yet more NCAA negative press
- Thread starter Red.Fans
- Start date
beast of the east
Active member
A few years back, when the NBA was on the brink of a strike, I believe that LeBron James likened wages to slavery. The whole notion was roundly criticized as out of touch to the point of being laughable. Now the NCAA was selling personalized jerseys without the player receiving a dime in compensation for the profits made. The recruiting process is little more than a slave mart, where players are chosen on their physical attributes and ability to produce in return for a stage to play on, room, board, and classrooms. The notion of collegiate slavery is a lot more appropriate than an NBA player earning $20 million per season making that comparison.
Sure, some of you would say, "Well, don't scoff at the compensation in the form of an education and room and board." I'm sure some slave owners thought they were very generous, providing free housing and meals, and even letting some slaves learn how to read and write. Well, they weren't getting paid as the slave owners profiting, but they were given food, housing, and even an education in return for their work.
The NCAA is a for profit corporation operating under the guise of an educational body. They only stopped the practice of selling team gear after they were called on it by Bilas. They should all rot in hell
I won't touch the slavery thing other than to say that it is pretty pervasive in almost all industry right now both in the overseas stuff going on which is literal slavery no matter how you shake it, as well as in how companies are treating employees here in the USA. But I think the bigger point/irony here is in light of the O'Bannon lawsuit. It is not just profiteering from team gear which the NCAA has done forever, but specifically in using the names of college players where the real stink is here.
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beast of the east
Active member
I know that calling it slavery is provocative and over the top, and if this was my website, I wouldn't use that analogy. However, the point remains, it out and out stinks. For the very best players, and a minimum, personalized jerseys can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. It just doesn't stink, but the NCAA knew that players aren't allowed to profit off that stuff, so, heck, the NCAA might as well cash in.
