Northwestern athletes seek union membership

[LongviewLobo01]

Will definitely be interesting to watch.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10363430/outside-lines-northwestern-wildcats-football-players-trying-join-labor-union

 

[Lukus Alderman]

Very interesting.

 

[armadillo slim]

yeah, that's gonna work. it's illinois. unions dominate illinois. that's why the entire state is pretty much up shit creek.

 

[Sean Adams]

I'm cheering for these guys. I know the 'shut up, take your scholarship and entertain me' folks will be mad but I always thought the universities and the coaches have agents and attorney's and the players had no advocate. so I'm cheering for the protections that this could represent.

 

[littlejon82]

I have no problem with unions for employees in industry, but college athletes aren't employees. They are student athletes. Their pay comes in the form of room/board and paid tuition.

Lord knows I find the NCAA as useless as the next guy. But they are taking this too far by trying to unionize. If this comes to pass I won't like it.

 

[lazy]

So if the Student Athletes are able to form a Union then wouldn't normal Collage Students also be able to form a Union to negotiate for things on Campus life issues? I think this is a bit silly and someone sees a chance to get a really good paying job exploiting college athletes even more by collecting Union dues where there is probably not much they can do. I mean really are these guys going to strike and not play a season? That may work if you are at Bama, Texas, OSU or another one of the big boys but at most schools all it will point out is they have more operating budget to spread among the rest of the university.

 

[lazy]

Another question... What would that mean to the NCAA because if the players are given Union Status that means they are then employees of the University which means they are being paid to play football which would then end their amateur status and there by make them ineligible if it only happens for players at some Universities and not others.

 

[doc longhorn]

I have no problem with unions for employees in industry, but college athletes aren't employees. They are student athletes. Their pay comes in the form of room/board and paid tuition.
Lord knows I find the NCAA as useless as the next guy. But they are taking this too far by trying to unionize. If this comes to pass I won't like it.

I've always wondered how this could be construed in the courts.

Because college athletes that are on scholarship are, in fact, exchanging their services for scholarships that have a monetary value. Isn't that what an employee of any company does?

That being said, I believe if unions take hold in the college ranks, college football as we know it will no longer exist.

 

[Texdoc]

No one is forcing them to play.

If they don't like what is being offered, then make good grades, enroll, & pay tuition & books, etc, like every other student.

They are spoiled already compared to students that have to work nights, etc, in order to get a degree.

 

[MBHORNSFAN]

No one is forcing them to play.If they don't like what is being offered, then make good grades, enroll, & pay tuition & books, etc, like every other student.

They are spoiled already compared to students that have to work nights, etc, in order to get a degree.

Good points

 

[texasdobbs]

I'm cheering for these guys. I know the 'shut up, take your scholarship and entertain me' folks will be mad but I always thought the universities and the coaches have agents and attorney's and the players had no advocate. so I'm cheering for the protections that this could represent.

They have a advocate. .. There parents. No one has forced them to come to college to get a free education. It's the entitlement mentality.

They might want to thank about what they ask for... most states have at will employment laws... meaning if you we don't like the job your doing... your fired.

Whatever.. There is always someone that tries to screw it up for the rest...

 

[BevoBlake]

I have a feeling that if something like this were to be approved and collegiate players were placed in a union, Colleges would look towards the removal of Sports Scholarships.

 

[Slwilliam]

No one is forcing them to play.If they don't like what is being offered, then make good grades, enroll, & pay tuition & books, etc, like every other student.

They are spoiled already compared to students that have to work nights, etc, in order to get a degree.

Obviously never played college football before right?

 

[Sean Adams]

They've had to go to extreme measures because they can't even get the NCAA to allow schools to give them full cost of attendance. With a program that brings in over $100 million in a year, why can't they pay for parents to be able to attend games? Why can't they insure the players who are playing for them? I've never been a fan of pay for play like an employer/employee relationship but everyone's existence has been better over the last 40 years and but the plight of the athlete has remained the same. He'' they've lowered academic standards to keep the money flowing and idiots graduate all over the country every year.

 

[Tulsahorn]

No one is forcing them to play.If they don't like what is being offered, then make good grades, enroll, & pay tuition & books, etc, like every other student.

They are spoiled already compared to students that have to work nights, etc, in order to get a degree.

Any football player, or for that matter any D1 athlete, puts in infinitely more work that some guy checking books at the library.

