That pretty much destroys the credibility that these players have a significantly higher value than they are paid. Let's say the NBA decided to pay every player $500k. An enterprising businessman would come in and offer $1.5 million a year and every player would jump to that league. This has never happened and won't. Our de facto "under 22" leagues pay significantly less in other sports.

I agree that something would probably come up if all college sports went away. It would probably be as important and lucractive as AA baseball. It all comes down to one simple question. Why wouldn't I just watch the best professionals, rather than professionals that aren't that good? The answer for college sports is pretty easy. I watch because I have an affinity for my school. Now, maybe I'd have an affinity for the West Lafayette astronauts, but I doubt I'm spending my Saturday watching.
The answer is somewhere in the middle. There are plenty of football and basketball players who are also students.

However, if that is your objection, then I think the obvious answer is to fix the problems, instead of accepting them. Increase qualification requirements, lower practice time, and give them a long range solution to the times of the year where they have less time to deal with academic issues.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I don't see how it destroys the idea that the players have a higher value than they receive. I'm talking about the system that exists currently and that is giant TV contracts and giant money. A back-up power forward for Purdue is participating in a system that supports billion dollar deals. The MVP of the Lafayette Astronauts wouldn't be. You can laugh at the concept of the 12th man on Mercer getting $200,000 a season, but the money is certainly there. You wouldn't blink if Mercer's coach received a $1.6 million raise.

And a lot is made of the value of the scholarship. This isn't 1950. I think we can all agree that the value of a bachelor's degree isn't quite what it once was. Especially the kind of bachelor's degrees being earned by frontline college athletes, when they're earning them at all.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

The point is, nobody was going to fix the problems unless there was an imperative to fix them. Corporations don't surrender profits to workers willingly. Their tendency is to abuse the workers in pursuit of greater profits and more control. They have to be forced to relinquish that unchecked power. Colter and company addressed the matter professionally and directly while the NCAA bullied Terrelle Pryor for selling his gold pants to get a tattoo and, like most guys, Pryor just took it because he felt he had no other choice.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I once worked for a company that was constantly involved in billion dollar deals too. My value was still set based on what I could get there, or what I could get elsewhere. It was because with or without me the company was going to do just fine. I was simply a small piece of the machine. I was easily replaceable.

Now, lets say that I was truly underpaid and I could provide much more value. A competitor would start up and get all that talent and pay them the correct level and beat the other company. If you could take the top 150 high school players a year, pay them $100,000 a year, and turn a good profit then you would. It would be an easy business plan if the players are that valuable. Take an underpaid resource, pay them closer to their true value, and then extract the value they have for profit. You know as well as I do that you aren't ever going to be interested in an "Under 22" league.
The value of a bachelor's degree doesn't seem large until you don't have one.

I think that is a separate discussion. If we want to raise qualification requirements and require schools to treat them more like students I'm all in.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Good work by both Rick and JORR last couple pages. Was / is a great read.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

After hearing that players are going to bed hungry and the can't even get a free meal because they would be in violation of NCAA rules I can't see how any reasonable could be against them getting a small salary. They make $11B tax free every year.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Looks like Texas A&M got lucky enough to find another guy who will make them hundreds of millions of dollars!

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Union is dead.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13455477/nlrb-says-northwestern-players-cannot-unionize

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!