Apparently, the observation that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result did not originate with Albert Einstein.
Regardless of who said it, it hasn’t taken NCAA president Charlie Baker long to recognize that that trope is true relative to the organization he heads.
Baker, who took over the governing body of college athletics in March, has come to understand that continuing to try to run collegiate sports in the 21st century the way it was run when it was created early in the 20th century is, well, insane.
Perhaps that’s why Baker has proposed a fundamental change in the NCAA’s governing structure that could remake college sports forever and for good.
Baker is effectively suggesting that athletes be paid by the schools. If you listen carefully, you can likely hear some of the NCAA founders spinning in their graves, but just because an idea is radically different than what you’re used to doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t happen.
Indeed, compensating athletes for their labors is an idea that’s way past its time.
Now, there are certainly those who will suggest that a college athlete should receive nothing more than a scholarship, room, board, books and fees. To those folks I say balderdash, or at least that’s all I can say on these here FCC-regulated airwaves.
Go to any college sporting event and look around. The student who takes your ticket is paid for the effort. Members of the band can head to a local club or arena and get compensation for their evening’s work, even if they’re already receiving a music scholarship.
Goodness knows, the coaches and other athletic department personnel are handsomely rewarded for their labors, and particularly at the high end of college sports.
So, why shouldn’t the very people who make all of it possible, the backbones of the multi-billion dollar industry that college sports have become, get their share?
To a degree, that has started to happen, as athletes have the Supreme Court-granted right to market their names, images and likenesses. But those funds don’t come from the schools, which is where Baker’s proposal comes in.
The former governor of Massachusetts has floated an idea whereby schools in Division I, the most visible and wealthiest, would begin offering half their athletes at least $30,000 a year from a combination of NIL funding and an educational trust fund.
The plan would cover male and female athletes and would extend not only to high revenue sports like football and men’s basketball, but also to what are called Olympic sports.
Baker is proposing that the schools create in-house revenue-sharing mechanisms that would lessen the impact of collectives that have formed where boosters and alums pay athletes. Baker’s idea, if adopted without alterations, could drive a bigger wedge between wealthy schools like Maryland, where I went and not-so-wealthy schools, like, say, Morgan State, where, in the spirit of full disclosure, is where I teach.
But at the end of the day, Charlie Baker deserves a big thank you from anyone who sees the insanity college sports has become and wants to do something different.
And that’s how I see it for this week. You can reach us via email with your questions and comments at Sports at Large at gmail.com. And follow me on Threads and Twitter at Sports at Large.
Until next week, for all of us here, I’m Milton Kent. Thanks for listening and enjoy the games.
