The newest sports story is more about money than about a particular athletic event. A Labor Relations official has apparently opened a whole new way of paying for a college education -- join a union. Not just any union of course, but one where super athletic football players earn their college credits and a new life style for playing the amateur sport of football. Of course this whole idea of organized college athletics being paid a salary because they have been deemed "employees of the university" will be in the legal system for years. At the very least, it is going to require a review of the words "amateur athlete" as it applies to scholarships.
When you look at some of the professional athletes' salaries, it is not difficult to see where the football players' motivation comes from. And the Southeastern Athletic Conference doesn't shy away from bragging about how much money the universities make from football events and related sources of revenue. How are the football coaches going to feel if their star quarterback wants an increase in his living expense (read salary) just like the coach when they win a conference title or a national championship? Alabama might have to rethink Saban's contract. After graduation, some of their football players make more money than Saban.
A recent clip in the sports section of the Democrat Gazette quoted LeBron James (the Miami Heat basketball star) as saying he wished there wasn't a salary cap in professional basketball. He said the best player in every sport (assuming professional, I guess) should receive a salary comparable to their ability. Superstar James makes only $19 million per year (according to the brief article) and would like to be paid $300 million over 10 years, or maybe just $30 million per year. His source of reference is baseball star Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers whose contract calls for $292 million over 10 years. That averages over $29 million per year. That is almost one third of a billion dollars over the 10 years.
Is it fair to question the motivation of these athletes and ask how they would be supporting themselves without the income from professional sports? Are there any true entrepreneurs in their midst? How many of them would want to work in a factory or drive a truck for a living? They earn enough money to invest in multiple food franchises but probably would not be capable of actually managing one of them on a daily basis.
It is the desire for great wealth that prompts most of us to dream our wildest dreams when we are young. Whether it be sports, movie career, music fame or leadership of a giant corporation, the desire for publicized amounts of money provides a lot of the incentive to set our lofty goals. Reality sets in during the preparation years and very few of us achieve the dreams that seemed so realistic a few years ago.
College athletes, particularly those playing football and basketball, are not your classic grade-motivated students. Many would not be in college without a scholarship and use this as an opportunity to demonstrate their athletic ability to seek the incomes glorified by the news media about professional athletes. We have allowed their performance in a competitive arena to overshadow the purpose of college or university.
The salaries earned by many corporation managers frequently are a slap in the face of the people who work on an hourly basis and who never share the perks associated with upper-level corporate success. However, I feel the same is true of professional sports teams who pay athletes astronomical salaries while charging ticket prices that exclude much of the working world. Is it any wonder cable television is so popular?
We are in the process of opening up a whole new era in college athletics that could easily blur the line between professional and amateur and between the terms education and entertainment.
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Editor's note: Leo Lynch is an award-winning columnist. He is a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Editorial on 04/09/2014