NCAA, "Amateur Athletes", and college sports

One of the main articles in our student newspaper this week was that Tulane and LSU agreed to cancel their annual game, for the 2nd time. Tulane and LSU are the only D-1 teams in Louisiana, and have been battling in football for almost a century now, but since the early 80s it has been lopsided in favor of the Tigers. In the 90s, the rivalry stopped only to be renewed for 10 years in 2006- only 3 years later, they have agreed to cancel it, and Tulane gets a nice chunk of change in compensation from LSU.

It was quite obviously about one thing- money. Tulane games against LSU didn't sell out here in New Orleans and possibly not in Baton Rouge either, and probably more imporantly, the TV contracts were hardly of a national interest. So history and tradition was passed over in favor of the Almighty Dollar. And I don't have a problem with it, it was a competition set in the past that has little relevence to today. I don't follow Tulane football in the least, so maybe that's why I don't care.

The only thing that bothers me about it is unrelated to Tulane-LSU, but this posturing by the NCAA and universities that college sports is still about the student-athlete, "And student comes first!" Give me a break, college sports are a major revenue stream for schools, and athletes at elite schools are hardly amateur- they are trading no cash now for a very lucrative career in the near future. At Binghamton, I read a college professor was "let go" (she says fired) because she blasted the basketball team and said athletics were putting pressure on her to give favorable grades to athletes. This wouldn't surprise me in the least- here at Tulane, there are special classes for football players, special academic advisors, etc. I had an academic advisor freshman year who also advised athletes, and he gave me a list of classes he recommends to athletes because they are "guaranteed A's." Shockingly, economics courses were nowhere to be seen.

We all know college sports is not about tradition or competition, but just a giant revenue stream for schools and a way for them to get national coverage, larger endowments, and a more connected alumni base. I don't see why athletes should be denied money while in school, other than that universities are selfish and don't want to have to distribute some of the cash.