Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports

According to the NCAA website, the NCAA claims that they commit to a high level of integrity and respect for institutional autonomy, among other ideals (NCAA). These are pretty vague, but they are generally all positive ideals and make the NCAA seem like a great organization, especially with claimed values like “inclusive culture” and “pursuit of excellence.” However, specific examples of scandals the NCAA has been involved in reflect the dichotomy between their claims and reality.

The NCAA has been involved in so many lawsuits and scandals recently, including sanctioning universities for players who “receive improper benefits,” basketball point-shaving and gambling, exploiting the “student-athlete” label, and absorbing all the profits made from revenue athletes generate (Branch, 2011). In light of all these scandals, the NCAA portrays itself as a money-hungry organization that is good at faking high ideals.

One of the reasons this dichotomy might exist is that the NCAA has become a powerful organization that has established ways out of the limelight when litigations and scandals arise. For example, the organization is a registered charity, even though it generates enormous profits for the people involved. Also, people who have been taken advantage of or treated unjustly by the NCAA, like Joseph Agnew for example, are college athletes who clearly do not have as many resources as the NCAA. The NCAA had a rule that prevented Agnew’s scholarship from being renewed for his senior year at Rice University, resulting in Agnew having to pay an enormous sum of money if he wanted to continue getting his degree (Branch, 2011). Many former athletes did not even agree with Agnew because they identified so strongly with the NCAA. NCAA is like Goliath.

Having college athletes become “professional” by paying them may improve some conditions athletes have to deal with (like being taken advantage of by their universities), but I’m not fond of the idea because of the NCAA’s proposed label of “student-athlete.” Making athletes “professionals” kind of devalues the idea of going to college for an education, or an alternate way to live life after one’s sports career is over. By paying athletes in college, we would be promoting the sport ethic by supporting the option of sports as one’s full identity, and we would be worsening the problems athletes deal with post-career. Last week we discussed problems athletes face after retiring, like lack of financial literacy and work competence. These problems would be further reinforced because students would be paid professionals beginning their freshman year if the NCAA paid its athletes.

BRANCH, T. (October 2011). The shame of college sports. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/308643/

NCAA core values. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/about/ncaa-core-purpose-and-values