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Rating: 
Summary: Amateur Myth of NCAA
Review: "... a nationwide money-laundering scheme." How Walter Byers, executive director of the NCAA from 1951-1987, described the awarding of athletic scholarships in 1957, which essentially lead to the professionalism of college athletes according to Allen Sack and Ellen Staurowski."College Athletes for Hire" is a book that should be read by anyone interested in the NCAA and its place in American sport. The authors of this book, Allen Sack and Ellen Staurowski, have compiled an historical look of college sport from its beginnings as an amateur sport to the highly commercialized spectacle it has become today. Built upon British ideologies of amateurism, college sport quickly grew as universities discovered college sport, moreover college football, to become a revenue producing avenue as well as an avenue for bringing prestige to the universities. As college sport grew, the price of winning brought illegal inducements to athletes and essentially the end of amateurism established in the early days of competition. With the advent of athletic scholarships, the athletes essentially became employees of a university as the scholarship acted as an employment contract where the athletes received free room, board, tuition, and fees for his/her service. With the rise of professionalism in college sport, especially at the Division I level, the NCAA continued to argue that college sport was still a leisure activity and that college sport still adhered to its original amateur principles. An argument the NCAA continues to use today. This amateur myth has been used not to benefit the athletes in anyway, but to keep the NCAA and its member institutions free from antitrust violations, workers compensation claims, and from paying federal taxes. Sack and Staurowski have put together a well written and well research analysis that can finally help to dispel the notion of the amateur myth and put to light the issues affecting the NCAA, its member institutions, and most importantly, the athletes who help to generate millions in revenue, but fail to reap the benefits of a true higher education. The book takes the reader on a journey of the NCAA from its inception in 1906, when it was established to restore amateurism, through the rise of women's athletics, the rise in commercialism of college sport as a revenue producing entity, and finally to the issues affecting the athletes themselves. Sack and Staurowski show how athletes have been receiving some sort of payment for their athletic ability and performance on the playing field since the beginning of the NCAA. The so called amateurism of the NCAA created and underground network of illegal payments, which were provided by, boosters, alumni, local residents, and college officials. It was not uncommon for athletes to be given a job and receive payment for which they performed no work at all. Sack and Staurowski show that the NCAA itself has violated its own long established principles of amateurism with the passage of several amendments. The first of these was the "Sanity Code," which entitled universities to award financial aid based on athletic ability. The second was the granting of full athletic scholarships in 1956, which gave the athletes he aforementioned free room, board, tuition, and fees. Sack and Staurowski argue that these two amendments alone come to violate amateurism and that they constitute payment to athletes for athletic ability and not for education which the NCAA has argued is the basis of the amateur model. Sack and Staurowski further argue that the athletic scholarship is in essence an employment contract. In 1967 the NCAA passed an amendment that reduced the scholarship to a one-year renewable scholarship establishing an employer-employee relationship between the coach and athlete. This one year renewable scholarship now gave the coaches the right to terminate the scholarship if the athlete chose to leave the team to concentrate on academics, if an athlete was injured, if an athlete's athletic ability was not at college level, or for athlete insubordination. Sack and Staurowski argue that this is similar to any employer-employee relationship. This gives the coach total control of the athlete both on and off the field and that an athlete can lose his/her right to an education if the coach deems them unnecessary for athletic competitions. If an athlete loses their right to an education because of sports, how can the NCAA continue to claim college sports are amateur and leisure activities? Important legal cases are used to show how college sports are similar to professional sports and that the athletes are paid employees. The most important legal case is the Coleman v. Western Michigan University which outlines the difficulties courts have had in deciding these issues arising in college sports. Although the NCAA has won a majority of these cases, Sack and Staurowski provide credible arguments to support the athletes. It is up to the reader to decide whether or not college athletes are in fact paid professional athletes. Sack and Staurowski argue that the only true amateurism in college sports is at the Division III and the Ivy League where no athletic scholarships are given. Financial aid is given at these institutions based on need rather than the ability to score touchdowns or make baskets. At this level the athletes themselves decide whether or not athletics is more important than his/her education, whereas in Division I and II the athletes are paid entertainers where athletics is their primary goal as dictated by the one-year renewable athletic scholarship. Although I strongly recommend this book, I must say that it is a somewhat difficult book to read that delves deeply into the issues affecting the NCAA and its athletes. The authors have compiled a scholarly analysis of this subject using diverse sources of information that make this book one of the best in the field of college athletics.
