Pac-12 student-athletes make a bold statement, threatening not to participate unless the conference and the NCAA make changes to support student-athletes.
2020 seems to be the year of fundamental societal change. A broken system that has seen salaries of coaches rise to astronomical levels whilst the "labor" is unpaid, built upon the backs of African Americans in many cases. One wonders how the corrupt and greedy NCAA has been able to pull this off all along. One answer is that the pandemic has allowed us to hit the "pause" button and analyze the fairness of institutions and also systemic racism. I don't know how much leeway the Pac-12 has to negotiate while staying within NCAA guidelines, but I hope the powers that be accede to some of the demands. Also, I don't really care about playing this season, it would be nice, but not if there is undue risk and potential for lifelong physical impact of contracting Covid-19.
I love Cal football. I have spent a stupid amount of my life obsessing over it. This is one of our best chances at the Rose Bowl in a looong time. But...
it is a game. I love our children first. I would rather the program burn to the ground than not take protections for the Sons of California.
I found the tidbit about not wanting 'lavish facilities' a bit counter-intuitive as my understanding is that those facilities are lavish in order to attract recruits, which would be them.
The players who wrote this--and the ones they consulted with during the writing process--might not be the same ones who are attracted by these facilities.
Also, they can simultaneously see the appeal and draw of nice facilities while acknowledging its excess and the arms race is has created.
I may be blind, but where is the actual list of demands. I must have read 5 articles on the subject, and I still can't read what they are actually asking for. I don't want the generic overview of what they are asking for, I want the specifics.
The players are right. They work incredibly hard to provide the entertainment we fans enjoy in the stands. They are a source of pride for we alumni, especially at Cal where the athletes are truly students. They absolutely deserve everything they are asking for. Maybe this is the time to demand radical change for the rich & greedy NCAA for the benefit of future generations. But... 50% of football revenues? As much as they are the ones putting the product on the field, and absolutely deserve this level of compensation, probably 70% of programs in the power 5 would fold if they relinquished 50% of football revenues. The 20 or so top teams that survived, would form a super-duper elite league, and the rest would wither or scale back massively.
Currently, there are 64 schools in the power 5. 64 x roster of ~100 = 6400 athletes have the opportunity of at least a moderate or better level of exposure for their talents. Were my shabbily put-together scenario come true, 20 x ~100 = 2000 athletes, meaning 4400 would be relegated to the minor leagues, with possible, but tougher to realize exposure for their talents.
I personally would have no problem if Cal & Stanford stopped playing the big money game, led a new sort of western U.S. Ivy League with other academically-oriented schools, and dropped down a division or two and just put a great Saturday Afternoon of competitive football on the field.
I agree that some of the financial goals aren't realistic, but I have to imagine that they're being put forward as is so when they're negotiated down the numbers are still respectable.
I've been pretty firmly against playing football this fall, but if doing so enables the players to extract some of these demands, it will almost be worth it!
We donors are in a position of power here. What do WE want to do? I back the players. I grew up enamored with football and have grown to cherish so much about college football and Cal football in particular, but this system is rotten and needs to go. I don't give a fuck if college football is played this year, next year, or ever gain. The players who "go to work" every day as "student athletes" may never have this much leverage again. Now is the time.
Good for the student-athletes to try to leverage for better compensation/protection for all their peers and future student-athletes. We have been saying that some kind of major change is coming to NCAA soon, this should accelerate things toward that (likely some form of larger stipends in addition to the ability for players to make money off their likeness).
With that said, I highly doubt that they will get the majority of what they are asking for here - particularly the part about asking for coaches to take pay cuts so that more money goes to the non-revenue sports.
2020 seems to be the year of fundamental societal change. A broken system that has seen salaries of coaches rise to astronomical levels whilst the "labor" is unpaid, built upon the backs of African Americans in many cases. One wonders how the corrupt and greedy NCAA has been able to pull this off all along. One answer is that the pandemic has allowed us to hit the "pause" button and analyze the fairness of institutions and also systemic racism. I don't know how much leeway the Pac-12 has to negotiate while staying within NCAA guidelines, but I hope the powers that be accede to some of the demands. Also, I don't really care about playing this season, it would be nice, but not if there is undue risk and potential for lifelong physical impact of contracting Covid-19.
I love Cal football. I have spent a stupid amount of my life obsessing over it. This is one of our best chances at the Rose Bowl in a looong time. But...
it is a game. I love our children first. I would rather the program burn to the ground than not take protections for the Sons of California.
And to be clear, I mean the safety stuff. Some of the demands are not realistic.
I found the tidbit about not wanting 'lavish facilities' a bit counter-intuitive as my understanding is that those facilities are lavish in order to attract recruits, which would be them.
The players who wrote this--and the ones they consulted with during the writing process--might not be the same ones who are attracted by these facilities.
Also, they can simultaneously see the appeal and draw of nice facilities while acknowledging its excess and the arms race is has created.
I may be blind, but where is the actual list of demands. I must have read 5 articles on the subject, and I still can't read what they are actually asking for. I don't want the generic overview of what they are asking for, I want the specifics.
On this page, scroll down.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/pac-12-players-covid-19-statement-football-season
The players are right. They work incredibly hard to provide the entertainment we fans enjoy in the stands. They are a source of pride for we alumni, especially at Cal where the athletes are truly students. They absolutely deserve everything they are asking for. Maybe this is the time to demand radical change for the rich & greedy NCAA for the benefit of future generations. But... 50% of football revenues? As much as they are the ones putting the product on the field, and absolutely deserve this level of compensation, probably 70% of programs in the power 5 would fold if they relinquished 50% of football revenues. The 20 or so top teams that survived, would form a super-duper elite league, and the rest would wither or scale back massively.
Currently, there are 64 schools in the power 5. 64 x roster of ~100 = 6400 athletes have the opportunity of at least a moderate or better level of exposure for their talents. Were my shabbily put-together scenario come true, 20 x ~100 = 2000 athletes, meaning 4400 would be relegated to the minor leagues, with possible, but tougher to realize exposure for their talents.
I personally would have no problem if Cal & Stanford stopped playing the big money game, led a new sort of western U.S. Ivy League with other academically-oriented schools, and dropped down a division or two and just put a great Saturday Afternoon of competitive football on the field.
More than 70%, more like 90%, and they'd basically cancel all other college sports, period. Zero women's sports.
I agree that some of the financial goals aren't realistic, but I have to imagine that they're being put forward as is so when they're negotiated down the numbers are still respectable.
I've been pretty firmly against playing football this fall, but if doing so enables the players to extract some of these demands, it will almost be worth it!
We donors are in a position of power here. What do WE want to do? I back the players. I grew up enamored with football and have grown to cherish so much about college football and Cal football in particular, but this system is rotten and needs to go. I don't give a fuck if college football is played this year, next year, or ever gain. The players who "go to work" every day as "student athletes" may never have this much leverage again. Now is the time.
Finally.
100% behind the players. Break the chains.
Good for the student-athletes to try to leverage for better compensation/protection for all their peers and future student-athletes. We have been saying that some kind of major change is coming to NCAA soon, this should accelerate things toward that (likely some form of larger stipends in addition to the ability for players to make money off their likeness).
With that said, I highly doubt that they will get the majority of what they are asking for here - particularly the part about asking for coaches to take pay cuts so that more money goes to the non-revenue sports.