Is amateurism still alive in college athletics? Can young athletes still strive for excellence without feeling pressures akin to those of pro-sports? Is it healthy for young men in college football to know their every step — and mis-step — will be chronicled and dissected on ESPN before they’re even of legal drinking age?
I tackled this topic in my latest interview on InsideAcademia.tv, my weekly web video show that aims to take viewers “behind the Ivory Curtain.” Join me as I speak with Dr. Michael Oriard, associate dean at Oregon State University and author of Bowled Over: Big-Time College Football from the Sixties to the BCS Era:
Key Points
- 1:24 – Grotesque disparities between coaching salaries and student athletic compensation.
- 3:06 – College sports relies on a “myth of amateurism” to distinguish it from pro sports.
- 4:52 – Without improved athlete compensation, NCAA risks death by a thousand lawsuits.
- 7:52 – When colleges reap millions from licensing, is free tuition, room, and board enough?
- 10:36 – Scholarships create an illusion that it’s about academic rather than athletic talent.
- 12:09 – Student athletes could be on the verge of winning major intellectual property rights.
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