College Football Players---Students or Employees?

[Fighting Sioux 23]

So they can afford to live off campus, but can't afford to eat. Makes sense to me.

They can't afford to live off campus...that's sort of the point.

[LynahFan]

Re: College Football Players---Students or Employees?

I don't for a second believe that there's any structural reason why a UConn basketball player would be "going to bed hungry" on a routine basis. At best, that's an exaggeration because he's caught up in the momentum toward athletes' rights. A quick trip to Google reveals that there are UConn dining halls open continuously from 7 am until 7:15 pm (and 3 dining halls are open until 10pm Sun-Thur), except for a pause between breakfast and lunch from 10:45 am until 11:00 am. Major bummer that the only break in their practice schedule all day occurs during that time, eh? What are the odds?

I was a varsity athlete; practice ended at 7 and the dining halls closed at 7:30. I was easily able to down 5-6 entrees in the time available to replace the calories burned during practice.

Don't get me wrong - I still think that schools should have to pay the athletes upon whose backs they are making bank. There are plenty of REAL reasons why I think that way, which have nothing to do with bogus tales of athletes going hungry.

[Fighting Sioux 23]

I don't for a second believe that there's any structural reason why a UConn basketball player would be "going to bed hungry" on a routine basis. At best, that's an exaggeration because he's caught up in the momentum toward athletes' rights. A quick trip to Google reveals that there are UConn dining halls open continuously from 7 am until 7:15 pm (and 3 dining halls are open until 10pm Sun-Thur), except for a pause between breakfast and lunch from 10:45 am until 11:00 am. Major bummer that the only break in their practice schedule all day occurs during that time, eh? What are the odds?

I was a varsity athlete; practice ended at 7 and the dining halls closed at 7:30. I was easily able to down 5-6 entrees in the time available to replace the calories burned during practice.

Don't get me wrong - I still think that schools should have to pay the athletes upon whose backs they are making bank. There are plenty of REAL reasons why I think that way, which have nothing to do with bogus tales of athletes going hungry.

Again, you're overlooking the fact that he likely did not have a meal card. It simply doesn't matter how long the halls are open if you don't have the money to get in.

[hockeyplayer1015]

Again, you're overlooking the fact that he likely did not have a meal card. It simply doesn't matter how long the halls are open if you don't have the money to get in.

Do you have evidence that he likely did not have a meal card?

[Critical Thinker]

Re: College Football Players---Students or Employees?

They can't afford to live off campus...that's sort of the point.

Then maybe they shouldn't.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: College Football Players---Students or Employees?

I think we're forgetting that upperclassmen that do not live on campus do not get to just walk into the mess hall and eat. They don't have a meal card. The Northwestern players got a stipend of $1200-1600 for all of their living expenses. I'm not entirely familiar with the cost of living expenses around Northwestern, so I can't really say whether or not that is realistic to live off of or not.

So was moving off campus their choice or were they told that the school would not cover room & board for them? I'm thinking it's the 1st option.... Living off campus is an upgrade that many students want to make... It is NOT a requirement however... You can be a 5th year senior and still be in a dorm...

[Priceless]

Re: College Football Players---Students or Employees?

I think what many of you are overlooking is that we are dealing with the NCAA here. Did you think I was kidding this morning when I wrote about the creamed cheese on a bagel? I wasn't. When the NCAA cracked down on us (UMaine) one of the items in the report was that scholarship athletes were (gasp!) taking extra puddings from the dining hall back to their room. Nevermind that this was common practice for almost every student - scholarship athlete or not - the NCAA came down on us for pudding (it all seemed incredibly ridiculous - charge someone with attempted murder and tack on a jaywalking charge just for the hell of it).

I personally find his story very believable. If his story was all a lie, why did the NCAA have to change their policy after he spoke out? If he was full of crap, they wouldn't have had to change their policy, would they? And don't give me this hogwash about "they did it for PR purposes" because the NCAA does plenty of things that aren't popular. Parent dies and the kid can't afford plane fare back for the funeral, tough crap says the NCAA. If the coach or anyone else provides the kid plane fare home it's an NCAA violation. When I went to Homecoming last fall and went to dinner with one of the hockey players, I couldn't pick up the bill for his meal because that would be an NCAA violation. If his parents come into town for a week and they want to take him and his roomie/teammate out to eat, they can do that twice a month. Do it more and it's an NCAA violation. So yes, I can see how he could be telling the truth. I don't trust the NC$$ and you'll never convince me to.

