This conversation is about whether scholarship athletes should be fined for ridiculous things. And they absolutely should not. They earn that scholarship because they have a skill that basically 99 percent of Americans don't. I don't get mad at Stephen Hawking because he's infinitely more smarter than myself and has a lot more money. He earned it. These players do. They make enough money for the school by themselves. Docking them dollars is asinine, and why it was already shot down.
Tell you what, if you show up late for your job, or make a mistake, have your employer fine you or take half your paycheck. See if we'd still be having this conversation. Fining an NCAA athlete is a ridiculous concept.
And if this was actually a rule, then the school better fine all the academic scholars who get free money from the university. If they show up late for their class, hit them in the wallet. Stupid stupid idea.
First, I never agreed with the idea of fining a Student/Athlete in this manner (or any other financial manner...but extra sprints/stairs/community service is not unreasonable depending on the offense).
Now, I tell you what...see how many times you show up late for work before your boss starts docking your pay. I've worked for companies that docked for being a minute late since it was all computerized and they would dock pay 1/60ths of your hourly rate per minute late. After X minutes, there would be a notation on record cards that after too many times being late the point matrix that is contractually agreed to between employee and employer resulted in many people being terminated for tardiness. It's happened to several people I knew and considered friends. If you've never worked for companies that do that, consider yourself lucky.
There are plenty of people with high level skillsets who had to pay their dues to get their top dollar paycheck. These kids do not deserve to be paid for their college sport "internships".
However, I do believe they should have the right to earn money from jobs in the offseason provided the NCAA can verify the nature of the job isn't sitting on their ass freeloading or even not showing up at all. The fact the NCAA forbids them from having a side job is a bigger issue IMO. If I were the student/athletes, that would be the lawsuit I would file. NCAA shouldn't have the right to forbid them from earning some cash flow to live on.
Heck, high school athletes can have jobs in their offseason, or even during the season if they can fit it in. As long as it isn't "money for nothing" or unreasonably high pay for the job being performed, the NCAA shouldn't prohibit it. I get their offseason is somewhat non-existent with practices nearly throughout the entire year, but there are part time and temp jobs that are available. Sorry if some are minimum wage, that goes back to "paying dues" at that age. It also would help the "superstars" better appreciate and manage their money when they do become pros, potentially not going bankrupt within 5 years after leaving the pros as a result (though doubtful since even Instant Millionaire Lottery Winners often go bankrupt in a few years after winning). Still, teaching these guys some financial responsibility is far better than giving them money and perpetuating this mindset of "give me what I want because you have it and I say I deserve my part of it".
I get that the fat cats are making money off the backs of these kids playing sports. That's called LIFE. At every job, there are owners making money off the backs of their employees...including UNPAID INTERNS. The lure of big money on Wall Street is a prime example of how those in power and with tons of money are able to do so off employees who are getting paid shit, if anything at all, while trying to achieve the dream of one day getting into a managerial position and making big money. It can take many years for that to happen, far longer than the 5 year max of playing a sport in college...and only a small portion ever achieve that success while far more drop out of the business or are fired.
These guys signed up to play college football and get a scholarship. That is the agreement they willingly entered into. They have the option of doing anything else that they are capable of doing and someone is willing to hire them to do. Plenty of NFL and NBA players have held real jobs and entered in as UDFAs. There are options that exist. They entered a contractual relationship, then decided it wasn't fair and are crying about it...just like all these brats who want the government to pay off their $100,000 student loans because...because...ummm...well...they promised me a job when I graduated, but the job isn't paying for the loan plus car, rent, food, water, electric, appliances, etc....so I need the government to pay off my loans. You took the loan, now you have to pay it off. If you didn't understand that at the time you agreed to your contract, well hopefully you won't make that same mistake again!
Maybe these kids need to rewatch The Princess Bride - like when Wesley says, "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." or Grandpa says to the Grandson "Well who says life is fair? Where is that written? Life isn't always fair."
