Muller: $2,000 Payments To Student Athletes Is Fine By Me
By Shawn Muller-
(CBS) Should college athletes be paid a little something extra?
Some people believe they should, some people don't.
Personally, if the proposal NCAA president Mark Emmert supports comes to fruition, I won't have a problem with it.
The proposal Emmert backs wants to allow conferences to increase grants given to student athletes by $2,000.
"We are going to create a model that would allow, probably, up to $2,000 in addition" to what is already covered in room and board, books, tuition and fees.
In essence, the $2,000 would be a little extra spending money.
$2,000 in extra spending money for student athletes, huh?
I can live with that. College athletics today is a full-time job. Athletes don't have the time to work part-time during the school year or over the summer like the rest of us did or do, so if they can get a little extra spending money (within the rules), I don't see a problem with it.
But that is about as far as it should go.
They don't deserve to get any more than that.
These are amateur athletes that are making a personal choice to play sports beyond high school. Receiving a scholarship is a privilege and an honor, not a right. Having your college education paid for is a privilege and an honor, not a right. Nobody is forcing any of these kids to sign on the dotted line. If they don't want to go to school, they don't have to. Scholarships give these kids the opportunity to get a college degree that will allow them the chance of securing better opportunities for themselves once their playing days are over.
That right there is worth its weight in gold.
Just like regular students, some athletes will go on to succeed after college and some won't. Just because you play a sport while in school doesn't mean you deserve a paycheck for it. If you are good enough at said sport, you will have the opportunity to go on and make a great living playing that sport once you become a professional.
If not, well, then too bad. Life isn't always fair, and no one is guaranteed anything at all once they enter the "real world" as far as jobs are concerned.
But one thing IS guaranteed for those on scholarship.
You are guaranteed that you will never have to pay off a student loan for as long as you live. That right there is worth tens of thousands of dollars. I play a sport for four years at your school, and in return, you will pay for my entire stay? Seems like a pretty sweet return to me. And I know I am not alone in this thought. If you were to ask any of us "regular" students if we thought having four years of free education, room and board, books, and access to some of the best training facilities in the country was a good deal, I guarantee you that the majority of us would say absolutely! The thought of leaving college "debt-free" would have been unbelievable and absolutely invaluable.
So go ahead Mr. Emmert. Help these student athletes get a little extra coin in their pockets. An extra $2,000 isn't an astronomical number and I think it is definitely fair.
Now if you could just clean up the real problems plaguing college sports…
Shawn Muller has lived in the great city of Chicago for 7 years. He is a 2002 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and, in October of 2010, Shawn received his certificate in radio broadcasting. In his free time, Shawn enjoys spending time with his wife Melissa and 3 year old daughter Ava, catching any live sporting event, and traveling. Check out his radio show, Grab Some Bench with Muller and Bangser" every Thursday night at 8:30 P.M., at www.blogtalkradio.com/spmuller24. Read more of his blogs here.
