At least players should have money direct deposited into accounts they can access after college eligibility ends; and millions in scholarships for students in low-income neighborhoods or financing for businesses in areas where these players come from
[Publisher’s Commentary]
YES! Let’s Enjoy the
Final Four. But let’s also take care of business and devise how to help
break up the NCAA basketball monopoly and shift the billions of dollars
to the young players and their families and their communities.
The NCAA’s exploitation of these young players is an issue that I’ve
found tormenting for years. I’m happy to see that a New York Times
columnist, Joe Nocera, has been writing many excellent articles.
Let’s encourage retired pro-basketball players –problem is there
aren’t enough conscious ones apart from a guy like Kareem Abdul Jabbar–
to get involved in liberating these players, not only in basketball but
football as well.
The schools rake in tens of millions of
dollars and collectively the NCAA annual revenue is nearly a billion
dollars through entire season. The colleges and tournaments have
merchandising, tix sales, and TV revenue shares. So how it it that
schools sell ticks to games; have concession stands and memorabilia
stores; and share millions in TV monies while these so-called “student
athletes” –one of the most phony terms ever concocted– aren’t paid?
Then the colleges divert attention from this modern day slavery by
penalizing these kids –many of who come from “struggling” families to
put it mildly– whenever they accept a few hundred dollars or loans or a
car from boosters or get someone to help their moms with the rent. The
victims are criminalized.
Corporate media actually write these imbecilic stories demonizing these
kids even though the reporters writing the stories in major newspapers
like The New York Times, The Daily News and The New York Post, and their
editors as well, all know it’s a scam and coverup on behalf of terrible
inequity. Meanwhile, they write all these stories praising coaches who
make millions of dollars –Jim Boeheim, who
tolerated a sexual molester on his coaching staff for years; the Rick Petinos; and, the
Bobby Knights; etc.
You mean to tell me that all those great
former NCAA hoop stars can’t be great coaches and make some of these
millions as well? And as we know, not all the players are signed or make
it to the pros. So what’s wrong with having them paid while they make
millions of dollars for Syracuse, Kentucky, Ohio State, Kansas, Notre
Dame, etc. Americans like saying “this isn’t Cuba or Soviet Russia.” So,
why do we allow the NCAA and the colleges to rip off these kids?
At the very least these players should have money direct deposited into
accounts that they can access the minute their college eligibility
ends; or create in kind payments, such as millions in scholarships for
students in low-income neighborhoods or financing for businesses in
areas where these players come from: In other words, there should be
more than an NCAA trophy and billions for the colleges at the end of the
day.
The current regime that prevails can’t even be legal and there are some court cases that may help change the status quo.
The players need smart ex-college and NBA players like Abdul Jabbar to
start a movement to end this injustice. Many of these players don’t even
need college hoops to be identified by NBA scouts as future stars. They
should be allowed to be drafted from High School or attend special
schools where they are actually paid.
They can even challenge
the NCAA by using these special schools to launch their own league The
American International Basketball League and televise the games on TV
One and Magic Johnson’s proposed new channel. These emerging stations
can then strike deals with the ABCs and NBcs.
This move would: empower the players and their families financially; create jobs
for more African American coaches and agents and managers; and, either end the NCAA’s monopoly or bring the NCAA to its senses, forcing it
to merge with the new league on the new league’s own terms.
Where are the enlightened ex-players and fearless bright lawyers to lead the charge?
Any ideas?
[email protected]
“Speaking Truth To Empower.”
