If Amateurism Is So Great for College Basketball, Let's Extend Amateurism to College Basketball Coaches, ADs, Chancellors and Beyond
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Amateurism is venerated by many in America, especially by those that dedicate their lives so unselfishly to its maintenance.
Amateurism has yielded an incredibly successful economic class of basketball called NCAA Division 1. It is a very enjoyable sport to watch. Newspapers used to thrive on it before the internet, at least. Radio has thrived on it. TV networks thrive on it. Cable TV networks have thrived on it. Big Gaming reputedly increasingly thrives on it. Petroshoewear thrives on it. Petro sportswear is thriving on it.
Practically everything that touches revenue generating amateur sports thrives by “touching” it.
Isn’t it about time the leaders of our great country wake up and smell the coffee about amateurism?
Amateurism is so incredibly successful–shouldn’t amateurism be extended to more and more aspects of D1?
Shouldn’t amateurism be extended to coaching, athletic directors, and university chancellors?
Think of how much more successful NCAA D1 could be, if coaches, athletic directors, and chancellors were as generous as players. Imagine how much bigger and how much more fun NCAA D1 would be, if coaches, ADs, and Chancellors were compensated only in scholarships paying tuition for Bachelors degrees and room and board, plus a few bucks a month in pocket money for laundry.
It is unreal how much better NCAA D1 basketball could get for the fans enjoyment, if coaches, ADs and Chancellors prepared for their college sports careers in AAU summer basketball and AAU summer sports basketball schools. D1 universities could recruit them, along with recruiting players, and fans and media could debate and anticipate which coaches, ADs and chancellors would be signed during the next recruiting season. It would just make the D1 college basketball experience even more exciting than it already is!
Wait!!! Why limit the extension of amateurism from players to coaches, ADs and chancellors? Why not extend it to broadcasters, networks, and Big Gaming? Can you imagine how much better NCAA D1 would become if the money in the sport that goes to TV and Big Gaming were kept in the sport by TV and Big Gaming agreeing to provide their services as amateurs? There’s no reason that TV and Big Gaming, Big Agents, head coaches, ADs and chancellors, couldn’t excel the same as players excell at providing their services as amateurs. Its about love of the game. We fans love the game so much, we don’t even ask for scholarships to underwrite our support of NCAA D1 college basketball. We actually pay for the privilege of watching amateurism. Heck, imagine how much more we might be willing to pay, if TV, Big Gaming, Big Agents, coaches, ADs and chancellors were amateurs.
Its all about love of the game.
Players have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that amateurism makes NCAA D1 college basketball a great sport to watch. The very players that play NCAA D1 are the feeder system for the NBA, which claims to be the best professional basketball product in the world. Now, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with professional basketball. Far from it. They are a successful business model. But the NBA and foreign professional leagues are to greater, or lesser, degree piggy backing off the current amateurism in NCAA D1. Those professional sports wouldn’t be quite as good, or quite as profitable, as they are now, without the amateurism of NCAA D1 players. Imagine how much better NBA basketball could become, if NCAA D1 amateurism were extended to college coaches, ADs, Chancellors, Big TV, Big Gaming and Big Agents. Its is staggering to think how much the game would improve if all the monies currently being diverted by college coaches, ADs, Chancellors, Big TV, Big Gaming, and Big Agents were kept in the college game to expand D1 to more and more schools that could recruit, develop and produce more and more players, coaches, ADs, Chancellors, etc. for the NBA!!!
Of course college players deserve to be paid salaries in the millions of dollars per year range, but its their generosity that makes NCAA D1 so great.
Of course coaches, ADs and Chancellors, could excel the same way players excel if they were as generous as players and committed themselves as totally to the ideals of amateurism as players do.
Of course, Big TV, Big Gaming, Big Shoe, and Big Agents could excel at what they do the same as players excel, if they too embraced the amateur ethic as completely and honorably as the players do.
But there is another level of amateurism that I have not even mentioned that could take NCAA D1 to an entirely stratospheric level of goodness.
The NCAA itself could embrace amateurism.
The NCAA could walk the talk.
The NCAA could announce tomorrow that it will henceforth only be compensated with scholarships for its employees and leaders. These scholarships will be 4-year rides, with renewals at the end of each year, subject to performance review, at state universities.
Its hard to believe how great NCAA D1 college basketball would become if even the NCAA itself were to embrace amateurism. There is no doubt that the NCAA staff and leaders could perform just as well as they currently do, if they were to embrace the amateur ethic for themselves with the same level of generosity that the players do.
Amateurism–its fantastic!!!
(Note: this commentary is written in the spirit of Coach Self’s apparent basketball strategy of take-what-they-give us. The leaders of NCAA D1 college basketball give amateurism. Its time to take it. Advocate for expanding amateurism in D1 NOW!!!)
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Amateurism has worked so well for College sports, how about we extend amateurism to private central bank Ownership???
You can own a private central bank but you can only earn 1 four year ride, no interest, for a year’s printing of sawbucks sawbucks. You substitute an amateur’s love of central banking for interest. You commit to an amateur’s driven pursuit of competitive excellence for your reward and the edification of higher education. Amateurism could sharply expand what could be responsibly financed.
AMATEURISM FOR PRIVATE CENTRAL BANKING!!!
If we can’t get a publicly owned central bank that our elected government can control and not charge interest for, amateurism could be a politically palatable alternate!!!
Got to stop being dopes charging ourselves interest to use our own currency!!!
(Note: all fiction. No malice.)
