Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports: Should NCAA Div 1 Basketball and Football players get paid?

In the article The Shame of College Sports, Taylor Branch examines the enormous amount of money that college athletes generate and offers a proposition to compensate athletes. He states that the SEC conference alone raked in over a billion dollars in receipts. Branch also takes note that the United States is the only country that hosts sports of higher institutes of education. He talks about the relationship between the NCAA and the member colleges and how the NCAA slaps big schools on the wrist as opposed to the historical death penalty that was once handed out.

The article How Big Time Sports Ate College Life by Laura Pappano provides reasoning on how paying college athletes would increase the problem of college athletic programs endless budgets. She states that the programs are becoming increasingly big. She argues how much emphasis schools place on their football and basketball programs, commonly canceling classes for sporting games.

I’ve always thought that college athletes should be compensated. The amount of money they make for the colleges should be reason enough to pay them. Additionally, many athletes come from families with financial issues. If not playing sports, these athletes could work part-time in order to support themselves. Going to practice over working 40 hours a week has serious repercussions.   

High School Sport

High school sports emerged in the 1900s. During that time, school was still modeled after the education system in England. There was muscular Christianity as well as the goal to develop a sense of legitimacy. Sports were a tool for marketing for high schools. The objectives of high school sport are to promote integrity and sportsmanship. Working hard to do well and succeed is also an objective of high school sport. The success of these objectives vary by school. My personal experience of high school sports aligned with the success of these objectives but I’ve had friends who had entirely different experiences.  Interscholastic sports and athletes have a high status in America. Athletes were often slapped on the wrists in high school when kids were getting expelled for similar offenses. Interscholastic sport creates a distraction for succeeding academically, excessive pressures to win, reinforces gender roles, and promote unsportsmanlike behavior. A solution to the problem of doing well in school could be setting a high national level of high school grade point average in order to participate in college sports.

Once the cheering stops: The life of a retired pro-athlete

Imagine being told what to do the last 10 years in your life, and then suddenly you’re granted with unlimited freedom. Some may jump with joy while others look to the sky for answers. Life of the retired athletes varies, but for the majority life itself takes a 180 degree turn. Those who have spent their earnings early in their career often find themselves in financial turmoil upon retirement. Furthermore, many athletes face numerous challenges during the transition from professional lives to their retired lives. For instance, athletes are left with little training and experience in the real world after retiring. Some believe they can just hop into broadcasting and be naturals, yet this is rarely the case. Athletes have not had much success integrating into the corporate world after retirement. It’s hard to enter the work force in your 30’s when others have been climbing the corporate ladder for over a decade.

I think the transition that athletes face is difficult by nature. Putting yourself in their shoes gives useful insight in examining this. Imagine living in the limelight during your career, making millions of dollars and recognized on a national and world stage. People expect you to drive a Ferrari and own a 5 million dollar mansion. Athletes spend huge portions of their earnings early on, conforming to US sports cultures. It’s hard to look twenty years down the road when you’re looking through the eyes of a superstar.

I have empathy for some of these athletes. Although they live the dream during their careers, life after retiring is difficult. I also understand the reckless spending athletes commonly exhibit. US sports culture elevates athletes to another level where they feel they are invincible. I watched the 30 for 30 “Broke” a couple months back and it changed my mind completely.  Many people are ill-informed on the issue.

Sport, Politics and the Olympics

The 1936 Summer Olympics were held in Berlin, Germany. The location was decided two years before Hitler and the Nazis came to power. Many German leaders believed that this was an ideal way to prove German supremacy and reinforce the Nazi beliefs.  Surprisingly, the town that was once littered with “Jews Not Welcome” signs became cleaned up with little Nazi propaganda. The Germans won four times as many medals than any other country that year. Hitler made sure this knowledge was publicized by having the most broadcasting known to date. This applies to Sage and Eitzen’s belief of sports as propaganda. Hitler was ecstatic to have his “supreme” people prove themselves dominant.

My research and prior knowledge has led me to the conclusion that sports themselves are pure, but there are political implications that accompany them. Politics cannot interfere the actual 400m race in the Olympics, but they can affect the athletes that are selected to participate in such events. The fact that the women’s 400m event was canceled for 30 years exemplifies this. In addition, Hitler discouraged many Jewish athletes to participate in the 1936 Olympics. He didn’t change the rules in the Olympics, but he did have an effect on those who were able to take part.

London Calling: The Globalization of the NFL

The real incentive for the NFL to expand operations outside the US is increased revenue. The market in London provides opportunities through TV rights and merchandise profits. London is an international city that has always had faithful fans and the NFL feels like they can take advantage of these circumstances. London already has the stadiums to use for football, but filling out the seats will be a challenge. That being said, it will be difficult to have a London based team, due to their heavy roots in traditional soccer. The consequences of expanding to London could be a huge loss if the attempt was unsuccessful. The capital needed for expansion is enormous and the NFL definitely weights out the potential loss. Additionally, it’s unknown how well the people of London will accept the new sport in its culture. The attempt at spreading soccer in the US provides evidence of the difficulty of integrating a new sport in culture. The MLS has never seen much success in promoting professional soccer in the US.

The Sociogenesis of Surfing

            The date of the origination of surfing is debated but the Polynesians were the first to paddle out on wooden boards. Surfing was a central part of Polynesian culture and the chief was always the most skilled surfer. The ruling class had the best boards and the commoners were not allowed on the same beaches. Residents of the Hawaiian Islands were also some of the first surfers in history. The sport diffused to anywhere with swell, primarily to Europe. Surprisingly, the coming of the 20^th century saw a temporary disappearance of the sport. Only a small amount of Hawaiians continued to practice the sport and build boards to ride. There weren’t many formal rules of the sport until competitions started to arise in the mid 1900’s. It was more of a way of life up until then.

            The equipment has evolved tremendously throughout the development of surfing. The original boards were made out of huge tree trunks, and surfers were restricted to using only longboards. These later turned into shortboards, that are currently made of styrofoam and polyglass. The sport was made popular by movements like the Beach Boys and movies like The Endless Summer. There was a change to big wave surfing in recent history and people now ride waves reaching 50+ ft in height. Surfers get towed into these waves by jetskis and it really is a site to see. Surfing has never really encountered any challenges except lack of waves.