With America’s secular Holy Day now behind us, it’s likely many of us have felt the early tremors of winter football withdrawal. Thankfully, InsideAcademia.tv can provide a small consolation. One of our latest episodes focuses on the professionalization of college football, and the modern “myth of amateurism” that pervades the NCAA sport.
Michael Oriard, associate dean at Oregon State University and author of Bowled Over: Big-Time College Football from the Sixties to the BCS Era, spoke with Andy Nash on the subject, pointing out both minor and major contradictions in the regulation of a sport that, on the one hand, generates untold millions for the academic establishment, while, on the other hand, bars the student-athlete stars to profit from their hero status.
Without improved athlete compensation, says Oriard, the NCAA could risk death by a thousand lawsuits. Tuition, room, and board scholarships no longer cut it.
Watch the episode directly on YouTube, or find more at InsideAcademia.tv.