Northwestern University football players are seeking union representation

okeefe4prez said:
ROFLcopter. Did you graduate from Iowa State? Our nation was built on slave or near slave labor imported from Africa, Asia and industrializing European nations. By the grace of God and thanks to selfless men like Nile Kinnick and others in his generation along with the women who stayed behind and ran our factories, we were spared the destructive forces of the Second World War and as a result, we have been blessed with decades of the highest standard of living in the world (which is being eroded as installed capital bases improve in other countries).

But more to the point, this is an utter fail by NU. NU is the biggest welfare queen in the conference, as it siphons massive amounts of money away from the bigger programs and relies completely on them to fund its entire athletic department. And Colter is getting a lesson in leftist economics. Sure, he personally probably contributed a fair amount to NU bince he likely helped them sell some tickets, but he has to subsidize the non-revenue athletes at NU (much like we Iowa fans subsidize NU with a cut of our gate or the OSU fans subsidize NU with a share of BTN/ESPN/Bowl revenue). Northwestern can't just start paying football players because if they do, they will violate Title IX, and if the athletes want to get paid, they will price themselves right out of a "job" because NU will go the route of the University of Chicago and pull the plug if the athletic department is not self-sustaining.
Click to expand...

.
It's a dark day for O'Keefe and his Unioncats
 
HawkeyeWalker said:
How much do they get paid, should it be based on that particular programs revenue?? Do all scholly players get the same?

One things for sure, Unions are great for this Capitalism you speak of, certainly will help everyone and get rid of corruption, right?

My CEO and all the company Presidents, and the Executive teams all make many times more than I, and I'm on the sales team and directly associated with the revenue....and my industry (Financial Services) makes multiple times more than college football.....should I get paid more? Awwww, life ain't fair.

I'm sure the NCAA will do the right thing...and everyone will get the same treatment....just like now, right?

Stipend so they can go out, have fun, get dinner, go bowling, to a movie.....Great, I am all for it. 10's of thousands/year.....HE// NO ! and guess what....It's a privledge to play sport....not a right. Do you know how much you would end up paying for $150,000 in college loans over 30 years at about 5%.....Yeah.....they are getting paid.

My opinion....
Click to expand...

This. Only about 12% of my payments to student loans goes toward the principle balance.

Here's the next plan, how about no more scholarships and make them pay their own way. Then the school can pay the athlete, they would have to have a salary cap and a budget. This would also apply to the non-revenue sports. They can even make the standard the cost of the school, or what the scholly would be had they had one. Oh and yes, the athlete would have to pay taxes on it as well. Lets see how much they complain about schollys when there aren't any and they have to pay it all back as well as pay taxes on the equivilant.
 
Find it odd that the university with no NCAA tournament appearance and 2 bowl wins, since WW2, want to, now, be classified as "employees."
If Northwestern's football team wants to be paid to go 5-7 then I want to be paid for my D+ in College Statistics, back in the day.

If you unionize college players, why not unionize high school players?
The coaches, administrators and refs get paid there, too. Why stop there, middle school as well?!

I also don't find any outrage from walk-on players.
 
Every athletic department in collegiate sports operates in the black, so lets just start paying every athlete in every sport because the money is there to do it.:)
 
Union represent employees. Therefore anything virtually they receive becomes salary, compensation or benifits. Therefore it is taxable both federally and at the state level. Room, food, transportation, medical coverage,tuition, etc are then all taxable. Means the average palyer will owe omewhere between $7000-12,000 per year in state and federal taxes. Of course that does nto include union dues.
 
FoolishFellow said:
Also, just for further clarification it looks like the goal of this is to get healthcare coverage for sports related medical expenses for current and former athletes and compensation for sponsorships. They're also trying to establish a trust fund for former players who are interested in completing degrees. Doesn't looks like they are pushing the wage issue at all at this point.

Northwestern University Football Players Seek to Form Union - Bloomberg
Click to expand...

This is naïve. This is an attempt at door-cracking. After the door is cracked, they let gravity do the rest.
 
Scooby said:
Find it odd that the university with no NCAA tournament appearance and 2 bowl wins, since WW2, want to, now, be classified as "employees."
If Northwestern's football team wants to be paid to go 5-7 then I want to be paid for my D+ in College Statistics, back in the day.

If you unionize college players, why not unionize high school players?
The coaches, administrators and refs get paid there, too. Why stop there, middle school as well?!

I also don't find any outrage from walk-on players.
Click to expand...

Ha--no kidding. Those employees need to be fired.
 
okeefe4prez said:
Yeah, and if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. This is about cash money and that is it, but it's cute that you believe it is about anything else. The union is savvy enough to know that you don't lead with money. Ultimately, Kain Colter is butthurt because he tore up his ankle and he doesn't think he got adequate treatment immediately following the injury and so he blames that for his crappy year and is using healthcare as a front for this agenda.
Click to expand...

Colter insists that NW treats their student-athletes very well.....and this is not about them. It does seem strange for a guy from a model school to push this after he is done playing and presumably ready to graduate, and play pro ball.
 
Good luck getting a job after football Wildcats. I find it unlikely too many employers would be keen to hire someone who tried to unionize college sports.
 
SpiderRico said:
They don't have the option to go to Wells Fargo, or Principal or Banker's Trust to try and get a better deal.
Click to expand...

