Michael Lewis does a great smackdown on the scandal that is big-time NCAA sports. That is - the NCAA forcing players to play for free if they want any chance to play pro, and the pro leagues forcing players to play for colleges for free for at least three years (football) or one year (basketball - i think) before they can go pro:
THE three most lucrative college football teams in 2005 — Notre Dame, Ohio State and the University of Texas — each generated more than $60 million for their institutions. That number, which comes from the Department of Education, fails to account for the millions of dollars alumni donated to their alma maters because they were so proud of their football teams. But it still helps to explain why so many strangers to football success have reinvented themselves as football powerhouses (Rutgers?), and also why universities are spending huge sums on new football practice facilities, new football stadium skyboxes and new football coaches.
Good stuff. Let's end this institutionalized serfdom today.
Check out League of Fans and Edge of Sports for more info.
1 comment:
Basketball doesn't force college, but it is close. I think the new rules are that you have to be at least 19 and you have to be one year out of high school.
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