Rating:
Summary: A Deep Look at NCAA's Amateur Myth
Review: An in depth look at the evolution of both amateurism andthe NCAA, Sack & Staurowsky take a historical view to show how theNCAA falsely classifies college athletes as amateurs. The authors look at current labor and contract laws, as well as historical court cases, to draw comparisons to what the NCAA refers to as athletic scholarships. Are athletic scholarships a gift given for ability? Or, are they a payment for services rendered. The authors argue that scholarships are an employment contract for services. The fact that the scholarships must be renewed every year by the coach, and can be taken away from a player for what the coach deems poor performance, or for that matter even an injury, make the arguement a very strong one. If scholarships were merely a gift, then shouldn't an athlete be allowed to walk away from the sport with no prospect of financial harm? By current NCAA standards, the authors say this is not the case. "College Athletes for Hire" shows how and why the NCAA passed legislation allowing for one year renewable scholarships giving total control of the coach over the athlete both on the field, and in some cases off. Furthermore, athletes are awarded these athletic scholarships on athletic ability alone, with no consideration of academics or, in many cases, personal character. The thesis argued by Sack and Staurowsky that athletes are already 'unpaid professionals' is even stronger when the authors use a legal perspective to show how courts have interpreted employment contracts. When discussing amateurism and scholarships, a working definition and background is needed. The book does a good job in providing a history of what amateurism is defined as. The use of the word scholarship, and how the NCAA defines an athletic scholarship, is also thoroughly discussed to avoid any confusion of the use of these terms. While reading the book, it was alarming to consider the point that Universities, athletic directors, and coaches can financially benefit from ticket sales, sponsorships, and endorsements, while the athletes are not allowed anything more than a full scholarship. Although the topic is well studied, this is not a book to take with you to read leisurely. It is highly academic and close examination of the issues expressed is needed to fully understand the thesis presented. The authors do not seem to have a separate agenda or act as lobbyists for any organization; rather, they have strong beliefs in what they consider to be wrong in inconsistant by the NCAA's treatment and defining of college athletes.
Rating: 
Summary: A subject which needs further analysis
Review: As President of a D1 Athletic dept. fundraising board as well as a close friend of a recent coach who was fired during a scandal, I felt it was appropriate to review the role of college athletics in America. This book was a great starting point and gave exceptional historical reference to understand how our system got to where it is today.
This book reads like a college text so don't buy this for entertaining reading unless you are prepared to study this subject. The historical review is exceptional. I have to admit that I did not fully read the substantial section on women athletics although I did summary read. There were debates and NCAA rules passed in the 40s I was not aware of and am glad I discovered in this book. It also shows a historical backdrop to why the south is so overzealous about college sports. Frankly, I'm glad I read this book and would recommend it for anyone interested in the subject. I would not recommend it for light reading. The unique experience of the writers gives you respect in their ability to write this book and the opening by the athlete who was paralyzed frames why this subject should be reviewed further. As cynicism is creeping into my love for the sports of my alma mater, this book helped me understand the issues better.
