It’s time for the NCAA to take a stand for fiscal responsibility and the
rightful place of intercollegiate athletics in American higher education and
put a stop to the arms race by rejecting all reforms related to enhancing an
already premier and first-class experience for student-athletes.
Three aspects of the NCAA reforms do make sense and should take
precedence over all other issues. First, improved medical monitoring
and changes in some rules on the field can avoid the serious aftereffects
of concussion injuries. Second, student-athletes deserve the opportunity
to come back after their playing days and finish their education at the
university’s expense. Finally, there must be rules about how to protect
a student from loss of an athletic scholarship because of a career-ending
injury.
In the end, it’s about getting our priorities straight and focusing on the real
student-athlete issues, not those fabricated by the elite few with ulterior
motives.
The NCAA cannot fall prey to phony arguments about student welfare when
the real goal of some of these so-called reformers is to create a plutocracy
of athletic programs that serves no useful purpose in American higher
education.
