Of all the issues being debated by presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain, each have yet to discuss a divisive issue among the ranks of the NCAA - amateurism in the NCAA.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept, amateurism is where a player doesn't accept endorsement or earnings of any kind for engaging in sports. At the collegiate level, amateurism is strictly supervised and mandated. Under no circumstance can an athlete take funds or endorsements simply because he or she is an athlete.
If I'm going to be completely honest, I'd like to see a president take on this stupid rule and the organization that implemented it.
Heck, they spend plenty of time visiting college campuses, but they can't call out the parent operating body of those same college institutions on a hypocrisy we all can visibly see and connect with.
Those ancient, outdated rules that the NCAA backs with so much fervor continue to cause more mainstream problems and cast indelible shadows on the current nature of intercollegiate athletics.
Let's face the music - in those quaint fight songs we hear notes of camaraderie, teamwork and selflessness. It's what the NCAA wants us to hear. They're so stuck on casting a pure, holier-than-thou image, they don't want student-athletes to be paid for endorsements. But they have no problems cashing checks from CBS, ABC, ESPN and all the other networks that sell, carry and distribute their products with those very student-athletes in them.
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They, like coaches, promote the idea of teamwork. However, without players there would be no team, no NCAA, no college football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, anything.
It's really sad. How many of you have ever really sat down and thought about the time and dedication student-athletes make toward their respective sports?
UNM quarterback Donovan Porterie once told me he devotes about 40 hours a week to football. That's a full-time job. Sure, his education, along with all scholarship players across the country, is paid for. The bare necessities are covered. But what about when a player wants something, say something as simple as a pair of shoes?
Do they have the money to buy a pair of shoes? Do they have time to work a job outside of playing intercollegiate sports and studying for class?
Few do.
All this was hammered home when I read a press release. UNM just signed a six-year deal with Nike. Nike will become the University's sole shoe and apparel provider.
That's good. It brings the University credibility to be in business with such a global marketer. It's good for Nike - they expand and claim another institution. They get free advertising, as almost everything Lobo (except the golf team's uniforms) will be emblazoned with swooshes.
What do our players get, though?
Well, I guess nobody has to worry about back-to-school shoes. That'll be taken care of pronto, compliments of Nike.
I guess you can't call it an epiphany, but the cold, hard facts are the NCAA wants all endorsements to go to its institutions.
But piggy-backing players so NCAA executives and college presidents can sit in lush, penthouse-like offices is wrong.
The funny thing is, there is a solution to all this madness: Allow players to accept endorsements and cut a sliver of their earnings and devote it toward a university's general scholarship fund.
To you and I, it sounds simple, fair and enticing.
To the NCAA, if it can't get its grubby, greedy hands on every dime, it's not upholding the sanctity of its game, and, more importantly, the sacredness of its dollars.
