I really like this article and it's a fascinating subject because it draws on so much of what lies underneath the surface of America. But enough hyperbole! The only umbrage I take with what you're writing here, Doyel, is your calling Webber, Camby, etc. "scumbags". Here are guys that are making their schools money. Pure and simple. Yeah, some of their backers got busted and it ended up costing the schools in the long run, but these are the risks you've got to take if you want to build a really good program and you're not able to sucker people into going to Duke.
It's hard to find people to blame. The players are just trying to get what they feel their due. And they are due something; that's just economics. The schools are trying to stay competitive and unless they are established powerhouses they really are forced to turn a blind eye to all these shenanigans going down. And the rest are all greedy bastards but the economy is sh*t and this is a market that can be exploited because people still watch sports.
When I think about Spike Lee's movie, He Got Game, I realize that movie would be too convoluted if you set it in the modern world and would be impossible to make because of how crazy this stuff is getting. It's enough to jade anyone, and I was already jaded.
YET I STILL WATCH BASKETBALL!! That's the most amazing part of it to me.
Funny, the movie I mostly think of reading all this is "Blue Chips".....
Anyway, true for the most part, except they ARE scumbags for this reason: while, yes, they made their schools a lot of money, that wasn't the motivating factor. The thing making those kids do what they did was to make THEMSELVES money. Look at what Webber alone pulled in.....
There is enough blame to go around, but don't make those guys altruistic, and say they were only making their schools the coin....
With all due respect, I don't think it is fair to call Webber, Camby et al "scumbags" for getting what they can out of the system. How can an18 or 20 year old kid have some perspective when major academic institutions and very well paid adults have so little?
When you get right down to it, USC and Tim Floyd pimped themselves out and what do they have to show for it? A first round blowout loss in the Tournament. I have always been amazed at how much trouble these programs can get into for players who turn out not to be that big a help anyway.
With the amount of money at stake for the school, and thereby for the coach, there will always be these temptations to turn a blind eye and hope that things work out. But who are the truly successful programs? Ones that stay true to their academic missions and win some games. As a university president or alumnus, whose program would you want: USC's or Davidsons?
I guess I just don't see how you can really see them as "scumbags".
Webber and his ilk aren't just being brought up to think that they can get this money and stuff they are told to think they are owed it. If you're a kid (especially if you're a low-income kid) and you are being told how great you are and how much you can get for it, it would be damn near unbelievable to turn any of it down, especially if people are willing to get it for you. A lot of these kids turn into utterly vacant jerks, but even those that aren't are certainly going to want what they are capable of getting.
Think about how some guy like Mayo is going to feel when they instate some stupid rule where he can't go to the NBA and get paid even thought any team out there would shower him in riches, more or less. I'd be pretty pissed if I had no interest in college ball and a bunch of people counting on me financially. Oh, they want me to play in college and not get what I'm worth? Fine, but don't expect me to play by these rules that are in place only to take advantage of me.
Blue Chips! I saw that so long ago! That would be a tough one to make now too. I don't recall Nolte having to deal with anyone's AAU coach in that movie.
I couldn't agree more. It's not like Michigan has to give back all the money it earned as a result of ticket sales and merchandising when Webber and the Fab Five were there. You can't discount how many students decided to go to Michigan or how many alums decided to donate to the university because of the success Michigan had. Sure, the wins are not technically in the record books, but everyone remembers those wins. All of the Michigan fans remember enjoying that experience with their friends, classmates and family. Quite frankly, those moments are priceless and can't be taken away by some asterisk in a sports almanac. So at the end of the day the University, the NCAA and all of Michigan's fans got something great out of Chris Webber and the Fab Five. Now we're supposed to believe that Webber is a bad guy because he took money that was offered to him as a teenager? That's ridiculous. I think the system actaully works the way its supposed to.
Sure it's unseemly, but formalizing a payment system would be a logistical nightmare. Now the players that really are risking something at least get some money in exchange for their contributions to the sport. Outrighly paying players would ruin college basketball, but it's ridiculous for the NCAA and the colleges to make money off these kids even if they do get free tuition and housing. Swimmers and track athletes get that too. Thye don't add the same financial and communal value to the schools as a successful basketball or footbal program. I just find it pathetic that all of these guys who make a living off of college basketball, Doyel, Vitale and others will criticize kids for trying to get even a small taste of all of the money they contribute to this giant financial industry.
