I conscientiously earned my way through college on my strongest skillset with four years of effort on spec and four years of effort under contract. 8 total years to make about $80,000 (the last year I slid in performance and took out a $5000 loan) ... not a very good payback, really, but starting 'life' with almost no debt, and my family paying far less to support me per month than they ever did when I was home? Counting savings, the returns aren't too bad for a "career" started when I was 14.
And rich kids who got merit scholarships, just blew cash on other things (at least at my college, and I can't imagine it's different anywhere else) ... clearly scholarships effectively supplemented their income as well.
I have a hard time seeing scholarships as anything except effective income, even if I never had the money.
Heismann ... well, as a rule-player, I generally support contractual obligations, and if qualifying for this trophy required adherence to a specific and stated set of standards, well ... I don't care how well the guy played. If the trophy is to honor and encourage play by (x) set of rules at (y) level, not taking it away really blows the whole point, I'd think.
But then, I stopped caring about the USA gymnastics team after that one guy didn't graciously return the gold metal the judges had incorrectly given him. There is no integrity in "winning" a game/sport if the rules weren't followed equally for all participants, and that rather tarnishes the "honor."
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