re: The political economics of college athletics

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White Tiger
The political economics of college athletics
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If the question is, should football players and basketball players be paid their "fair market value" or should more money be "distributed to the athletes who make it possible", it's a pointless discussion until Title IX is overturned, which won't happen until after hell freezes over.


If this is true, then what does that say about the land of the free and the home of the brave if one may not be permitted by the government to receive one's due with respect to making a living? Do these people not have the right to do that or is the NCAA and its enablers, read fed gov, prevent anything that resembles freedom from happening? A right to pursue a livelihood is nearly the same a one's right to live, no?

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It depends on how you define "pursue a livelihood". According to the USDOE, college players are students, not employees. Individuals have every right to go pursue a livelihood...whether it's working at McDonalds or playing in the NFL or NBA. Any high school football player, as soon as they have been out of high school for three years, is free to pursue a livelihood playing in the NFL. Or, they can choose to seek immediate employment with the CFL. Any high school basketball player, as soon as they have been out of high school one year, may pursue a livelihood working in the NBA. Or, they may choose to immediately seek employment playing internationally.

And don't forget...it's the leagues that imposes those age restrictions.

You mention the land of the free and the home of the brave. Players choose...of their own free will...to enroll in colleges and universities, when they don't have to.