Rating:
Summary: In The Light
Review: In "College Athletes for Hire" Authors Sack andStaurowsky need to be commended for having the courage to create sucha document that takes a very depth and candid look at what collegiate sports have become today in terms of professionalism and commercialism. As a former Division II athlete having participated on both "revenue generating" (football) and "non-revenue generating" (wrestling) athletic teams. I can definitely relate to many of the things the authors have discussed in their book. In addition, being a student of the sports industry, I found the contents to be very helpful as the book took the reader on an educational journey of twist and turns while exposing how people's greed for money has corrupted the essence of amateur sports. This text is one that should be read by all who have any involvement in the grooming of student athletes. This book brings to the surface some very important questions about how, when, where, and for what reasons the authors feel that many of our student athletes have become unpaid professionals. While providing us with an abundance of both primary and archival research material to support their viewpoints and conclusions. By doing this I feel they have eliminated the criticism that this is just a book of hot air stemming from two individual's bad experiences and personal feeling, causing anyone in disagreement to have to produce and organize just as much supporting material as well as to present it in just as an effective manner. The authors hit the reader with an eye-opening jolt of reality by presenting the actual fate of one former collegiate athlete and his quiest for justice. This former football player received a game related injury that left him a quadriplegic. He stresses that if his university's athletic director, coach, or any of the groundskeepers had gotten hurt that day, they would have received workers' compensation for their injury but he as an "amateur scholarship athlete" (by NCAA believes) is not entitled to such coverage even though because of his talents they have jobs. The book showcases the authors' experiences in the sports from the big time Division I revenue generating world of football to the minute world of women's Division III sports. Providing the reader with a revealing look at the amount of time the authors dedicated to investigating and substantiating the material they found. The Introduction sets the foundation for the educational journey on which the reader is about to embark by showing some of the disparities between the various football divisions in the NCAA. It declares what sport is, a taste of the legislative effect on sport, a naming of what they feel is the problem in NCAA sports, a statement as to what the purpose of the book is, and chapter by chapter break down of what the authors are trying to convey in each chapter. Unlike other critiques of collegiate sport they address the historical path that "the evolution of "NCAA-sponsored" professionalism in the form of athletically related financial aid" has taken. In the body of the book the authors express that in Great Britain "the amateur ideal of sport was in many ways supportive of the best academic traditions of the liberal arts when viewed in the context of the British University". But here in America because of spectators' alarming interest in competition (1906) which reached beyond their regional lines, revenue driven individuals leaped at the opportunity to exploit what they saw as an emerging national market giving, the NCAA the boosts it so desperately needed to become what it is today. Helping to propel the NCAA into its present state (a cartel as describe by the authors) was a number of legislative changes which the authors cite as major contributors. These legislative moves were in direct contradiction to the original code of ethics/by laws of the (Articles VI & VII) NCAA that were in place in 1906 forbidding the violations of the amateur principle. Transforming individuals who accepted athletic scholarships into paid professionals based on their very own (NCAA's) historical standards and definitions. The NCAA has always tried to present itself as the "do gooders", but this book reveals the flip side of the coin by containing information on actual court rulings concerning the relationship between athletes, scholarships, employment contracts, compensation, and the strategy used by the NCAA to mask their incorporations of professionalism. The discussion of the emergence of women's sports was a great idea because it shows how women have fought for so many years to preserve the true essence of amateurism by being opposed to the act of having collegiate sports serve the public as an entertainment venue. Which took away from the educational purposes of sports along with exposing the wide spread sexist discriminations that was prevalent against women in the world of sports for so many years. Discrimination lasted until the point where it could be seen that revenue could be generated from the fruits of women's labor right along with that of their male counter parts and through their quest for equality (e.g.Title IX) which sent women leaping into the world of professional sports by now being able to receive athletic scholarships. END
Rating:
Summary: In The Light