[Jimjamesak]

I think what many of you are overlooking is that we are dealing with the NCAA here. Did you think I was kidding this morning when I wrote about the creamed cheese on a bagel? I wasn't. When the NCAA cracked down on us (UMaine) one of the items in the report was that scholarship athletes were (gasp!) taking extra puddings from the dining hall back to their room. Nevermind that this was common practice for almost every student - scholarship athlete or not - the NCAA came down on us for pudding (it all seemed incredibly ridiculous - charge someone with attempted murder and tack on a jaywalking charge just for the hell of it).

I personally find his story very believable. If his story was all a lie, why did the NCAA have to change their policy after he spoke out? If he was full of crap, they wouldn't have had to change their policy, would they? And don't give me this hogwash about "they did it for PR purposes" because the NCAA does plenty of things that aren't popular. Parent dies and the kid can't afford plane fare back for the funeral, tough crap says the NCAA. If the coach or anyone else provides the kid plane fare home it's an NCAA violation. When I went to Homecoming last fall and went to dinner with one of the hockey players, I couldn't pick up the bill for his meal because that would be an NCAA violation. If his parents come into town for a week and they want to take him and his roomie/teammate out to eat, they can do that twice a month. Do it more and it's an NCAA violation. So yes, I can see how he could be telling the truth. I don't trust the NC$$ and you'll never convince me to.

And this is a big part people miss out on with the NCAA. How do we know there wasn't a compliance officer at UConn making sure athletes weren't taking extra food? Something that is very plausible at a school like UConn.

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Do you have evidence that he likely did not have a meal card?

Upperclassmen that live off campus get a stipend. They do not get a meal card per NCAA regulations (this would be an extra benefit). The player in this case is an upperclassmen. Assuming that UCONN follows the NCAA regulations (admittedly a big assumption) then the player would not have a meal card. Of course, I have no direct evidence, but that's why I qualified my statement by using "likely."

[LynahFan]

Re: College Football Players---Students or Employees?

I personally find his story very believable. If his story was all a lie, why did the NCAA have to change their policy after he spoke out? If he was full of crap, they wouldn't have had to change their policy, would they? And don't give me this hogwash about "they did it for PR purposes" because the NCAA does plenty of things that aren't popular. Parent dies and the kid can't afford plane fare back for the funeral, tough crap says the NCAA. If the coach or anyone else provides the kid plane fare home it's an NCAA violation. When I went to Homecoming last fall and went to dinner with one of the hockey players, I couldn't pick up the bill for his meal because that would be an NCAA violation. If his parents come into town for a week and they want to take him and his roomie/teammate out to eat, they can do that twice a month. Do it more and it's an NCAA violation. So yes, I can see how he could be telling the truth. I don't trust the NC$$ and you'll never convince me to.

The story of the dead parent was true, and the NCAA didn't "have" to change their policy then, so why do you think truth and action are linked in this case? The NCAA sees that things are changing, and they're engaging in damage control, pure and simple. This guy had a bully pulpit because he just won the national championship, and he used it to win more benefits for athletes from the NCAA, so good on him for that - but that doesn't make it true, nor, even if it were true that he did go to bed hungry does it mean that it was not at least partly due to some of his own choices. Either he bought tattoos instead of food or someone bought them for him, which would also be an NCAA violation (cf. OSU).

[unofan]

How do you know this? I'd love to see your evidence.

I worked in athletics. No d1 athlete is starving during the school year unless they waste their food plan and/or spend their per diem money on things other than food.

[CLS]

Re: College Football Players---Students or Employees?

... This guy had a bully pulpit because he just won the national championship, and he used it to win more benefits for athletes from the NCAA, so good on him for that - but that doesn't make it true, nor, even if it were true that he did go to bed hungry does it mean that it was not at least partly due to some of his own choices. ...

