re: PFT/NBC Sports - "Fournette definitely should take a year off in 2016"

quote:

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it is ironic to me that the NCAA trumpets the student athlete not being greater than the normal student, except of course when it comes to the student athlete gaining compensation for their skill in the open market place. An opportunity that is readily available to the normal student if they have a marketable skill.

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But, if a tech startup is poaching some upstart genius college sophomore, how much of what he's getting paid is hinging on the marketability to the outside world he was able to establish by being at that college for the time he was there?

For better or worse, I'd argue this is a collectivist business model that hinges on the fact that a tiny number of outliers my have to delay their gratification to ensure the maximum value for the entire enterprise. Nobody can really operate in a vacuum in such an operation and ensure that the value will be maximized.

People will argue that this leads to some kids "getting screwed," but it's sort of hard to see it that way, if this is really what maximizes the ultimate value of what they are producing (which I haven't seen good arguments to suggest its not).

Of course, the whole "student athlete" discussion can be seen as a farce, but is it really to those who wouldn't make the NFL anyway, as most will not? Hell, any LSU scholarship football player, who simply keeps his nose clean, sticks around, and grinds it out for a degree, can pretty much write his ticket to a pretty decent lifestyle in this state -- often much easier than any other similarly situated run of the mill student.