Making Connections

1. According to Steve Weiberg, the NCAA has begun to allow college athletes to compete in one sport as professionals and maintain college eligibility in another. What do you think Frank Deford, Michael Lewis, or Michael Wilbon would think of that reform?

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   Chapter 9 - Making Connections: According to Steve Weiberg, the NCAA has begun to allow college athletes to compete in one sport as professionals and maintain college eligibility in another. What do you think Frank Deford, Michael Lewis, or Michael Wilbon would think of that reform?
2. Besides the basic issue of pay for college athletes, what underlying issues separate Wilbon and Bill Walton?

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   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 9 - Making Connections: Besides the basic issue of pay for college athletes, what underlying issues separate Wilbon and Bill Walton?
3. Do you think Lewis is one of the “pay-for-play advocates [who] suggest[s] eliminating nonrevenue sports and paying football and men’s basketball players because of the perceived profitability of those sports” that the NCAA refers to in its statement? Explain your answer, citing evidence from Lewis’s essay.

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   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 9 - Making Connections: Do you think Lewis is one of the “pay-for-play advocates [who] suggest[s] eliminating nonrevenue sports and paying football and men’s basketball players because of the perceived profitability of those sports” that the NCAA refers to in its statement? Explain your answer, citing evidence from Lewis’s essay.
4. Wilbon reports that a head coach at a Division I school told him that “big-time athletic leagues and their big-time programs are ‘. . . fully engaged in robbing the poor to give to the rich’” (para. 6). How would Walton or the NCAA respond to that allegation?

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   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 9 - Making Connections: Wilbon reports that a head coach at a Division I school told him that “big-time athletic leagues and their big-time programs are ‘. . . fully engaged in robbing the poor to give to the rich’” (para. 6). How would Walton or the NCAA respond to that allegation?
5. Wilbon also reports on several Heisman Trophy winners who behaved badly after their careers ended, noting that none of them forfeited their titles as Reggie Bush was required to do after an NCAA investigation revealed that he had received improper benefits while playing football for the University of Southern California. How does that square with the NCAA’s assertion about the benefits of sports for student athletes?

   Question

   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 9 - Making Connections: Wilbon also reports on several Heisman Trophy winners who behaved badly after their careers ended, noting that none of them forfeited their titles as Reggie Bush was required to do after an NCAA investigation revealed that he had received improper benefits while playing football for the University of Southern California. How does that square with the NCAA’s assertion about the benefits of sports for student athletes?
6. Jay Bilas, a lawyer and sports analyst for ESPN.com, says, “I don’t believe college athletes should be paid as employees. Rather, I believe barriers should be removed that limit an athlete from receiving fair compensation for his or her image and likeness. There is no legitimate reason why a college athlete should be denied the opportunity to enter into legitimate, legally binding contracts to, among other things, hire an agent, do paid appearances, appear in advertisements, endorse shoes and apparel or otherwise profit from their [sic] names and likenesses. It would not sink college sports, substantially limit the NCAA’s massive television profits or negatively affect the education of the athletes or any other student. It would simply be fair.” How would the NCAA respond to Bilas? What might Walton say?

   Question

   WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=

   Chapter 9 - Making Connections: Jay Bilas, a lawyer and sports analyst for ESPN.com, says, “I don’t believe college athletes should be paid as employees. Rather, I believe barriers should be removed that limit an athlete from receiving fair compensation for his or her image and likeness. There is no legitimate reason why a college athlete should be denied the opportunity to enter into legitimate, legally binding contracts to, among other things, hire an agent, do paid appearances, appear in advertisements, endorse shoes and apparel or otherwise profit from their [sic] names and likenesses. It would not sink college sports, substantially limit the NCAA’s massive television profits or negatively affect the education of the athletes or any other student. It would simply be fair.” How would the NCAA respond to Bilas? What might Walton say?