Long Time No Talk

It's a been a long absence for me from the blogging world and there are certainly a lot of things to cover. Today I'm just going to talk about the whole big time college athletics and it's pay to play model and potential conference realignment.

I get pretty worked up when I hear the Big Ten and SEC commissioners talking about "their athletes" needing extra money to cover living expenses. That is a complete and utter joke for them to say that, especially at those schools. In the SEC their athletes are treated like Gods and with the exception of Vanderbilt they rarely have to worry about academics because athletics come first. Does anyone know what these athletes get for their scholarships?

On top of their "free education" they get a scholarship check. What does that check include? It usually ends up being roughly $750 or more. Really? Yes, the athletes usually have their training table which costs about $8 a pop for dinner and possibly a lunch as well. So they get that taken out of the checks and then the rest is theirs for "other food" and housing. I would say that the athletes might pay $500 a month in rent at the high end and the rest is for the new iPhone and video games. They have plenty of money for "living expenses."

Another way to get around this is for the athlete to file on taxes as an independent and then they can live in Section 8 housing for super cheap and have even more money. On top of that, many of these athletes qualify for a Pell Grant which could get them up to $5,500 for the year. So...on top of the scholarship check they get the Pell Grant and they can't live a quality life? Are you kidding me?

And I still haven't mentioned free tuition, free books, free tutoring, better academic facilities to use than normal students, and I haven't even mentioned the free gear (I guess I just did). On top of this, they travel very nicely on charter flights and stay in extremely plush hotels on the road. Tough life they live at that level.

What about the D3 athlete? They generally pay for their own tuition and play "for the love of the game." We sometimes drive our own cars to games and don't get mileage. At some places have to pay for their own gear. Actually could get penalized for missing class because of games. Practice is scheduled around class instead of the other way around. We generally travel on the day of the game not the night before to "get use to the surroundings." The Super 8 Hotel and the Hampton Inn are great places to stay because they have continental breakfast.

WVU would stay in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night if they played them Thursday night (complete waste of money if you ask me). No Friday nights in a local hotel to "get away from distractions," for Saturday night's game. All meals on the road are catered and cost at least $20 a pop per person. Think about that for a football squad. Lots of cash money.

So...I don't want to hear they have it bad. They do get paid and have an opportunity to actually make money if they are smart. Now, what the NCAA should do it make it mandatory for every "student-athlete" that gets a check take a money managing class for them to be "smart" with the money they receive.

I could go on forever but let's move on...

Texas A&M almost made the move to the SEC and apparently it could still happen soon. I'm not exactly sure why TAMU would make the move and why the SEC would take them. TAMU plays second fiddle in the state of Texas and flat out isn't better than the 'Horns or the Sooners.

All I keep on hearing is that the SEC wants to break into Texas. You want Texas and not A&M. Texas is the draw and A&M is the ugly step sister. They certainly aren't the draw nationally that Texas is. Plus, TAMU would be average at best in the SEC. It doesn't make to me. Plus...

Isn't it about the student athletes not the money?????? Apparently it's all about the money and not about the student athlete. People need to start making educated decisions for their student athletes because according to the NCAA most of the athletes go professional in other aspects of life. Stop being hypocritical. Say it's about the money when it is. That's reality, no matter what the NCAA says.