The Northwestern Decision

The decision yesterday of an Illinois District of the National Labor Relations Board that "student-athletes" at Northwestern University can be considered "employees" of the University, and, thus, can organize, demand to be paid, receive benefits, etc, certainly has the potential to open a Pandora's Box that could lead to unimaginable results and significantly change college athletics as we know them.  Already, I have read a number of comments from people whose opinions I respect that range from "it's about time" to "this is a big mistake" to "be careful what you wish for".

As I understand it, this decision still needs to be affirmed by the NLRB, will be challenged in the courts, probably up to the US Supreme Court, and it could be years until we see what, if anything, will come of it.

Sometime back in the mid-1990's, I had the opportunity, courtesy of the Blue Cross Clue Shield Association, to spend a week at Purdue University in a BCBSA sponsored continuing education program.  This  was at the time when basketball player Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson was the star jock at Purdue.  Of course, I visited the Purdue campus bookstore to but the requisite souvenir Boilermaker tee shirt, and saw racks of Purdue basketball jerseys for sale with the name "ROBINSON" emblazoned on them.  Did I mention that these jerseys were for sale?  The University was making money by selling the Robinson jerseys, and the Big Dog himself, would not realize one penny from the sale for these items.

It was then that I realized that college athletes, particularly big time football and basketball players, were, and continue to be exploited by the Universities where that matriculate.  Yes, I know that they are getting scholarships, and that you can't really put a price on a good college education, and maybe some of Nick Saban's Alabama football players and John Calipari's Kentucky basketball players actually want to attend class and get their degrees, but we know how it REALLY works at big-time places like that, don't we?

I also know that the dough from football and basketball enables schools to offer athletic programs and scholarship aid to swimmers, track and field athletes, wrestlers, lacrosse players etc, and that those athletes, who have no NFL or NBA waiting for them, really do go to class and take advantage of the educational opportunities that they might otherwise not have received.

So, it is a very complex issue, but the incident of the Glenn Robinson jerseys is the one that made me realize that the big business of big time (i.e., football and basketball) college athletics is, at best, a murky one, and, at worst, a totally corrupt one, and I am not smart enough to have answers for it.  I also know that I will be watching the NCAA Basketball tournament this weekend and next with great interest, and will be a regular watcher, and a ticket buying customer of college football in the Fall, so I am a bit of a hypocrite and am, indeed, a contributing part of the problem.

As I said, it's a complex issue.

The NCAA Drops the Hammer

Because this is such an emotional issue, and because I have many friends, as well as family members, closely associated with Penn State, I have tried not to get into the fray too deeply over the Penn State/Freeh/Sandusky affair, but with the announcement of the sanctions by the NCAA and Big Ten today, well, I do have to say something.  I won't rehash everything - you all know what went down today - but will make a couple of random comments.

• I do not think that the sanctions were too severe.  Neither, apparently, does the Penn State President and Board of Trustees.  I think the NCAA got it right this time.
• The vacating of the 111 victories since 1998 was the real shot to the gut, and was obviously intended as a means to purge Joe Paterno from the record books.  It also addressed the issue of the "cult of personality" predominant in so many major college football and basketball programs.
• Sadly, I doubt that this will end such things on our university campuses (quick: who do you think of when you think of Duke University?).
• The fact that a staggering figure like $60 million represents only one year's revenue of the PSU football program boggles the mind.  It is a big reason why this whole cover-up took place.
• The NCAA is coming off today as the simon pure guardian of collegiate athletics.  Please.  They will soon be negotiating a television contract for the College Football Championship playoffs that will begin in two years that will involve amounts of money that are unimaginable.
• ESPN learned it's lesson, apparently.  They did not use Matt Millen as a commentator on their coverage of the NCAA announcement today.
• They did have Les Miles of LSU (of the SEC) on commenting on the evils of the culture of big money in college football.  That was so ludicrous that I couldn't even think of a snarky comment to make about it.
• I heard someone on the radio saying that if you are a fan of a college and are wondering which Penn State scholarship players you could get to come play for your school, you are a part of the problem.
• In the end, I do feel bad for Bill O'Brien and the current players.