Review: In "College Athletes for Hire" Authors Sack andStaurowsky need to be commended for having the courage to create sucha document that takes a very depth and candid look at what collegiate sports have become today in terms of professionalism and commercialism. As a former Division II athlete having participated on both "revenue generating" (football) and "non-revenue generating" (wrestling) athletic teams. I can definitely relate to many of the things the authors have discussed in their book. In addition, being a student of the sports industry, I found the contents to be very helpful as the book took the reader on an educational journey of twist and turns while exposing how people's greed for money has corrupted the essence of amateur sports. This text is one that should be read by all who have any involvement in the grooming of student athletes. This book brings to the surface some very important questions about how, when, where, and for what reasons the authors feel that many of our student athletes have become unpaid professionals. While providing us with an abundance of both primary and archival research material to support their viewpoints and conclusions. By doing this I feel they have eliminated the criticism that this is just a book of hot air stemming from two individual's bad experiences and personal feeling, causing anyone in disagreement to have to produce and organize just as much supporting material as well as to present it in just as an effective manner. The authors hit the reader with an eye-opening jolt of reality by presenting the actual fate of one former collegiate athlete and his quiest for justice. This former football player received a game related injury that left him a quadriplegic. He stresses that if his university's athletic director, coach, or any of the groundskeepers had gotten hurt that day, they would have received workers' compensation for their injury but he as an "amateur scholarship athlete" (by NCAA believes) is not entitled to such coverage even though because of his talents they have jobs. The book showcases the authors' experiences in the sports from the big time Division I revenue generating world of football to the minute world of women's Division III sports. Providing the reader with a revealing look at the amount of time the authors dedicated to investigating and substantiating the material they found. The Introduction sets the foundation for the educational journey on which the reader is about to embark by showing some of the disparities between the various football divisions in the NCAA. It declares what sport is, a taste of the legislative effect on sport, a naming of what they feel is the problem in NCAA sports, a statement as to what the purpose of the book is, and chapter by chapter break down of what the authors are trying to convey in each chapter. Unlike other critiques of collegiate sport they address the historical path that "the evolution of "NCAA-sponsored" professionalism in the form of athletically related financial aid" has taken. In the body of the book the authors express that in Great Britain "the amateur ideal of sport was in many ways supportive of the best academic traditions of the liberal arts when viewed in the context of the British University". But here in America because of spectators' alarming interest in competition (1906) which reached beyond their regional lines, revenue driven individuals leaped at the opportunity to exploit what they saw as an emerging national market giving, the NCAA the boosts it so desperately needed to become what it is today. Helping to propel the NCAA into its present state (a cartel as describe by the authors) was a number of legislative changes which the authors cite as major contributors. These legislative moves were in direct contradiction to the original code of ethics/by laws of the (Articles VI & VII) NCAA that were in place in 1906 forbidding the violations of the amateur principle. Transforming individuals who accepted athletic scholarships into paid professionals based on their very own (NCAA's) historical standards and definitions. The NCAA has always tried to present itself as the "do gooders", but this book reveals the flip side of the coin by containing information on actual court rulings concerning the relationship between athletes, scholarships, employment contracts, compensation, and the strategy used by the NCAA to mask their incorporations of professionalism. The discussion of the emergence of women's sports was a great idea because it shows how women have fought for so many years to preserve the true essence of amateurism by being opposed to the act of having collegiate sports serve the public as an entertainment venue. Which took away from the educational purposes of sports along with exposing the wide spread sexist discriminations that was prevalent against women in the world of sports for so many years. Discrimination lasted until the point where it could be seen that revenue could be generated from the fruits of women's labor right along with that of their male counter parts and through their quest for equality (e.g.Title IX) which sent women leaping into the world of professional sports by now being able to receive athletic scholarships. END
Rating:
Summary: College Scholarships - Are they employment contracts?
Review: Mr.Sack and Ms. Staurowsky have seen collegiate athletics from the inside. Sack as a former scholarship football player at the Mecca of college football, the University of Notre Dame. Staurowsky as a former athlete, coach, and athletic director in the infancy of women's struggle to level the distribution of funding in college sports with their male counterparts. This "insider's" view gives the authors a vast amount of personal experience to draw from. But this book is not an expose` of personal experiences with college improprieties. The purpose of this manuscript is to educate the reader about the history of college sport and to dispel the theory that today"s Division I-A revenue producing programs are amateur athletics at their finest. Part I of College Athletes for Hire, gives the reader an intense background on the amateur ideal that was a vital part of the lifestyle of the Gentleman-Aristocrat in Great Britain. To these "gentleman", sport was a leisure time activity. An important point here has an interesting effect on the path of college sports in America. With this amateur view, the sport of choice was partaken to benefit the athlete, not the spectator. When the focus of sport turned to the spectator, the amateur ideal was clouded. Although this portion of the book is not an easy read, it expresses a movement towards spectatorship that, I believe had a tremendous effect on collegiate sport. This "spectatorism" in the early 1900's, was limited to attending games in person or listening via radio. But in the 1950's when the modern convenience