Make the NCAA go legit

The time has come for the NCAA (National College Athletic Association) to stop exploiting young people and create a partnership that assures their future and prepares them for the next phase of their lives.

If they aren't going to pay student athletes, they need to agree to give the athlete a full education and guarantee that they will pay for their medical expenses, no matter how long it takes to get them back on their feet.

Right now people think that student athletes have it made.  They get to go to the college of their choice, they get a college degree ad can even get a master's degree if they play their cards right.  That's not really the case.

A student athlete gets to select a college out of those that express interest - not necessarily their choice.  They can attend that school as long as they are viable but that doesn't mean that their scholarship can't be yanked if a better athlete comes along during the time they are in school.  It's constant try-outs and constant measuring up.  

If they don't graduate before they exhaust their eligibility to play - the Cinderella carriage turns back into a pumpkin and there are no glass slippers.  The most they can hope for is a back-up fairy godmother and a chance to play as an undercard or a chance to play in Canada or Europe.

If the athlete gets injured and can't play anymore, it's back to the homestead and building a new dream on your own with a lot of people clucking their tongues and talking about how sad it all is.

The NCAA should be able to guarantee the athlete a degree, so at least they are getting something that will help them move on to the next phase of their lives - whether it's a golden pro baseball, basketball, football, or hockey career here or in a foreign country.  It will mean they will be more selective and there will be no more scandals where athletes pay people to take their SAT's for them, and the student and coach have to leave the school before the school loses credit for its entire season.

If an athlete is injured, the NCAA should be required to return the person to their maximum medical improvement level, just like what happens in workers compensation.  They can afford the insurance, and if they can't they need to get safer anyway.

We all see the fanfare and balloons and parents cheering in the beginning, but it's the friends who see the crying and the ambulances and the rehab and the unceremonious rejection from the dorm when the keycard doesn't work anymore and a kid goes from being Big Man on Campus to persona non grata.

The present NCAA program isn't fair. The NCAA needs to read the 13th Amendment - slavery is over.