re: College Football Luxury Tax and Salary Cap

quote:

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I'd rather go to a sign-up/try out league than let it become a professional league

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I would too. These are universities dammit not pro leagues and if they peel away that last level of amateurism and academia, I won't be watching and I *hope* every damn school in the country follows the Yale, Harvard, Princeton etc. model and stops scholarships for football and men's basketball - we watch not because of those players (which come and go and rarely become big enough stars to draw individual attention) but because that's OUR university and/or OUR team. I DON'T want this to happen but I can't in good faith root for my university team knowing 2 sports are so special they're no longer a part of the university.

Well guess what judge and/or O'Bannon et al? If they're not a part of the university and not treated like every other athlete and student on campus then I'm not interested. Do these idiots honestly think they work harder than the women's basketball, softball, gymnastics, baseball, rowing, track/cross country, equestrian, golf, volleyball, swim/diving, lacrosse, field hockey, ice hockey, rugby, water polo, fencing, rifle, and wrestling teams (many of whom have ZERO scholarships or only a partial AND have to supplement their own equipment)? Even the cheer squads and members of the band workout relentlessly and for many it costs them a fortune just to participate.

Also, what happens with sometimes profit/revenue generating sports like the Lady Vols basketball team? They don't always make a profit or generate revenue but they have on more than one occasion made a profit. For a school like UT, it's hard to argue that some of our brand name players aren't far more 'valuable' than the QB at Northwestern etc. or even ~90+ percent of starting lineman, even beastly ones, at brand name schools. Do LV teams get paid when they're winning and doesn't that mean suckass men's teams shouldn't get paid for sucking? The LV basketball team even when not generating revenue is far more valuable to the university than the O'Bannon model, sportswriter model, would like to acknowledge - the property as a whole is invaluable to our university.