we know as television came along, tremendous financial opportunities existed for the institutions and the governing bodies. It was also recognized that a renowned athletic team could be used as a marketing tool to bring students into the hallowed halls of universities. With all of the benefits a university could take anvantage of if their ahtletic teams performed well, it was no wonder that many athletes were recruited and induced to participate on the collegiate level. The authors make strong arguments that these factors, along with the athletic scholarship, lead collegiate athletics down the professional path while an amateur myth existed that portrayed the image of the student-athlete as just that, a student first and athlete second. Chapters 3 and 4 are dedicated to the history of women in collegiate athletics. These chapters present the adherence to the amateur ideal found in early women's athletics. Female athletes were not subjected to the pressure of revenue production nor did they receive the benefit of athletic scholarships. Women's collegiate athletics had followed the amateur ideal and seemed to serve the participant more effectively from both the athletic and academic standpoint. Chapter 5 is the focal point of the authors' belief that with the current athletic scholarship format, today's collegiate athlete is in fact a professional. This chapter delves into the NCAA's policies on the existance of an employee-employer relationship between school and student-athlete. Workers' compensation cases seemed to be very important to the NCAA in maintaining the status-quo of the student-athlete. Legally, if an injured player sued for workers' compensation and won, he or she would be considered an employee. As scholarships became one-year renewable agreements that would be removed should the student cease athletic participation, they became very close to employment contracts. The NCAA spent considerable time and effort in maintaining the view that the athlete was not being compensated to participate in sport, while eliminating the four-year "full ride" in favor of the one-year renewable agreement. With these one-year scholarships, coaches could cancel the aid given to a student who did not perform as expected or who became injured. To my thinking, if the grant can be removed by a coach for poor performance or injury, the agreement becomes contingent upon athletic participation. This means that the student-athlete is there to perform a service, if he or she can no longer perform to the satisfaction of the University (coach), the compensation (scholarship) is removed. In effect, the student-athlete's worth to the university is evident in that, the scholarship continues only if you participate at a high level. If the athlete ceases to play, or play well, then the "payment" is removed. The chapters on the progression of women's sport give the reader a parallel history to compare to that of the revenue generating sports. Female athletes have been able to enjoy the total college experience without the need to focus all of their attention on the sports they were participating in. Although the desire to win and perform well was still there, the ability to walk away should the sport take too much away from studies existed until recently. When athletic scholarships came along, as well as the Title IX Amendment, and when women's professional leagues came into play, NCAA play became the pro sports proving ground for women as well as men. To me the underlying theme in the book is the apparent professionalism of today's college Division I-A program. Revenue producing college sports are big business for the universities, the NCAA, the coaches, the footwear companies, and the television networks, everyone other that the athlete. I agree completely with the authors suggested reform. The NCAA should either admit that these athletes are professional or remove athletic scholarships that are not based on need. The book was well researched and cited a large quantity of archival information. At times this makes the reading difficult. I see the book as an historical account of college sports in America, or more specifically, the history of the NCAA and their amateur ideal.It would have been great to hear some of Mr. Sack's personal experiences as a major college athlete. His personal experiences would have given the reader something to relate to other than just facts and figures.
Rating:
Summary: ?Professional? College Athletes
Review: Stark and Staurowsky have created a book about college athletes that explores the issue of professionalism in college sports like no other. The purpose of this book is to prove that college athletes who receive scholarships based on athletic ability are in fact paid professionals who are compensated in the form of room, board, tuition, and fees. In spite of this fact, the NCAA still labels these athletes amateurs. As a result, the NCAA is protected under rules that allow them to get away with behavior that they otherwise could not if these athletes were considered professionals in the true sense of the word. The authors contend that by labeling athletes amateurs the NCAA is able to avoid taxes, workers compensation claims of injured athletes, and antitrust scrutiny. The author's focus is on athletes involved in revenue producing sports, mainly men's Division IA football and basketball. The authors do a good job of proving that the role these sports are playing in universities more closely resembles an unrelated business of the university rather than an academic supplement. Other books talk about the evils of college sports in terms of commercialism and illegal payments. These books focus mainly on the outrageous amounts of money that some college sports generate and how it is corrupting the athletes who participate. This is one of the few books that address the issues of professionalism in college sports. The primary focus of this book is on professionalism and the problems it has caused in college athletics. According to the authors amateurism began in Great Britain in the early 19th century and