Kenny Bell and NCAA Reform

We can each only speak from our own respective lense.

I'll speak from mine.

My dad coached college ball ( and was a player for Nebraska in the 70s) for more than 20 yrs.

I played college ball and so did my older brother. My younger brother had a scholarship but turned it down.

We were Div II athletes. We knew where we headed, what we were afforded and what it would cost us, both literally ($$) and figuretively (our bodies, etc). We knew what our scholarship was worth and what "perks" we got being a football player at school. Let me tell you, a lot of people don't care.

What Kenny Bell and Colter want, they want right now. They have ZERO idea that, unless u win the damn heisman or something, nobody really really cares about them about 2-4 yrs after they graduate.

My dad was a Big8 champion. Has watches and jersey's from the orange, fiesta, Bluebonnet, and sugar bowl. It's cool. It's fun. It's nice. It's a memory. Our immediate family revels in it. But yeah, We pay for season tickets. We pay for parking. We pay for hotels. We pay for gas. We pay for my sons hat and jersey.

At div II there weren't many perks but when I sprained my MCL, I had an MRI the next day.

If I needed tutoring, I got it. We worked out in a NICE gym. We had brand new stuff. The practices were long and the films were tiresome. The coaches were pricks and the fans were fair weather.

Man, I could go on and on. At the end of the day (and their career) they get a LOT. Just do YOUR damn job and do it well. You don't want to do it? Get out. Go work and pay for school. That's what you'll be doing in 3-5 yrs anyway. Ride the pine or play 1st string. Who cares? f#*k the fans anyway right? We love you while your here and you get THE BEST college has to offer, no doubt. It's a blip on the radar, however. So just shut up, play ball, try hard, soak it up, get a job, visit Lincoln and sign autographs for awhile, and get on w your life.

We as fans will remember you forever (my dad is still remembered by the "older" fans) but will embrace your replacement quickly.

Get over yourself and your "voice". Just go play the damn game.

 
I guess I see both sides of the issue having problems.

On one hand, football (and basketball) players get it pretty cushy while in school. Methinks they don't have the greatest spending habits either.

On the other hand, you have Athletic Directors getting $20K bonuses because some kid in their program won a wrestling tournament. That's shady as hell.

 
This whole thing brings back bitter thoughts from when I was in school.

I was in school in the late 80s. My father went broke in his business my senior year in HS so basically, I was on my own for school. I worked basically full time while going to school full time. I lived in some pretty crappy apartments in Lincoln and drove a vehicle that my college friends still tease me about till this day.

Then, I had friends who were athletes. Simply because they were athletes they received a LOT of perks that I had no dream of ever getting and, many were total a$$ holes about it.

Sorry to bring up things from 25 years ago but this whole thing quite frankly leaves me less interested in the program and college sports as a whole.

 
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QMany said:
Kenny Bell runs out of meals at the training table?!?
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I wonder if he was actually referring to himself, or just trying to express that he knows what it's like from seeing it happen? Or maybe he has a small meal plan and is being a turd
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At any rate, I really don't think the words he said were unreasonable. Athletes do deserve better representation, and that's all he was really getting at.

 
I like Kenny as a football player, but he's an idealistic young man. At that age, himself, along with others can bring about change in a positive way. I'm not saying it's wrong, but maybe he's not grasping the whole picture...

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
QMany said:
Kenny Bell runs out of meals at the training table?!?
Click to expand...
I wonder if he was actually referring to himself, or just trying to express that he knows what it's like from seeing it happen? Or maybe he has a small meal plan and is being a turd
default_laugh.png
Click to expand...
None of our scholarship players should be running out of meals at the training table. That is either a fabrication or an athletic department blunder.

 
I scrimped in college, got by on student loans and little to eat (but plenty to drink). I worked 30 hours a week at a minimum wage job and took full class loads. Those were my choices. Lots of mac and cheese, ramen, etc. Jeans with holes before it was fashionable, free tshirts from credit card sign ups (back when you could sign up with a fake name), and a car that barely made it to the store and back by the time I was a senior. After college, I went to grad school, and paid my student loans as quickly as I could. Extra money went to loans. I finished paying off my student loans about 11 years after I graduated. I can sit here and say this now, I would love to have played football in order to get that free education. I think, man, I would have at least $25,000 or so more in my bank account.... That would be damn nice.

I understand that there is an uncomfortable standard that exists with coaches and ADs making tons of money off of these guys, but they are welcome to not play and just be regular college students like I was. They know the rules when they sign up. I know what I would choose.

 
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So I don't know who is right and who is wrong in this unionizing and voices and whatever.

But I will say this. These athletic administrators, university presidents, and coaches are highly unintelligent if they thought they could sign BILLION DOLLAR television deals, $90 million dollar apparel deals(Notre Dame), multi-million dollar bowl game deals, pay coaches $6 million a year and everyone makes bonuses based on the players performances through the year and some of these kids not notice what is going on. Especially when you have teams like Alabama that cuts football players to make room for new ones every year or whatever. Who is looking out for them?

Maybe they deserve more maybe they don't. But the arrogance of these universities to think they could do what they have been doing for this long and athletes not say something is disturbing.

 
I can't stand this. If the NCAA was smart. They would just disqualify scholarships all together and tell these kids to get their education the way everyone else does. Being on the football team and going to class should take up enough time that you don't need a whole lot of extra cash. If housing costs are the issue and take up too much money then that should be addressed but not in the form of a stipend.

Being 19-23 by age is an "adult" but many of them don't act like it. Although many do too. Funny though that almost everyone refers to college students as "kids" but when we talk about them needing a voice they all of a sudden become "adult"? So which is it?

What do they exactly need the cash for? That big screen tv? New video games? heating bill? rent? food?

 
QMany said:
Kenny Bell runs out of meals at the training table?!?
Click to expand...
As I recall the table closes (or at least it did back when I was there) on the weekends. I'm making an assumption that this is what he was referring to.

So (another assumption) if he lives off campus, he probably doesn't have a meal plan for the DC, and has to fend for himself at the market/deli/etc.

 
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