Personally I don't "get" scholorships at all. I understand if a private organization or private college want to set aside some of their own monies to finance the education of someone they like, it's their money so that is fine with me.
However the idea of a publicly funded school (and for Div 1A football scholorship purposes they are almost all publicly funded) designating money they get from the public treasury towards paying the education of other peoples kids for whatever special reason, is to me outright theft.
I know that it is currently a kind of quaint notion for someone to care how govt spends the money they take from me and give to other people, but I do. I really don't know what educational purpose a football (or tennis, or swimming) team provides to a college so I believe that it is a big fat waste of money. And since it finances the college careers of so many illiterate affaletes it is more then a waste of money, it is a crime.
But the idea of also paying these non-students to play, and knowing that the money is going to come eventually out of my pocket--well that really grinds me. Look--- major league baseball has had minor leagues for about 100 years. And guess what, they have teams in cities like Peoria and Soiux City, I know, I've been there and the game was a lot of fun. A more popular sport like football could do it too. But why would they bother when so many people want to finance it for them for free. Another advantage of being a millionaire NFL owner=the fans want to pay to train your future employees!!!!
Yeah, that's what I was getting at, you could call scholarships a form of welfare, but I look at it as a reward for smart and hard work demonstrated in the classroom and playing field.
Unfortunately, today you don't have to do really much of anything if your black and have a little bit of talent on the field. The type of so-called student athletes they're letting in D-1 colleges is pathetic.
I hate to pick on teens, but when I heard Crowell out of Georgia, state, " I be a dawg", translation, I'm going to attend The University of Georgia to be a bulldog, I knew he had no business going to a D-1 school unable to speak English.
This is what it has turned in to. He has taken a scholarship from a kid whose worked hard in the classroom and on the field. He sounded like a kid who'd been pushed through school, because of his football ability. At best he should be in a community college working on his education and based on how he performed in the classroom, be able to play football!
I know this isn't going to change, so under the current system, I was o
ffering a possible solution to the illegal activities going on.
If the universities are not going to allow scholarship athletes to work or accept money from boosters, then add to their scholarship fund, so they can go somewhere, buy a shirt, help get their parents to a game. The money could not be used for any misplaced priorities!
If they do, then there will be no excuse for accepting illegal money, and if they do they suffer the consequences! Expulsion from the university!