Sure they do. Plenty of players have made good careers at Wells Fargo, Principal and Banker's Trust. Over 98% of college players will never play in the NFL. They're receiving value from their scholarships that has run well ahead of inflation. So we're whining about being "unfair" in holding back the 2% while coaches make millions.

Hmmm... Why isn't anyone complaining about the "unfairness" of paying George Clooney $20 million when young actors on the same movie make union scale? How is it "fair" that medical residents work 100-hour-weeks for squat while practicing surgeons make $500k or more? Why does the union make me apprentice for several years at low wages when I'm more skilled than the guy next to me making $120k? For all intents and purposes, a monopoly set up.

It's not fair!
 
HawkeyesWin said:
Good luck getting a job after football Wildcats. I find it unlikely too many employers would be keen to hire someone who tried to unionize college sports.
Click to expand...

You think someone with a NW degree will have a hard time finding a job because of this? mmmkay...
 
ICHawk24 said:
You think someone with a NW degree will have a hard time finding a job because of this? mmmkay...
Click to expand...

I do. Unless the guy has political aspirations to try to take Jan Schakowsky's seat 10 years down the road, he's tarnished his legacy. Thing is, you go to an NU game and there are a ton dudes who are managing directors in big banks or consulting outfits or partners in PE or hedge funds or top notch law firms. The overwhelming majority of those dudes will want absolutely nothing to do with a kid who gets in bed with a union in this manner. If a kid like Colter keeps his mouth shut, he could make a dozen phone calls and land at Goldman, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley or in a PE fund straight out of undergrad. But once you rock the boat, you're tarnished. He could still find a good job, but it just got 1000x harder, unless he wants to associate himself with the Democratic political machine.
 
SpiderRico said:
I couldn't disagree more with that. Our society in this country was founded on the premise that the laborer gets a fair wage for his labor. Up until about 25 years ago, I would agree that a full ride scholarship was a fair wage in exchange for the labor that the players put in. But in this day and age where college football is worth BILLIONS and college coaches are making millions, athletic directors are making millions, thousands upon thousands of administrative positions have been created within athletic departments all across the country in order to spend the billions that are coming in. But all this time, the players, the ones who make the engine of college football go, are still only being paid a full ride scholarship. That's pathetic and must change. There is nothing "amateur" about college football and college basketball anymore. Those entities as a whole make more money than they know what to do with. And as a capitalist, I applaud them for their ingenuity in making this happen. But I do NOT applaud them for doing it at the expense of those that allowed those entities to make that kind of revenue. Presidents, athletic directors, conference commissioners.....all of them opened Pandora's box when they decided that college athletics (football and basketball in particular) were no longer "university functions", but rather profit making machines. By doing that, it was only a matter of time before players started being paid. Within 5 years, this will happen.....and for me, it's about time.
Click to expand...

So the fact that they get free room and board as well as tuition paid for (as well as any tutors needed) isn't enough? Out of state tuition alone at Iowa is $26K per year. At Northwestern it's about $59K. Neither of these figures includes housing or food that is included in the package these athletes get now. Remember that the degree they earn can lead to millions as well (especially at Northwestern), and if they don't go to the NFL their health will most likely be better too.

Student-athletes at the BCS teams enjoy better food, better housing, better academic assistance (tutors, etc) and most get their preferred classes in order to fit around their teams' practice schedule. I agree with LASBUR above. Dismiss them all from the team and have them pay their own way, earning what can truly be called a scholarship instead of the gift we give them called an athletic scholarship. How many do you think would be able to earn a Regent's Scholarship, even at Northwestern?
 
okeefe4prez said:
Not to sound harsh, but the players really don't matter, though. The value in collegiate athletics is the association individual fans have with a university based on alumni status or geography and the intellectual property tied to the school (e.g., Hawkeyes, Herky, Kinnick Stadium, etc.). If you took every 3 star and above recruit out of the picture for NCAA football and said "no more scholarships" you'd still have a line a mile long of kids from all around Iowa and western Illinois who would line up to play at Kinnick and provided that every other team was similarly restricted so there weren't major competitive imbalances, you'd still pack the fans into Kinnick every Saturday. Any individual player today only matters to the extent he gives one's team a better shot to gain a competitive edge over the opposition and an entire cottage industry has sprung up (that this board was previously associated with) to analyze 16 and 17 year old kids for the benefit of the fans.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Teams like Mt. Union and Wisconsin-Whitewater pack their stadiums every Saturday. Heck, Wartburg and Central have great crowds for their home games. And NONE of those players receive athletic scholarships, Division III does not allow athletic scholarships. DIII student-athletes are exactly that - *STUDENT*-athletes. The only scholarships handed out are based on financial need and academic achievement. The students aren't put up in special dorms or get special cafes/restaurants for food or have special tutors or get preferential class schedules.
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
welcome to the entitlement generation.
Click to expand...

Really? So theoretically if there was a job that you did that earned me say...25 million dollars and I gave you back free school and not a penny more. You'd be ok with that? No ******* way would you allow that.
 
gohawkz said:
Really? So theoretically if there was a job that you did that earned me say...25 million dollars and I gave you back free school and not a penny more. You'd be ok with that? No ******* way would you allow that.
Click to expand...

Your analogy, it is lacking. How about moving from theory to reality, sport.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top