With the rash of investigations recently and the fallout from some completed ones it has occurred to me that there has to be consequences in addition to punishing a school or coaches in athletic programs. I'm not sure what legal aspects there are to punishing student athletes who accept favors from boosters and sports agents but it seems to me that a scholarship is a sort of contract. If you break that contract there should be penalties. If the school can sue the student/athlete to return all monies involved in "education and training" and also include punitive damages it could be a deterrent. You accept a scholarship to a school with the intent on getting an education while competing in sports. While there you also receive training in that sport...sort of a double major since that training could lead to a lucrative career after school. Athletic departments go on blind faith that 18-21 year olds are going to do the right thing and keep things clean. Once an impropriety surfaces the student athletes skates off to big money while the athletic program is left with the fallout. I agree with the coach at Alabama that maybe it is time to fine and prevent agents from having contact with athletes if they are caught providing improper benefits. That is a start. If these unscrupulous agents can be banned from college athletes then maybe some of these allegations will cease. But you can't stop there. What deterrent does the "one and done" basketball player have not to accept a little something on the side if he knows he is only at in a program for a brief time? By the time a regulatory committee finds the violation, he is long gone. Fining him a substantial amount in punitive damages and forcing a repayment of scholarship and putting a dollar amount on the training he received in his respective sport would go a long way, I feel, in pushing college athletics away from the controversy that surrounds these allegations.
Why is this guy in college in the first place? Only because the pros want to push their problems elsewhere. At least baseball makes you "commit" to a program for a few years if you actual start classes. I don't want to deny anyone a chance for an education that wants one. One of the kids I taught at AU as a GA was on the football team. The kid never would see the field, and was not gifted intellectually. One of the hardest working kids I had in my class. It was an honor to teach him. The baseball players (my above comments not withstanding) were some of the most worthless human beings I encounter at AU. Just wish there was a way to know who really wanted to be a student athlete, most of the problems would go away.
Schools already ban certain unscrupulous agents and scouts from the premises and some states including Louisiana have laws in place to prosecute sports agents that influence players to violate the rules.
When there are multi-million dollar TV contracts, ticket sales, merchandise sales, etc etc, I can't understand why there aren't more players taking money.
In response to the coach at Alabama's calling of agents pimps... Sports Agent Ralph Cindrich responded on his Twitter page (@RalphCindrich): "Before Saban hurls insults at agents he best check to see the dirt they have on him. He's as clean as a bed bug. Starts in college." Wow...
THAT is awesome. Nicky just trying to play the deflection game, and it looks like it may bite him in the ass
Chizik speaking: Who would think that a coach would say that a player is responsible for making the right decision? Not to say agents should get away with breaking state laws, but to advocate personal responsibility.... what is he trying to teach these guys? On agents: "Our compliance staff ... do a great job of agent education. We've taken extra measures with outside people coming to talk with our guys. We're probably not any different than anyone else. A lot of this has to go back on the young guy. He's got to have an allegiance ... to his university. If they know right from wrong and they choose wrong, they don't really have an allegiance. You have to look at the young man. They know right from wrong." montgomeryadvertiser.com | Montgomery Advertiser | Montgomery news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Montgomery, AL
