Ralph Nader is one of those politicians who has never been shy about voicing his opinions when it comes to sports. A few years back, he was candid about changes he believed needed to be made in order to fix the problem the NBA has with corrupt officials. Now, Nader has taken issue with the concept of NCAA athletic scholarships.
“As we near the exciting conclusion of ‘March Madness’ — which would more accurately be described as the 2011 NCAA Professional Basketball Championships — it’s time we step back and finally address the myth of amateurism surrounding big-time college football and basketball in this country,” Nader said in a proposal that the Associated Press obtained, via NESN.
“An entire industry has developed in the youth sports arena — club teams, personal trainers, etc. — to prey on families’ dreams of an athletic scholarship,” he continued. “The lure of the elusive athletic scholarship is the primary — sometimes the only — marketing tool these youth sports entrepreneurs use.”
Situations like the Cam Newton fiasco obviously support Nader’s proposal. However, for every Cam Newton there are a hundred young men and women with a degree and future thanks to an athletic scholarship. Nader wants to do away with athletic scholarships and redistribute them in the form of merit-based scholarships. The obvious problem there would be the decrease in the quality of athletic departments. Top athletic programs, which are made possible by athletic scholarships, bring millions of dollars to colleges and universities every year.
Nader’s argument is that colleges should either integrate athletics and education more by doing away with athletic scholarships or “acknowledge the professionalism in big-time college sports.” By that, he means universities should run their athletic departments as separate businesses. Not a chance.
While Nader’s points are reasonable to an extent, he should think about focusing his time more on ways to clean up the game and prevent the paying of amateur athletes if he’s so concerned. Not all student athletes are treated like professionals. Most of them would not have the opportunity to receive an education if not for their athletic ability. Taking that privilege away would create more problems than it would solve.
