re: Why do college football/basketball players feel they are so deserving to be paid?

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Poor poor academically inept teens who can run fast and jump high are given access to an education well beyond what they deserve in exchange for playing a game they love..oh the horror.

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Got any thoughts not rooted in insulting stereotypes?

I can’t tell you about specific athletes or schools but I can tell you that the graduation rate for NCAA athletes is far superior to the rate for the general student population. Granted there are a multitude of factors but I don’t think it’s fair to assume most athletes are undeserving of a quality education when in the most recent graduation success rates available 82% of them completed an undergrad program within 6 years of enrollment. The rate was 59% for the overall student population.

I agree with most of your points. However, you are seriously underestimating the value of exposure. The football players at LSU, Bama, Au, Uga, UF...are getting 30+ hours/season on national television. This alone is worth $Millions$ each year. Oh those poor underprivileged athletes.

Not sure what you are arguing because a football player who wins a heisman FR + SO year still wouldn't be able to get a big contract despite proving himself "worthy" as consecutive best player in the game

Irrelevant. If a 7th round draft choice in the NFL wins the MVP award his first two seasons in the league, he still has to play out his rookie contract.

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How exactly is it worth "$Millions$" each year when they can't financially gain from it?

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They do gain financially. When they go to the NFL they gain. When they go job hunting and they put down they played football at one of these schools, they gain. (Even if they don't make it in the NFL)

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It is worth exactly $0 to current college athletes.

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At that very moment, it sure is. How many 18 year old kids in their first job without a college education make $40,000+ a year? They make much more than that in tuition,room, food, stipends,books, crab legs, free shoes, etc. Not to mention they get free training, coaching,to prepare them for their future job, that they would not get if not for the Universities.

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How many players in minor leagues can you name? Further break it down by AAA ball, AA ball, and A ball with AAA being star players, AA being regular contributors and A being benchwarmers.

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I can name quite a few in hockey and soccer. Don't give a shite about baseball but would be able to name a lot if I cared.

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I can’t tell you about specific athletes or schools but I can tell you that the graduation rate for NCAA athletes is far superior to the rate for the general student population. Granted there are a multitude of factors but I don’t think it’s fair to assume most athletes are undeserving of a quality education when in the most recent graduation success rates available 82% of them completed an undergrad program within 6 years of enrollment. The rate was 59% for the overall student population

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Few things. None of this has to do with criteria for admittance. Secondly you are using two different formulas for grad rates (not your fault generally reported wrongly just like you did). You are also talking all athletes, not football/basketball which is where the thread started. The avg student admitted to UK last year had a 26 ACT and a 3.8 weighted GPA. If you believe the average basketball or football player had similar, then I guess that’s your right.

On the surface I agree with you. The problem is they see the school preaching the virtues of amateurism and the benefits they get as a student athlete...

BUT on the other hand they see that same school fleecing fans for every nickel they can possibly get. They see ticket prices, parking prices, tailgating reservations etc that are kept high, pricing out regular joes, while there are thousands of open seats in their stadiums and venues every saturday.

They see their conferences negotiating blockbuster deals with TV networks while their games get longer and longer because of commercial breaks. They see glorified secretaries and pencil pushers in their athletic departments pulling in 6, sometimes 7 figure salaries for doing jobs a well trained chimp could do...why? because schools are non-profit entities and they have to spend those millions somehow..

Point is, I agree that college athletes should be amateurs...but so should athletic departments. Every financial decision should be prioritized in this order 1) The athletes and 2) The student body 3) The fans 4) The bottom line.

An example of this: Bama has been starting to have game attendance issues for lesser games. Prices for those games should be LOWERED before the season starts. Once the game starts, the unbought tickets should be lowered again. Concession prices should be lowered for all games...with the prices just high enough to hire the people to clean the stadium afterward. To incentivize attendance for crappy games, sell concessions at even lower costs and use your TV money to pay the cleanup crew.

Another example:
CBS games have gotten ridiculously long. This is an annoying problem for everyone: players, fans in attendance, fans watching on TV. Schools/Conferences should renegotiate deals to limit commercial time, even for halftime...show highlights..then show the halftime shows. Sure they will get less money..but they at least wont be hypocrites when preaching the virtues of amateurism to their student athletes.

If they get paid, can I have the NCAA video game series back? If so, I'm all for it.