centered around the British aristocracy. The traditional definition of amateurism included the belief that it involved an activity that was done in one's spare time, separate from activities that involved making money or a living. The amateur ideal spread to academic universities. It was not long until universities found that they could make money off of these athletic events. In the early 1900's, as universities were defying amateur ideals by finding ways to subsidize athletes as incentives to play for their university, the NCAA came along to play the role of regulator. The authors not only contend, but prove through rulings and behavior of the NCAA that the NCAA never once tried to prevent professionalism from forming in college sports. As a matter of fact, according to the authors the NCAA has not only been unsuccessful in stopping professionalism, but has actually accommodated it. The authors have quite a few chapters of their book devoted the history of women's sports. These chapters are very important to their argument. They illustrate that women's sports in college began quite differently than men's sports. The women's sports model, as the authors refer to it, strove to separate itself from the money and exploitations associated with men's college sports. This model balanced education and athletics and strove to provide all female students with the opportunity to be involved in athletics. This is what the authors believe that the role of sports should be in universities. Up until very recently, focus in women's sports has remained on the athletes, not the spectators or the revenue being produced by their sport. The authors spend a whole chapter proving that athletic scholarships have changed from gifts given to students into contracts of employment. This transformation of the athletic scholarship is the very root of the problem that has turned college athletes into professionals. It is in this chapter that the authors do a great job of combining their views and the history of the previous chapters with actual court cases. Although most of these cases deal with the issue of workers compensation for college athletes, they illustrate the transformation of the college athlete from amateur to professional with the introduction of athletic scholarship in the 50's. Awarding financial compensation in the form of scholarships to talented athletes constitutes payment and violates amateur rules. But it was not until 1967 that the NCAA turned these scholarships into employment contracts by allowing athletic scholarships to be canceled by the university, in affect giving the university the power to "fire" an athlete. What makes this book interesting is that the authors not only talk about the issues and problems with college athletics, but they also offer solutions to the problems they discussed. There are two solutions presented. The first solution presented is for colleges to do away with athletic scholarships and concentrate on educating students. This solution involves bringing college athletics back to the amateur level. This model is successful in Ivy League schools. The second solution offered is to acknowledge that athletes receiving scholarships for their ability are in fact paid professionals and to support these athletes to their fullest potential. In some cases this would involve running the revenue producing sports of a university as an unrelated business, one that has employees and pays taxes. This book was thorough and very well researched. The authors discussed cases and archival material from the NCAA that I have never seen discussed before. By doing this the authors were able to illustrate their opinions with facts. Although I liked that their opinions were backed up by facts I found this book to be difficult to read at some points. Parts of the book read like a history book, and although the history was very interesting and in some regards necessary to their mission, I would have enjoyed more opinion and less history. Since the authors were involved in college athletics themselves I would have enjoyed reading about some of their experiences. On the other hand, because there was so much history and facts throughout this book I was really able to understand the issues. Overall I enjoyed this book because it explored a side of college athletics that has never been looked at in this kind of detail. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in college athletics.
Rating:
Summary: ¿Professional¿ College Athletes
Review: Stark and Staurowsky have created a book about college athletes that explores the issue of professionalism in college sports like no other. The purpose of this book is to prove that college athletes who receive scholarships based on athletic ability are in fact paid professionals who are compensated in the form of room, board, tuition, and fees. In spite of this fact, the NCAA still labels these athletes amateurs. As a result, the NCAA is protected under rules that allow them to get away with behavior that they otherwise could not if these athletes were considered professionals in the true sense of the word. The authors contend that by labeling athletes amateurs the NCAA is able to avoid taxes, workers compensation claims of injured athletes, and antitrust scrutiny. The author's focus is on athletes involved in revenue producing sports, mainly men's Division IA football and basketball. The authors do a good job of proving that the role these sports are playing in universities more closely resembles an unrelated business of the university rather than an academic supplement. Other books talk about the evils of college sports in terms of commercialism and illegal payments. These books focus mainly on the outrageous amounts of money that some college sports generate and how it is corrupting the athletes who participate. This is one of the few books that address the issues of professionalism in college sports. The primary focus of this book is on professionalism and the problems it has caused in college athletics. According to the authors amateurism began in Great Britain in the early 19th