I don't for a second believe that there's any structural reason why a UConn basketball player would be "going to bed hungry" on a routine basis. At best, that's an exaggeration because he's caught up in the momentum toward athletes' rights. A quick trip to Google reveals that there are UConn dining halls open continuously from 7 am until 7:15 pm (and 3 dining halls are open until 10pm Sun-Thur), except for a pause between breakfast and lunch from 10:45 am until 11:00 am. Major bummer that the only break in their practice schedule all day occurs during that time, eh? What are the odds?

I was a varsity athlete; practice ended at 7 and the dining halls closed at 7:30. I was easily able to down 5-6 entrees in the time available to replace the calories burned during practice.

Don't get me wrong - I still think that schools should have to pay the athletes upon whose backs they are making bank. There are plenty of REAL reasons why I think that way, which have nothing to do with bogus tales of athletes going hungry.

I think Lynah Fan’s got it right.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/04/1276...ccess-can-eat/
...It’s hard to say exactly what is going on here, so there’s no need to speculate. But according to the UConn Student-Athlete Handbook, unlimited access to dining halls is available for all students with a meal plan, even for those who live off-campus. ...

I haven’t checked out that particular source, nor do I know whether or not he had a meal plan. And I don’t even know that he lives off-campus. But if that source is correct, even if he lived off campus, it doesn’t mean that he didn’t have access to dining halls. Perhaps his workout demands didn’t permit him to get to the dining halls during open hours. Perhaps his scholarship covered only tuition. But I think that there’s ample cause (other than knee-jerk animosity toward college scholarship athletes) to doubt the veracity of the statement, or at least the implication that he went to bed “starving” often.

Shabazz Napier was on Sportscenter last night, and he used the term “blown out of proportion.” It was a fluff interview, so Linda Cohn did not pursue the “how was it blown out of proportion?” line of questioning. But it was clear to me that he was doing some serious backpedaling and that he regretted using the words he did. In its place was a statement that came out more like “I make a lot of money for them, they should give some of it to me”. OK, that’s a different argument.

There are some important issues here, and the debate is not well served by the media uncritically accepting every statement made as accurate, literally, or for what it implies.

[Slap Shot]

Re: College Football Players---Students or Employees?

Ohs noes, there was a compliance officer? Give the scholarship back then, I'll bet you won't go hungry then.

[Patman]

Re: College Football Players---Students or Employees?

I think Lynah Fan’s got it right.



I haven’t checked out that particular source, nor do I know whether or not he had a meal plan. And I don’t even know that he lives off-campus. But if that source is correct, even if he lived off campus, it doesn’t mean that he didn’t have access to dining halls. Perhaps his workout demands didn’t permit him to get to the dining halls during open hours. Perhaps his scholarship covered only tuition. But I think that there’s ample cause (other than knee-jerk animosity toward college scholarship athletes) to doubt the veracity of the statement, or at least the implication that he went to bed “starving” often.

Shabazz Napier was on Sportscenter last night, and he used the term “blown out of proportion.” It was a fluff interview, so Linda Cohn did not pursue the “how was it blown out of proportion?” line of questioning. But it was clear to me that he was doing some serious backpedaling and that he regretted using the words he did. In its place was a statement that came out more like “I make a lot of money for them, they should give some of it to me”. OK, that’s a different argument.

There are some important issues here, and the debate is not well served by the media uncritically accepting every statement made as accurate, literally, or for what it implies.

I'd be ok with a student-athlete dining hall that had more flexible hours just because feeding is a part of training.

[Patman]

Re: College Football Players---Students or Employees?

Upperclassmen that live off campus get a stipend. They do not get a meal card per NCAA regulations (this would be an extra benefit). The player in this case is an upperclassmen. Assuming that UCONN follows the NCAA regulations (admittedly a big assumption) then the player would not have a meal card. Of course, I have no direct evidence, but that's why I qualified my statement by using "likely."

At UConn an upperclassman does not have to live off campus (unless something's changed in the last few years).