It's In The Game

As of July 18, 2013, the NCAA will no longer be partnered with EA Sports in any of its video games. This is in response to a lawsuit filed by former players stating that the NCAA has illegally used their likeness to sell games, jerseys, and other memorabilia. Not only is this a win for the athletes both former and current, it also could lead to potential compensation for the players who generate millions of dollars because of the acclaim their athletic prowess brings. I personally am happy for the players, but forgive me for being pissed off as well. Once again John & Joan Q student is being forgotten about in this debate. Why are the regular students being cast as rich snobs who have mom and dad paying for everything when that couldn't be further from the truth? Why are the needs of the few outweighing the needs of the many? This is not a rant against the hypocrisy of the NCAA's bylaws (many of which I don't agree with), this is about regular students who also deserve a voice on their struggles in college and the unfairness and difficulties they encounter.
I came to the University of Illinois with my two suitcases, my mom's old television, and ten dollars to my name! I had a part-time job in the cafeteria in my dorm but their was no way I could have had a full-time job during the school year. I was new to the Champaign-Urbana Area, didn't have a license let alone a car, and I didn't have the luxury of a limitless bank account to draw from whenever I needed it; hell if not for my roommate, I would of had to use the payphone to make phone calls home! I don't mention this to gain sympathy, only to show how I was far from the kid that had a silver spoon in my mouth.
If you talk to the average college kid, most of them are broke! Sure their parents can give them money, but how many of the kids were really receiving money in the thousands, particularly when you consider that 74% of the student body at U of I receives financial aid (http://www.osfa.illinois.edu/).

This is not an attack on the former and current players involved in the lawsuit, this is a call to discuss the inaccurate perception of many college students. Various media outlets, from ESPN to CBS Sports, denigrate the NCAA's treatment of players while also trivializing the struggles normal students go through. The prevailing theme is that regular students are able to obtain jobs and do not have to travel the way student-athletes do while also trying to maintain a respectable GPA. When the argument of scholarships for the athletes is brought up, we are inundated with the line that the scholarship often does not cover the institution's full cost of enrollment. Proponents who bash regular students to buttress their claim that the athletes have it so rough are being very disingenuous. Regular students currently do not have the following privileges that athletes enjoy: picking first for classes, having a scholarship that covers at least 75% of the cost of attendance (most yearly scholarships are full-rides), access to the best tutors and academic resources on campus, and people constantly giving you preferential treatment because of your athletic prowess. College students don't take out financial aid for pocket change; without it, there is no way two-thirds of the students could even attend many universities. I am fully aware that talented people get the benefit of the doubt in life; it is what makes us human. As I have stated above, I feel for the athletes and am glad they finally have a voice to express their frustrations about being exploited, but where is our voice? Where is the voice of the kid swimming in thousands of dollars of debt while working at a minimum wage job because corporations bemoans their lack of experience? Where is the outrage at the continuing rising cost of tuition and fees, fees that partially go towards the athletic department? Where is the sympathy for the dwindling funding of college departments as universities look to save money in a volatile economy? Where is the discussion about the true reason behind this sympathy for athletes? It subliminally supports the stereotype that minorities are always looking for a handout. Whether its government assistance or an athletic scholarship, minorities are not seen as being a self-sustaining group capable of doing it on their own. That is a far greater battle that needs to be fought. The day the assumption that minority students are only there because of sports is no more will be a day that the term student-athlete has a legitimate meaning.