College Sports and the Evil of Money

There was a time when college sports was truly for amateurs who played the game because they loved it. It was pure and untarnished but somewhere along the way, that all changed.  Money became an issue.  Bowl games are now sponsored by multi-million dollar corporations. Some of these corporations were even putting their names on stadiums.  Players are getting cash, cars, houses, and other benefits.  TV and exposure are huge.  Athletic Directors, conference presidents and officials, school presidents, and coaches make money off of the players. Sooner or later they get caught up in it.  What happened?

Perhaps the one famous example of corruption happened at Southern Methodist University in the 1980s.  From 1980-1985, the Mustangs football program was 55-14-1 and won three conference titles.  During that time there was rampant corruption including paying players.  The result of an NCAA investigation was the implementation of a "death penalty" which led to the cancellation of two seasons of competition, revocations of scholarships, and banishment from bowl games and live TV. It nearly destroyed the program.

The death penalty has made news again recently at the University of Miami.  A booster named Nevin Shapiro revealed his involvement with the football program.  He alleges that from 2002-2010 he provided players with improper benefits.  Many of these players are playing today in the NFL.  Shapiro himself is in prison for running a Ponzi scheme.  There is talk of using the death penalty and for a high profile university like Miami, that would certainly be devastating.

There are other examples of programs running afoul.  At Ohio State, several players received free tattoos in exchange for signed memorabilia.  Their head coach, Jim Tressel, resigned as a result of this.  At the University of Southern California, star running back Reggie Bush forfeited his Heisman Trophy and the team was stripped of its 2004 national title.  Bush had received $100,000 in cash payments and a house.  Also, basketball coach Tim Floyd resigned when it was revealed that he gave cash to a person who gave him star player OJ Mayo.  There is an ongoing investigation at Oregon, who lost in the BCS title game last season, about contact that head coach Chip Kelly has with a recruiting service and money paid to them. At issue at the University of North Carolina, are financial transactions made from an agent to a former assistant coach.

Money isn't the only benefit provided in some cases. At the University of Connecticut, a basketball recruit was provided with lodging, transportation, and meals by an agent and former student manager.  Assistant coaches also had phone and text conversations with this agent which exceeded the number of numbers of calls and text that can me made to a recruit.

These are just some of the documented cases and who knows what is going on at other schools.  Other violations have been committed, some minor and and some major.  What is going on in college sports today? Is time to pay the players and end this nonsense or should the NCAA have stiffer rules and penalties?

(research taken from Wikipedia and Yahoo Sports)

Interesting article from Forbes on the necessary evil of profiting for for financing athletics.

Football Profiteering