Phx-Suns.Net

O_Gardino wrote:O MY GAWD JUST PAY THE PLAYERS ALREADY

Its not that easy. If you pay them, then someone will just pay them more than what's allowed. Eventually it won't be college basketball anymore. It will all be controlled by sponsors and shoe companies who pay individual players big money to go to "their" schools.

I guess the bright side would be that schools would not have to recruit. The shoe companies could do that for them. And then, why make kids go to class, they are making more than they would in later professions anyway.

So, no class, everyone paid by sponsors. What would it have to do with the schools at all then? I guess they would play in publicly built arenas. So, the only difference between "college" basketball and pro ball would be that in college ball the coaches salaries are subsidized by tax dollars.

ASU is looking to spend over $300 million to renovate Sun Devil Stadium.

That should tell you how crazy things are when it comes to boosters and college athletics.

If you think a player who's dishonest doesn't have access to all the illegal inducements that he wants, I don't know how to illustrated it any better.

JCSunsfan wrote:

O_Gardino wrote:O MY GAWD JUST PAY THE PLAYERS ALREADY

Its not that easy. If you pay them, then someone will just pay them more than what's allowed. Eventually it won't be college basketball anymore. It will all be controlled by sponsors and shoe companies who pay individual players big money to go to "their" schools.

I guess the bright side would be that schools would not have to recruit. The shoe companies could do that for them. And then, why make kids go to class, they are making more than they would in later professions anyway.

So, no class, everyone paid by sponsors. What would it have to do with the schools at all then? I guess they would play in publicly built arenas. So, the only difference between "college" basketball and pro ball would be that in college ball the coaches salaries are subsidized by tax dollars.

It's certainly never simple untangling a corrupt system. But I have no qualms about admitting that a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry is a business and not an academic pursuit and openly running it as such.

However, I don't think you have to go all the way down the slippery slope.

I think we can all accept that there's going to be some amount of corruption whenever this much money is on the table. There simply needs to be more effective ways of limiting the nefarious ones that exploit it to an extreme, and I think that starts with compensating the labor force with something more tangible than an academic scholarship.

O_Gardino wrote:

JCSunsfan wrote:

O_Gardino wrote:O MY GAWD JUST PAY THE PLAYERS ALREADY

Its not that easy. If you pay them, then someone will just pay them more than what's allowed. Eventually it won't be college basketball anymore. It will all be controlled by sponsors and shoe companies who pay individual players big money to go to "their" schools.

I guess the bright side would be that schools would not have to recruit. The shoe companies could do that for them. And then, why make kids go to class, they are making more than they would in later professions anyway.

So, no class, everyone paid by sponsors. What would it have to do with the schools at all then? I guess they would play in publicly built arenas. So, the only difference between "college" basketball and pro ball would be that in college ball the coaches salaries are subsidized by tax dollars.

It's certainly never simple untangling a corrupt system. But I have no qualms about admitting that a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry is a business and not an academic pursuit and openly running it as such.

However, I don't think you have to go all the way down the slippery slope.

Thank you for the rationality.