RICK MARINO SPEECH!!!

I would like you to meet my friend Joe Smith. Joe was raised in the South side of Gangtown, a rough tough neighborhood stuffed fat with violence and poverty. Growing up, young Joe was trapped in a culture of bums, slums, crumbs, and guns. However, this resilient fella overcame his tribulations and, like little bright Remy in Ratatouille, he escaped the restraining clutches of his foul nest. He flowered into a brilliant mind, and for his scholarly achievements, he received a sizeable 40,000 dollar ride to local college U. Joe absorbs knowledge like a dry sponge and works like a steaming freight train. You don’t know it but, Joe is destined to change our world. He will be the conqueror of cancer, the terminator of world hunger, a peace maker with invading aliens.

Now, acquaint yourself with John Johnson, an impressive hoops star at college U, who hails from the same shady area as Joe, and is allocated the same 40,000 dollar scholarship. Both men dedicate identical hours perfecting their crafts. Now imagine John, the basketball player, receiving an additional paycheck and Joe, the scholarship student, receiving nothing. Goose egg. Nada. The colleges turn their backs on the one that will confront daunting world problems. And, instead, they celebrate and reward the one that simply provides public entertainment. That would be Preposterous. Ludicrousness. Blasphemy. Despite their assiduous, diligent, sweat-producing physical vigor, collegiate athletes should not be instituted into a salary system.

The issue, on the other hand, is not merely a to-be-paid or not-to-be-paid scenario. College sports are dictated by the big bellied, corrupted, sly organization that is the NCAA. A resolution to the complex feud of athletics is to maintain the status of student-athlete, and to conduct a major reformation of the NCAA and its operations.

The sports in contention for money are the big guns. The most boisterous and vociferous. The hot shots, football and men’s basketball, are not only on revered on their campus, but are drowned in the adulation of hard-core fans across the nation. A recent movement has called for a monetary earnings for these players because the vast attention they draw to the universities and because of their devotion and commitment to greatness. The proposal is spear-headed by collegiate legends such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shane Battier. And, although they carry gravitating respect and veneration among the community, their argument is flaccid and flimsy. They exclude from the picture the overwhelming myriad of other college sports. Tennis players. Volleyball players. Soccer player. Baseball players. Softball players. Women’s basketball players. Swimmers. Divers. How could football and basketball be acknowledged monetarily, while the majority of athletes, who equally drive and dedicate themselves, are left the shadows? It isn’t ethical. If the NCAA was the U.S., this would be like only paying the entertainers of Hollywood.

Those in favor of issuing players a wage are also overlooking the blunt notion of student-athlete. It seems to be forgotten that those players we watch on the field and on the court are first and foremost students. A handful of athletes will go pro in their respective sports, and handful is almost an overstatement.  The NCAA estimates that the numbers for professional occupation are 1.4% for men’s soccer, 1.6% for football, 1.2% for men’s basketball, and .9% for women’s basketball. Aside from the selective few who will play professionally, players must be able to provide for their future after college. They are honored with the priceless privilege of education, and as trite as it may seem, knowledge is power. They can take a bite out of the succulent fruit of knowledge and gather its seeds in order to reap future success. A salary for the student-athletes would divert their attention away from the pungent and powerful opportunities of their education.

College sports are the actors that dramatize on the big stage, and behind the curtain is the nefarious and manipulative acting company manager, the NCAA. Jay Bilas, an incredibly respected member of the college athletic community, is a former college champion  and announcer for ESPN. Wielding a law degree from Duke, Bilas is apt to tap into knowledge and fame, and likens the NCAA to a cartel. This organization is innocent and harmless in the eyes of fans. But its dastardly deeds are unknown, camouflaged, masked, and cloaked by the spectacle of its sports. The NCAA executives can be characterized as greedy, Mr. Burns-like characters, laughing malevolently as they scratch gold together next to their old ears. They sit atop their money thrones like lardy Jabba the Huts, dictating with guile. Once the concealing thicket is disentangled, the numbers are astonishing and jaw-dropping. The NCAA racks up billions and billions each year off the backs of athletes. The top heads of the organization earn combined six million annually alone, not to mention, they operate in a grandiose 35 million dollar complex. And, recently, college football and basketball coaches have become the highest paid government officials in most states. Isn’t this absolutely repulsive?  This disgusting corruption is related by some to a grossly lucrative sweat shop. The answer to this rather obscured problem is to streamline the profits back to players in some way shape or form, while avoiding paying them with hard cash. A near entirety of NCAA profit needs to be utilized neither as a means of paying the officials or players, but as a source to provide basic amenities for the athletes to improve the sports and educational facilities of the universities that the athletes represent. If the players earn money, it should be properly returned to the colleges that have fostered the growth and development of the players.

So the next time, you catch a collegiate game on ESPN, think about the great injustice being waved upon the athletes. We must seize that elusive justice and deliver our college athletes a proper and due resolution. The immense profits absconded by NCAA officials need to be redirected so as to benefit those that sweated for. But recall our dear comrades, Joe Smith, the exemplary scholar, the one who will alter the world and John Johnson, the mere basketball star. The cash cannot be coolly slipped into the players youthful pockets, therefore molesting the sacred student-athlete relationship. It is necessary though that this dough returns to those truly earned it, in the form of player amenities and university sports and educational buildings. The naïve mask must be ripped off, revealing the vile vice to a previously ignorant public and a suitable solution delivered.