Workers of the NC2A Unite!!

When El Hombre was enjoying his university days at The Sorbonne, he and Senor Penguin would delight in imagining various scenarios in which collegiate football and basketball players could be organized into unions and exercise some influence over the NC2A. Our dream was that just before kickoff in a given year’s most important bowl game (these were the halcyon days before the BCS and the kid’s-meal-sized playoff), a representative of the two participating teams would stride to midfield and inform the referee that no one was doing anything until the players received 50% of the gate.

Next to Senor Penguin’s “One bullet” rule for basketball – more on that another time – this was our grandest college conception.

Back then, we were just dreamers.

Today, we are visionaries.

Those of you caught up in Shermania or espn’s continuing quest to make every game LeBron James plays into grand theater might have missed Tuesday’s announcement that members of Northwestern’s football team, led by former QB Kain Colter, have decided to join the United Steelworkers union. The Wildcats are seeking a spot at the Big Table and a chance to have influence over those who make the rules that impact and often define them. It was a huge step forward in the history of college athletics, and it has the potential to rock the NC2A to its core.

Despite protestations to the contrary, college athletes – particularly those who play big-time football and men’s basketball – are indeed employees of the university. They are charged with the vital job of marketing the school to the general population and with spending long hours making sure their final product is as good as it can be. All of them work hard, make significant sacrifices and are undercompensated, not to mention ruled at times with impunity and treated poorly by glory-hungry coaches. Northwestern’s move is to be applauded, and it must be more than just a symbolic gesture. Other athletes must join the cause.

Why?

As Bill Plaschke pointed out in his column Wednesday in the Los Angeles Times, this is a winnable fight. Graduate students around the country have unionized successfully and are now paid for their work as teaching assistants. They, too, are students, but they are also employees. The NC2A’s insistence that athletes’ getting paid for their efforts “undermines the purpose of college: an education” is insulting legalspeak and yet another effort by the organization to exploit the athletes’ work for its institutions’ gain. This goes back to the ‘50s, when the term “student-athlete” was coined as a way to protect schools against workers’ compensation claims made by injured players. The sham that is the NC2A’s glorification of the college experience for top-tier athletes has only grown since then. It is now a successful marketing campaign designed to fool fans and alumni into believing players are no different than the frat boy who enjoys a little touch football or IM hoops after completing his lab assignments.

The grad students’ arguments centered on the fact that they were working for the colleges and therefore had the right to negotiate salary, terms of employment, amount of time they would serve, etc. The athletes are no different. They are performing extremely important tasks for the schools they represent, and the NC2A’s attempt to classify them as “student-athletes” is disingenuous, and frankly, unethical. Members’ quests to promote themselves and increase their bottom lines – across the board, not just in the athletic department – by using teams’ performances reduces players to showmen. In return for an education that often doesn’t lead to a degree, schools reap millions.

And there are millions out there, particularly for the big boys. Hundreds of millions. Not only is the TV money getting obscene (by 2018, Big Ten schools should be getting $42 million a year from networks), but the sponsorship money is also growing. That doesn’t begin to measure the impact on the whole university, in terms of fundraising and increases in prospective students’ applications. Last year from March 21-25, views on the Florida Gulf Coast University admissions page jumped from 2,200 to 47,000, after the Eagles won a pair of NCAA tournament games. Freshman applications to the school this year have jumped 35.4%.

If the money isn’t enough to make the athletes unionize, then their lack of control over the situations in which they perform should be. Scholarships that they receive are for one year, not four, as many believe. They have little or no say on injury protocols set up by the university. (Treatment of those who sustain concussions was part of the motivation for the Northwestern move.) Athletes are often asked to dumb down their academic courses of study, the better to make them more available to their coaches. (El Hombre spoke with a prominent basketball player who changed his major from Economics to Communications, because he was having trouble doing the work and playing ball. And this was no dummy.) And, finally, the myth of athletes’ commitment to their sports stopping at 20 hours every week is folly. A survey Thursday of volleyball, softball and baseball athletes at a Division I university revealed universal agreement that they spend more than 20 hours every seven days training, practicing, meeting, studying film and playing. Just imagine what happens to a football player at an FBS school in season.

The bottom line is that athletes need an organization to protect their interests and give them a strong voice in an athletic climate that is becoming more and more professionalized every year. Here’s hoping Colter and his mates begin a trend that prevents schools from exploiting their athletes further.

And makes a couple of young students’ dreams come true.

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EL HOMBRE SEZ: You have to love the huge conflict of interest that occurred this week when Jonathan Martin sat down with NBC’s Tony Dungy for an “in depth” interview about the hazing business in Miami. Martin revealed some things, but there is no way Dungy should have done the interview, since he serves on a committee for the Dolphins that is charged with looking into the incident. So much for journalism, folks. Let’s just let friends talk on camera and pass it off as illuminating. Next up, Eli Manning’s hard-hitting conversation with his brother, Peyton..Big changes are coming to NASCAR. A premium will now be placed on wins, rather than just racing sort of well. That should add lots of excitement. And officials have promised extra points in The Chase to those drivers who can somehow work endorsements from all five food groups onto their cars – while still maintaining a presence for Dr. Pepper, Goody’s Headache Powders and Piggly Wiggly…The Winter Olympics start next week, and the U.S. should win a whole bunch of medals, especially in some of the events that are debuting, such as the beerathlon, which combines ice fishing and drinking. The entire state of Minnesota is favored to medal. And watch out for Lolo Jones, who earned a spot on the women’s bobsled team, despite not being very good. She will, however, appear for two hours every day on NBC, so that the network can show America at least one athlete it may recognize – and think is hot…Cavaliers fans are upset that guard Kyrie Irving is reported to have been telling friends that he will leave Cleveland when his contract is up in a couple years. That’s no surprise, since recent play by his teammates indicates that they left town a few weeks ago. As for the fans, it’s understandable that the 6,500 that didn’t show up Tuesday to the desultory loss to New Orleans would be upset. Bye-bye, Kyrie. Enjoy Los Angeles/Brooklyn/Miami.

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YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT? It looks as if the New York/New Jersey metroplex will be spared any gruesome weather conditions Sunday during Super Bowl 420, er, XLVIII. But that’s no reason why Philadelphia should think it has a legitimate shot at hosting a future Super day. New York was awarded this game as a reward for building the new Hoffa Mausoleum and because Roger Goodell’s office sits about 10 miles away from midfield on Park Avenue. New York is the media and advertising capital of the country, so throwing a big bash to make sponsors happy and then stuffing them into luxury boxes is good business. If it snows in New York/Jersey, that’s on the NFL. If the game is compromised by weather in Philly, it’s another black eye for the city. The Eagles can put brand new scoreboards up and talk about making a bid, but it will be a long time before the league decides to host a Super Bowl outside in a cold-weather locale again. For good reason.

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AND ANOTHER THING: So, there’s football game on Sunday, and it’s incumbent upon El Hombre to tell you how things are going to go. In the previous 47 Super Bowls, there have been four matchups that have pitted the top offense against the top D. In three of those games, the top defense prevailed. That’s going to happen again. The Seahawks will pressure Peyton Manning and lock up his receivers long enough at the line to make the Denver passing game stall at times. On the other side, the Broncos don’t have enough to stop Marshawn Lynch on the ground, and that should make things easier for Seattle QB Russell Wilson. Still, this could come down to Manning’s getting the ball back with 1:37 on the clock and 74 yards to travel for the winning TD. If that happens, it will be legacy time. But it says here the Seahawks win. Seattle 24, Denver 20.

-EH-