century and centered around the British aristocracy. The traditional definition of amateurism included the belief that it involved an activity that was done in one's spare time, separate from activities that involved making money or a living. The amateur ideal spread to academic universities. It was not long until universities found that they could make money off of these athletic events. In the early 1900's, as universities were defying amateur ideals by finding ways to subsidize athletes as incentives to play for their university, the NCAA came along to play the role of regulator. The authors not only contend, but prove through rulings and behavior of the NCAA that the NCAA never once tried to prevent professionalism from forming in college sports. As a matter of fact, according to the authors the NCAA has not only been unsuccessful in stopping professionalism, but has actually accommodated it. The authors have quite a few chapters of their book devoted the history of women's sports. These chapters are very important to their argument. They illustrate that women's sports in college began quite differently than men's sports. The women's sports model, as the authors refer to it, strove to separate itself from the money and exploitations associated with men's college sports. This model balanced education and athletics and strove to provide all female students with the opportunity to be involved in athletics. This is what the authors believe that the role of sports should be in universities. Up until very recently, focus in women's sports has remained on the athletes, not the spectators or the revenue being produced by their sport. The authors spend a whole chapter proving that athletic scholarships have changed from gifts given to students into contracts of employment. This transformation of the athletic scholarship is the very root of the problem that has turned college athletes into professionals. It is in this chapter that the authors do a great job of combining their views and the history of the previous chapters with actual court cases. Although most of these cases deal with the issue of workers compensation for college athletes, they illustrate the transformation of the college athlete from amateur to professional with the introduction of athletic scholarship in the 50's. Awarding financial compensation in the form of scholarships to talented athletes constitutes payment and violates amateur rules. But it was not until 1967 that the NCAA turned these scholarships into employment contracts by allowing athletic scholarships to be canceled by the university, in affect giving the university the power to "fire" an athlete. What makes this book interesting is that the authors not only talk about the issues and problems with college athletics, but they also offer solutions to the problems they discussed. There are two solutions presented. The first solution presented is for colleges to do away with athletic scholarships and concentrate on educating students. This solution involves bringing college athletics back to the amateur level. This model is successful in Ivy League schools. The second solution offered is to acknowledge that athletes receiving scholarships for their ability are in fact paid professionals and to support these athletes to their fullest potential. In some cases this would involve running the revenue producing sports of a university as an unrelated business, one that has employees and pays taxes. This book was thorough and very well researched. The authors discussed cases and archival material from the NCAA that I have never seen discussed before. By doing this the authors were able to illustrate their opinions with facts. Although I liked that their opinions were backed up by facts I found this book to be difficult to read at some points. Parts of the book read like a history book, and although the history was very interesting and in some regards necessary to their mission, I would have enjoyed more opinion and less history. Since the authors were involved in college athletics themselves I would have enjoyed reading about some of their experiences. On the other hand, because there was so much history and facts throughout this book I was really able to understand the issues. Overall I enjoyed this book because it explored a side of college athletics that has never been looked at in this kind of detail. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in college athletics.
Rating:
Summary: College Athletes: Amateurs or Professionals
Review: The purpose of this book is to show how college athletes started playing sports as amateurs, but quickly through athletic scholorships have turned towards professionalism. An amateur is one who engages in sports in their free time. This is leisure time, and athletes joining in this time will compete solely on thier will to play and not participate in return for room. board, tuition and fees. An athlete becomes a professional when one accepts an athletic scholorship which may include any of these incentives. This book is primarily about professionlism. The start of the Sanity Code showed signs that the NCAA was turning professional. The Sanity Code stated that financial aid could be awarded to students on the basis of their athletic ability. They called these gifts for play, not pay for play. Recieving any payment at all according to Sack and Staurowsky, makes that athlete a professional. This book touches on the relationships between coaches and players. Under scholorship, athletes must perform under the rules of the coach. I just recently finished my senior year of Division II football. I was under scholorship and my coach did have total control over my actions. My coach acted as the employer, and I was the employee. Schools that don't offer scholorships such as the Ivy League, and Division III schools, players aren't under such strict control. Athletes don't have to practice or play if they don't want to. These players are under no obligation to their coaches. The authors give a good argument that under scholorships, athletes are held under contract, similar