After posting my last article I was still peeved off about the NCAA and their ignorant rules and enforcement of the rules, so I decided I would think about some possible ways to improve the NCAA and see if this makes me feel any better.
Suggestion #1 - Give all student-athletes a "per diem" for weekends and extracurricular activities that they may wish to participate in, and by extracurricular activities I mean going out on the weekend with friends, taking somebody on a date, or buying some clothes so they can wear something besides what is assigned to them by the athletic department. This is one way to stop what is usually the biggest student violation among student/athletes that I recall. This does not need to be thousands of dollars per month, but it needs to be enough that these kids can afford a normal life style while they are at college. The NCAA makes it hard for a lot of the kids that come from lower income families that cannot send them money by limiting when they can work, where they can work, and how much they can make. Most student-athletes cannot work during the season of the sport they play, and many cannot work during while school is in session. Also how are they going to work when they have to juggle class, practices, conditioning sessions, film study sessions, weight lifting, and you have to leave a small amount of room in their for them to have a social life. The amount that they should get per week or per month is for people much smarter and with higher pay grades than me (I do this for free so any pay grade) to figure out, but since the respective athletic departments, Universities, NCAA, and all the sponsors make millions each year off the athletes, they should be able to give them some spending money.
Suggestion #2 - This is related to suggestion #1, do not penalize the kids if they decide to sell their signatures or personal sports memorabilia. If the school, bowl game, or athletic uniform provider is allowed to sell jersey's, shirts, etc. with the student-athletes likeness on them and make some pretty good bank, then the kid should be allowed to sell his own personal belongings that he accrues while playing the sports. In fact let the kids do some school sponsored appearances for money where they shake hands and sign autographs, this could help pay for the "per diem" that they should be getting in my suggestion #1. This way the school and/or the NCAA could regulate it and ensure that the student-athlete is not shunning his duties in class or his athletic requirements. It would also give the athletes who are expected to go pro in their respective sport some exposure to some situations that they will be facing when they reach the next level.
Suggestion #3 - When a school or former student-athlete is found to have committed either major or minor infractions, do not punish the current student-athletes that are at the institution. Like I have said previously, I do not believe it is fair for the kids that are currently at USC to be punished for infractions that Reggie Bush and Pete Carroll (both long gone) committed while they were with the University. The solution to this problem is not one that I have a great answer to. Maybe the NCAA should just fine the University a large amount for "lack of institutional control", or have all student-athletes sign a contract stating that "they will not violate NCAA rules while they are an amateur student-athlete and if they are found to have done so within x number of years they will be subject to $xxxxx fine or xx hours of community service". I do not know if that would even be legal or hold up in court, but its not fair for kids, coaches, and administrators that had nothing to do with the infractions to suffer for them; or for the regular students whose college experience will not be as good because of NCAA penalties. Same goes for the coach who is found guilty of major violations, like Pete Carroll did they can just jump ship to another school or the professional ranks while their former ship sinks....
Suggestion #4 - After a student-athlete signs on to play for a particular coach at a particular school, and that coach is either fired, resigns, or leaves that job for any reason the student-athlete should be allowed to transfer to another school with no penalty. The reason for this is that there are a few hundred kids each year whose pro careers are potentially altered by a coaching change. For example, when Michigan switched from Lloyd Carr to Rich Rodriguez their entire offensive scheme changed. It went from a pro style offense with a pocket QB to a spread option style that needed a fast and quick QB whose biggest asset would be his legs. And now the school has just switched from Rich Rodriguez to Brady Hoke, who is a defensive minded coach, that ran a pro style at his previous job at San Diego State. Not to say that he won't hire a coordinator to run a spread scheme that his players are built for, but at some point he will probably make the switch and many players will be out of position. Why should the players suffer because either a school does not retain a coach or the coach leaves, if a coach can choose to leave at the drop of a hat (or the school can fire them at the drop of a hat) then the kids should be able to leave to another school better suited for their athletic abilities if that happens. Along these same lines, majority of the time when a kid signs to play a sport at a school, they are signing to play there because of the coach, not because of the school. And maybe the next coach hired is mad because the student-athlete chose not to sign with him previously and now the kid will be punished under the new coach. Again it all leads back to if there is a coaching change, let the students pick a new school and transfer, don't let them transfer just "for the hell of it" or because they aren't getting enough playing time, make the reason legit and everyone will be better for it.
Suggestion #5 - Offer classes for student-athletes that are expected to go pro, in that field of study. If colleges can train students to be accountants, teachers, lawyers, doctors, anthropologists,
aromatherapists,
boilermaking,
golf course management,
comic book art,
meat cutting,
auctioneering, and
bagpiping (yes these are all real majors). Why don't we offer student-athletes a course designed to help them when they do go pro. The way I have thought it up is that the courses would consist of a mix of: personal finance, marketing, public relations, journalism, risk management, some law classes (to help them understand contracts), maybe some sort of "sports agent" class, physical therapy/athletic courses, coaching/teacher classes, classes directly related to their sport of choice like history of football, evolution of offenses and defenses, and since film study is vital to any professional athlete they should get credit for their film study with their coaches. Obviously this is not a cut and dry list and would have to be altered according to specific sports, institutions, etc. Also just because you are a scholarship football player would not mean that you are eligible, for instance, in football if the draft advisory board or a nationally renowned scouting service (or me) gives you a certain draft grade as a freshman than you would be eligible for this major. Or make it where they are not eligible to begin studying for the "Pro Sports" major until their sophomore or junior year after they have gotten their basics out of the way. It would need to be a major that can be completed within 2-3 years (since a lot of student-athletes go pro before their 4 years) and I believe it should be offered as a minor to guys who fill out in college after they were not expected to go pro early on. There are a few kinks that need to be worked out, such as what happens if a guy majoring in "Pro Sports" suffers a career ending injury his junior year in college, in cases like this the school should extend their scholarship (not counting against the athletic departments limited number of scholarships) and allow him time to get a different degree, maybe he would choose a degree in physical therapy or law and already have a credits for that major. I just don't understand how we can train young adults to be almost anything that they want, yet we do not offer them classes on how to deal with one of the more stressful jobs where they are constantly in the public eye.
Well I think my suggestions to improve and fix the NCAA are some good ones that they should consider. Will they? No, the NCAA has its head so far up its own ass that they do not listen to outsiders and especially not common sense, they are still stuck following archaic rules that were written when the NCAA was founded back in 1906. I really enjoyed writing this article and I may make it a regular column that I write with a couple of new suggestions (it will be shorter) like once a month. I am also open to any suggestions that my readers may have, and will even let you guys pen an article and I will publish it for you on reclinerqb.com so let me know if you are interested.
A lot of the talk around the NFL right now is whether or not 6-year veteran quarterback Matt Leinart will finally be successful and shed the "bust" label that has plagued him since he was drafted back in 2006 when he takes over for an injured Matt Schaub. Most of the experts agree that the team around him is good enough to mask any of his deficiencies, and while I want to think that Leinart can finally turn his career around (I had him as my 2nd best QB in the '06 draft behind Cutler, so I want him to perform well so that I look better), I have my doubts.