re: Northwestern football players win their petition to unionize

Go ahead and pay them. Then yank their scholarships and let them pay for school. See if they like it then.

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Just like another argument a few months back, why are so many people signed up for a website devoted to a college football team (Tigerdroppings/SECRant) so anti-college football?

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There are people who truly believe the game would be improved if we paid the players, took out academic and recruiting restrictons, etc.

Unfortunately these people are really ignorant and short sighted, I don't think they realize that college football exists outside of the national powers. It might work with the 20 largest college programs, but the Ole Misses and the Wake Forests and the Texas Techs and the Oregon States of the world wouldn't be able to hang in there.

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You know this wouldn't hold up in court, though

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It absolutely would hold up.

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Not that I disagree with you, but you know all it would take would be for a group of walk ons to scream "UNFAIR!" to some judge and the judge will rule in their favor

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That runs contrary to all of my experience in employment and labor law. I'm not claiming to be the biggest expert, but judges want more than unfair. Besides, it's statutory construction. They don't rise to the definition. Fair has nothing to do with it.

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If scholarship players are now "employees" and the walk ons are doing the same things as the scholarship players except play on game day, and not getting paid for it, the case would be pretty open and shut IMO

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They don't receive compensation, they haven't signed a contract, and their activities are not as regulated and controlled by the employer (its in the case). Those are huge distinctions.

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From a school's perspective, how can you possibly treat different student athletes differently?

Football or softball, they contribute the exact same thing. They perform for the school.

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I agree. I think this whole thing is idiotic

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it's not "freely" negotiated when Northwestern, as of about an hour ago, did not wish to negotiate in this manner

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Using that argument, all athletic scholarships are invalid because the athlete did not wish to negotiate in that matter and was essentially given a take or leave it offer. The formation of contracts assumes, almost requires, disproportionate bargaining positions. that does not make it invalid or not freely negotiated.

Now, Northwestern student-athlete shave a small sliver of bargaining power. Not much, mind you, but a small sliver. and you want to argue the contract is no longer valid because of the weakness of NORTHWESTERN'S bargaining position? That is perhaps the worst argument I have ever heard. If we're gonna use your argument, you have essentially invalidated every contract in existence. I'd rather not use that terrible logic.

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b. OBJ, Landry, Mett, etc are in a much better financial position now than they were prior to joining an NCAA member institution. they gained the opportunity to join an elite industry that pays a butt frick ton of money to its biggest performers


This is essentially the exact same argument that the New Yorker and Vanity Fair were using for their unpaid internships that give "fantastic exposure". The courts laughed at them.

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Were New Yorker and Vanity Fair covering all of the interns living expenses- room/board, meals, and paying their way to fashion design school?

If these players want to get paid, then take away their scholarships and all their benefits and pay them that amount, then let them take care of their own expenses- and send them a W-2 at the end of the year. Then we can let the government collect taxes on all those "wages" they collected.

I realizes it's not quite that simple, but the people that say that athletes aren't getting any benefits are just ridiculous. They have a better opportunity than the average student to finish with a degree because they don't have to worry about where next semester's tuition is coming from, and they can graduate college virtually debt free.

Gumbo just hit the nail on the head. The College Athlete that does everything asked of them can earn a degree and have zero student loan debt. If they are from an economically disadvantaged situation they can also get Pell. Graduating with no debt really is a great thing in today's world. Anyone who says differently went to college 30/40 years ago.

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ticket prices are going to rise when all the dust settles

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Only for those few schools that still offer collegiate athletics. I can see NCAA basketball flourishing because of this ruling whereas most schools will drop football immediately.

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i still want to know how student-athletes who get paid will be allowed to participate in NCAA activities

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I'm assuming this is where the potential "split" between the major college football programs and the NCAA comes into play.

Although, I've never understood how this would work, considering these same universities would want their basketball, baseball, volleyball, etc. teams competing in the NCAA, which would never be able to happen.