to an employee contract. Chapter 5 was a very interesting chapter. The authors explained how sholorships turned into employee contracts through the issue of worker's compensation. In the Van Horn Case the courts awarded Van Horn's family death benefits because Van Horn was under scholorship for his athletic ability, thus making it an employee contract. I thought that adding in the Askew factors made this chapter powerful. The Askew factors were used by the State of Michigan in determining the existence of an employment relationship. One factors is the employer has the right to control the employee. The second factor is the employer can discipline or fire the employee. The third factor is the employee accepts wages to pay for everyday living expenses. The fouth factor is the task provided is a part of the employers business. As a scholorship player I think that athletes under scholorship do meet these criteria. Athletes are under control of the coach and are disciplined. Athletes accept room and board that are used as their everyday living expenses. I also think that since sport revenues go into a universities general fund, then that sport is part of the universities business. This book supports my arguements. Sack and Staurowsky end their book with possible reforms of collegiate sport. I agree with these thoughts. College sport should go to either one extreme or the other. One way is to eliminate scholorships all together. Students will then come first at all universities, and higher learning can be achieved. The other extreme would be to admit that college athletes are paid professionals. This would cause college sports to become stepping stones to professional sports. The revenues generated from that sport would go right back into that program. University funds should not be put into sports, as sports would become an unrelated business to the university. Turning professional will force only the fittest big time colleges to survive in this game. The only unversities that will survive in a professional atmosphere are the schools producing the most revenues. This limits the competition to only a handful, and the rest can only be forced to return to amateur athletics.
Rating:
Summary: College Athletes: Amateurs or Professionals
Review: The purpose of this book is to show how college athletes started playing sports as amateurs, but quickly through athletic scholorships have turned towards professionalism. An amateur is one who engages in sports in their free time. This is leisure time, and athletes joining in this time will compete solely on thier will to play and not participate in return for room. board, tuition and fees. An athlete becomes a professional when one accepts an athletic scholorship which may include any of these incentives. This book is primarily about professionlism. The start of the Sanity Code showed signs that the NCAA was turning professional. The Sanity Code stated that financial aid could be awarded to students on the basis of their athletic ability. They called these gifts for play, not pay for play. Recieving any payment at all according to Sack and Staurowsky, makes that athlete a professional. This book touches on the relationships between coaches and players. Under scholorship, athletes must perform under the rules of the coach. I just recently finished my senior year of Division II football. I was under scholorship and my coach did have total control over my actions. My coach acted as the employer, and I was the employee. Schools that don't offer scholorships such as the Ivy League, and Division III schools, players aren't under such strict control. Athletes don't have to practice or play if they don't want to. These players are under no obligation to their coaches. The authors give a good argument that under scholorships, athletes are held under contract, similar to an employee contract. Chapter 5 was a very interesting chapter. The authors explained how sholorships turned into employee contracts through the issue of worker's compensation. In the Van Horn Case the courts awarded Van Horn's family death benefits because Van Horn was under scholorship for his athletic ability, thus making it an employee contract. I thought that adding in the Askew factors made this chapter powerful. The Askew factors were used by the State of Michigan in determining the existence of an employment relationship. One factors is the employer has the right to control the employee. The second factor is the employer can discipline or fire the employee. The third factor is the employee accepts wages to pay for everyday living expenses. The fouth factor is the task provided is a part of the employers business. As a scholorship player I think that athletes under scholorship do meet these criteria. Athletes are under control of the coach and are disciplined. Athletes accept room and board that are used as their everyday living expenses. I also think that since sport revenues go into a universities general fund, then that sport is part of the universities business. This book supports my arguements. Sack and Staurowsky end their book with possible reforms of collegiate sport. I agree with these thoughts. College sport should go to either one extreme or the other. One way is to eliminate scholorships all together. Students will then come first at all universities, and higher learning can be achieved. The other extreme would be to admit that college athletes are paid professionals. This would cause college sports to become stepping stones to professional sports. The revenues generated from that sport would go right back into that program. University funds should not be put into sports, as sports would become an unrelated business to the university. Turning professional will force only the fittest big time colleges to survive in this game. The only unversities that will survive in a professional atmosphere are the schools producing the most revenues. This limits the competition to only a handful, and the rest can only be forced to return to amateur athletics.
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