OT: Cam Newton / Auburn

[DH34Phan]

NCAA is slavery.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Lol not sure if that was a serious comment DH34phan.

I can see both sides. They are given a free opportunity to get a college education for playing a game. But when the NBA and NFL start enacting rules not allowing players to be "professionals" til a certain age, you are starting to get into unfair labor practices. It's like a really big unpaid college internships. Which is fine, but if you are a big time star and a valuable employee, you should be able to see if you can make wages for your job.

[El Duderino]

NCAA is slavery.

Come on, why do so many people use that term so loosely?

I don't care for either the amount of money the NCAA makes off men's basketball and football in comparison to the value of scholarships, but lets not make it out like the kids get nothing.

Most college athletes won't sniff the pros, but if they take their academics seriously, they can end up with a degree from a major college that can cost regular students anywhere from 50-100 grand. That's far from getting nothing for playing. Plus, for the non-special players in college athletics, these college sports allow them the opportunity to keep playing the games they love on a grand scale in front of huge crowds. That is why so many of those players are very sad when their college careers end, they realize their playing days are most likely over. Slaves weren't dreading when their days as a slave could potentially be ending.

Now when it comes to the more elite athletes in the major money making sports, i can understand their positions. They often would rather just skip college and instead go pro right away, but they are forced to attend college ranging from 1-3 years depending on the sport. For the other guys though who have little to no hope to make the pros, college athletics offers them their only chance to continue playing the game they love and on top of that, the opportunity to get a free ride at colleges where tuition/room and board is very expensive for everyone else not on scholarship.

[trwi7]

Apparently Cecil Newton has admitted to it.