Dissecting pay-for-play in college sports

Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated

            The importance of collegiate athletics in our country is something unique to America.  In other countries collegiate sports are recreational and not used as a source of profit for universities.  However, in the United States, college sports are nearly as popular as their professional counterparts and in some areas more popular.  This popularity, particularly in men’s basketball and football, brings in millions of dollars for large universities.  However, other than scholarship money, the players don’t get to see that money.  The absence of pay for college athletes has created a schism among sports fans.  Some fans go to extremes, believing college football is a form of modern day slavery, with a large, poor population of black males making a small population of white males rich.  The question many sports fans are struggling with is whether or not athletes should be paid, but this question is more complex than a simple yes or no answer.  Which athletes should be paid; by whom should they be paid; and how much they should be paid are all questions that need to be answered if a pay-for-play system is to be instituted by the NCAA. 

Kentucky and the False End of College Basketball

                Monday night, the University of Kentucky won its 8^th national championship, and first since 1998.  Coach John Calipari finally won his first national championship, with a team basically consisting of three freshman, two sophomores, and a senior.  Somehow, this spells the end of college basketball as we know it, at least according to many bloggers, talking heads, and analysts.  People are quick to jump on the bandwagon of some event being the most important thing ever, and this is no different.  For a number of reasons, Kentucky’s championship will go down as history as just that, a championship won by a perennial powerhouse (or another vacated Calipari Final Four appearance), not the day college basketball changed forever.

March Madness: Heroes of the opening weekend

After an uneventful start to March Madness the action really kicked off with UNC-Asheville vs. Syracuse and continued with a wild second day of games. Every March certain guys thrive and provide us with performances we will never forget, even if they come in losing efforts, a la Ben Woodside circa 2009. If you love sports then the opening weekend of March Madness is most likely your favorite time of the year. I myself am a much bigger NBA fan than I am of NCAA hoops but I still can't help but get overwhelmed with joy when the ides of March nears. In addition to being a big time basketball fan, I am a sucker for watching athletes put their heart and soul on the floor, and there is no better stage to watch raw emotions emanate than during the madness. No matter how many times I watch a senior put their jersey on for the very last time I will always be heartbroken as I watch them crumble to the floor when the magic runs out, and this is the single greatest thing about it all. Here are some guys that have provided us with some unforgettable performances to kick off the tournament.

March Madness at its best

"By George, the dream is alive!"

March Madness is a wonderful thing.  Every year produces some amount of madness and resulting ecstasy.  However because awesome upsets are a common occurrence, sometimes we overlook and forget about the great games.  To help you out with this problem, members of the LBS staff will be writing about some of their favorite March Madness games.  Enjoy.

Congratulations, Tony Bennett

After watching Virginia hang tough with North Carolina today, I think enough evidence has accumulated to prove there has been a seismic shift in Virginia basketball.  Virginia is now a legitimate team, and not just a legitimate team by virtue of a good year or two from a lucky recruiting class, but a legitimate program.  Any team might get lucky and have a chance to pull off a big upset, but how UVA did it shows they will be a team to watch out for in years to come.  How they hung with UNC was not a fluke, but a continuation of how they’ve been playing all year, and all the credit has to start with Tony Bennett.

Austin Rivers and Duke-UNC Provide a Gem

                                                                          Getty Images

“That’s why I watch sports.”

Those were the words I heard at Buffalo Wild Wings after the dust had settled on Duke’s come from behind victory over archrival North Carolina.  It’s hard to place events in the context of history less than an hour after they occurred, but I don’t think you could find a noticeably better college basketball game if you tried.  And I mean ever.  This game simply had it all.  From start to finish, the game could be equated to the fine art of basketball; just beautiful play from two extremely talented, extremely well coached teams.  The two teams combine for what could be up to eight first round picks, and the talent and passion on display on the floor of the Dean Dome was a treat for all to see.

Early Season Stock Watch

In honor of Dick Vitale and college basketball being superior to the NBA, here is my early season stock up and stock down.

Stock up:

Missouri- Missouri has rolled through early season competition with an athletic team featuring an extremely up-tempo offense.  Marcus Denmon and Kim English make up one of the most dynamic backcourts in the country, combining for 40 a game.  The Tigers rank 6^th nationally in points scored, 14^th in assists, and 7^th in field goal percentage.  Missouri and Baylor, another team off to a hot start, have made perennial powerhouse Kansas look like the third best team in a conference it historically dominates.