Working at the library isn't going to get you a torn MCL, broken neck, or concussion. The comparison is not valid in the least bit.

Additionally, the librarians or whatever they are doing are not scrutinized and or villainized for a blown play both on TV and every jackass on the internet who feels "entitled" to bitch.

The notion of somehow being a "Free" education is dumber than dumb.

Yes, there are rewards (I'm not talking about the 1/10 of 1% of the guys who actually make the pros) to playing, but anyone who thinks it's free or equivalent to some work-study grant should work out once with the team.

 

[Slwilliam]

The fact that people say that student athletes are entitlement problem?!? That's a joke. You go work out in the morning, go to classes, go to film, go to practice, then go to study hall and every study more after that. I'm sure you would love working from 5 am till 12 am. Cause despite how you think it may work, the reality is that this is some of the days student athletes go through. Not every school is an academic pushover and not student don't get pushed through by teachers. Hell at my college the teachers were tougher on us because of preconceived notions about athletes. Not every student has the money to go eat. The caf isn't open 24/7 at most places. I had teammates that were poor and weekends were hard due to scarcity of caf being open at limited times. The entitlement is with the fan who has never played a down for the school, never once practiced, worked out, or watched film but yet demands certain things from these players.

 

[texasdobbs]

They've had to go to extreme measures because they can't even get the NCAA to allow schools to give them full cost of attendance. With a program that brings in over $100 million in a year, why can't they pay for parents to be able to attend games? Why can't they insure the players who are playing for them? I've never been a fan of pay for play like an employer/employee relationship but everyone's existence has been better over the last 40 years and but the plight of the athlete has remained the same. He'' they've lowered academic standards to keep the money flowing and idiots graduate all over the country every year.

Sean... I don't have a problem with anything that you just stated and would not mind a little stipend system set up to help with day to day life stuff such as $300 a month... but when you talk about pay for playing that's when I'm out..

 

[texasdobbs]

The fact that people say that student athletes are entitlement problem?!? That's a joke. You go work out in the morning, go to classes, go to film, go to practice, then go to study hall and every study more after that. I'm sure you would love working from 5 am till 12 am. Cause despite how you think it may work, the reality is that this is some of the days student athletes go through. Not every school is an academic pushover and not student don't get pushed through by teachers. Hell at my college the teachers were tougher on us because of preconceived notions about athletes. Not every student has the money to go eat. The caf isn't open 24/7 at most places. I had teammates that were poor and weekends were hard due to scarcity of caf being open at limited times. The entitlement is with the fan who has never played a down for the school, never once practiced, worked out, or watched film but yet demands certain things from these players.

While I don't disagree with you in general. .. Donors do have some "entitlement" The money that they have given came from hard work and they want their money to be spent appropriately.

That being said I do not have a problem with a monthly stipend to help with daily life... example $300

 

[aowells]

The fact that people say that student athletes are entitlement problem?!? That's a joke. You go work out in the morning, go to classes, go to film, go to practice, then go to study hall and every study more after that. I'm sure you would love working from 5 am till 12 am. Cause despite how you think it may work, the reality is that this is some of the days student athletes go through. Not every school is an academic pushover and not student don't get pushed through by teachers. Hell at my college the teachers were tougher on us because of preconceived notions about athletes. Not every student has the money to go eat. The caf isn't open 24/7 at most places. I had teammates that were poor and weekends were hard due to scarcity of caf being open at limited times. The entitlement is with the fan who has never played a down for the school, never once practiced, worked out, or watched film but yet demands certain things from these players.

Apparently you share the entitlement mentality. A good work ethic should be one of the life skills you pick up in college. Nobody is saying student athletes aren't doing anything - but so is everyone else, it's just that instead of playing football they're paying for an education. Student athletes having to bust their hump to complete a lot of class work??? - That's just part of getting an education. Knowledge isn't something they hand out on the last day of class, sometimes you need to pick up a book. Not enough free food? Yeah, food is something that is typically aquired in a transaction for money. Just because you're not used to paying for things doesn't mean you're going to starve to death. Most of us leave school with tens or hundreds of thousands in debt - borrow $5 and walk to Subway.

Most college football players actually take more from the school than they provide. Star players may provide much, much more than the value of their scholarship and living allowance, but these few are given the opportunity to showcase their talents to the world which can earn them a spot in the NFL. In either case it's better to be playing for a scholarship than having raw talent wasting away while you pick weeds in your backyard or picket your school to get more free stuff.