Should NCAA athletes be paid?

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Sam Keller, former starting quarterback for ASU and Nebraska, filed suit against Electronic Arts, NCAA, and the Collegiate Licensing Company. Why? Because they've all profited from likenesses of college athletes without their permission. Not only do they appear in commercial videogames, but some star athletes are largely responsible for bringing healthy revenues in to major college athletics programs.

NCAA currently prohibits athletes from competing if they profit from their position. In addition, they report that more than 90 percent of NCAA schools don't make money from their athletic programs, with profits from money-makers like football and basketball usually not quite offsetting losses from other sports.

While the athletes are not getting paid, many argue that they are getting fair compensation in the form of scholarships and other perks. According to the NCAA, any student athlete who receives a fully-loaded scholarship is getting the equivalent of more than $100,000 at the average public school. 

In reality, a four-year scholarship at a top university could be worth even more than that, since full-ride scholarships often include housing, books and a stipend to go with the paid tuition. 

What's your take on this? 

Read the full article here.

It's Never Too Late to Get an Athletic Scholarship

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Here are two remarkable stories that should encourage any athlete who thinks it is too late to get an athletic scholarship.  If you're discouraged by the scholarship process, after reading these two stories you might feel differently.

Ray Johnson earned "a track scholarship after taking up competitive jumping just a few weeks before his high school graduation in June."

Maitland Wilson is another amazing scholarship story, because he fractured "his C1 vertebrae one year ago in football practice. He nearly was paralyzed. Yet, just a few months later Wilson was dunking a basketball while wearing a neck brace and then qualifying for the state track meet in the long jump."

Both boys overcame a huge obstacle: inexperience for one and injury for another.  Perhaps you (or your student-athlete) are facing an obstacle today.  Read this article and take a fresh look at your situation.

While They Were Walking on the Moon...

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Hats off to the NCAA for a very interesting blog post. They took a look at some of the things that happened in college sports 40 years ago, the year we landed and walked on the moon for the first time. Since this is the week we're celebrating the moon landing, it is appropriate to feature a segment of that blog post...

Here's what we found:

1969 was the first year the Division I men's basketball championship was broadcast on network television by NBC. The network also televised some regional games.

UCLA beat Purdue 92-72 to claim John Wooden's fifth NCAA men's basketball championship.

In 1969 college football celebrated its centennial year.

Texas (#1) defeated Arkansas (#2) in what became known as the "Big Shoot Out." The Longhorns came back from a 14-0 deficit to win over the Razorbacks 15-14 in Razorback Stadium.

Michigan upset first ranked Ohio State, sending the Wolverines to the Rose Bowl. Also that year, artificial turf was installed in the Big House. (Ohio State installed turf one year later).

Mark Spitz set the world record for the men's 200 meter freestyle at 1:54.3. Today Michael Phelps holds that record at 1:42.96.

In 1968 Jim Hines set the world record for the 100 meter dash at 9.95. His record lasted until 1983 when Calvin Smith turned in a time of 9.93. Usain Bolt now...