College Athletics
Do college athletics receive better treatment than non athletic college students? College athletics has changed drastically over the past 10-15 years. Some of these changes were good and some were not beneficial. The NCAA has tightened down on regulations like recruiting and athlete services to ensure student athletes are not in any way receiving the benefits of a professional. These changes have taken place in some major college sports like football, basketball, and baseball. After watching Blue Chips and The Program one can see the changes in the recruiting process, the advantages in the classroom, and alumni bribing student athletes.
The recruiting process can be a great experience for student athletes but also be dangerous because of the rules and regulations that comes with it. Over the years athletic programs have faced strict sanctions and so have athletes, coaches, and others on the athletic board of a university. College athletics today has become stricter with their regulations and there are no loop wholes through the system, whether it be the money student athletes receive, the amount of hours of practice they put in for their sport, etc. This year the National Collegiate Athletic Association reported “A former University of Florida assistant football coach visited a prospect off-campus before NCAA rules allow for recruiting contact, according to a decision issued by a Division I Committee on Infractions panel” (James) For this offense the coach was suspended 30 days and the end of contact with the prospect.
In The Program a particular scene that stood out was when two of the football players were receiving extra help in school and being given grades just because of the sport they played and how much they meant to the university. This scene relates to the recent scandal at the University of North Carolina that involved athletes of the basketball, football, and women’s soccer being apart of academic fraud. These student athletes were supposedly taking “sham” classes so that they could remain eligible for competition during the season. In other reports it says instructors also completed tests for athletes. This has become an issue as of late because it is unfair to non-athlete students who are working hard in the classroom to get a degree and these student-athletes are basically being handed a degree to play their sport. This then leads to wasted scholarship money that could’ve gone to a student that needed it.
Nowadays boosters and alumni play a great part in a universities athletics. The money used for new facilities and stadiums are built comes from alumni and boosters the majority of the time. The Baylor Bears football team received a new stadium this year and a family of alum by the name of McLane donated more than twenty-million dollars toward this two-hundred and fifty-million-dollar stadium. In some cases, alumni will pay athletes for having a good game or bless them with gifts. Both movies displayed this action and broke NCAA rules by doing so. A recent report done in 2013 by ESPN shows that “Five Southeastern Conference football players, including former Alabama All-American tackle D.J. Fluker, allegedly received impermissible benefits prior to completing their collegiate careers” (ESPN). Now by time this alleged accusation was stated Fluker was well into his rookie NFL season so not much punishment could be handed down. There is not an issue with college athletes receiving improper benefits because they cannot go out and get jobs like regular students so if a booster wants to give an athlete a good token then I see no crime. College athletes are devoting the majority of their time to a sport so some type of incentive should be provided from the money that is made from that sport he or she participates in.
A common theme in both movies was the use of drugs and alcohol. The NCAA has drug testing that all athletes must pass in order to take part in competition. Lattimer from The Program was heavy on steroids and was forced to sit 3 games when drug tested. Another drug, Marijuana, destroys athletes as well and has forced athletes to sit out and miss games. There are no rules that the NCAA has on alcohol but there are incidents of student athletes getting DUI’s, sexual assault, and other criminal charges because of the effects that alcohol has on people. “Outside the Lines requested police reports involving all football and men’s basketball players on rosters from 2009 to 2014 from campus and city police departments covering 10 major programs: Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Michigan State, Missouri, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Texas A&M and Wisconsin” (Lavigne). In this report more than ninety percent of the crimes were drug, alcohol, or sex related.
Over the next decade it will be interesting to see how the atmosphere changes. Americans are empowered by tradition and love to see their alma mater’s athletic programs do well. Sometimes student-athletes and coaches receive large amounts of pressure to succeed and do not want to disappoint the fans. This occasionally results in faulty actions that effect an athletic program and shine a negative light on the program.
Works Cited
James, Emily. “Former Florida Assistant Coach Committed Recruiting Violations.” NCAA.com.
N.p., 20 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Aug. 2015.
Lavigne, Paula. “Crimes on College Athletes.” ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 15 June 2015.
Web. 26 Aug. 2015.
Sherman, Mitch. “Improper Benefits.” ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 26
Aug. 2015.
