News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Mar. 14, 2014: Here we go again. Get ready ….
For the annual Ode to college sports excess known as …
March Madness. How appropriate a name when a series of college basketball games give many colleges a few moments of attention they never get otherwise and the NCAA championship series that is bigger than all the rest pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into colleges but NONE of the money goes to any of the college players on these 64 teams.
But I digress …
This episode is about a different sports related March madness that took place at The White House on March 10th, starring President Obama. Doing what he does best, staging media events for himself as he invited a variety of NCAA college athletes who have won championships to The White House to provide them some of his words of’ wisdom-less.’
What that means here in Obama’s America is more BS.
The NCAA is an institutional corrupt organization that should be actively challenged and criticized by an American President except surprise, President Barack Obama praises them once again under false pretenses.
So here is President Obama Monday …
“Now, no matter what sport you play, no matter where you come from, for the rest of your lives every single one of you is going to be able to call yourselves a national champion. And you know that a title like that means not just performing your best when the spotlight is on and the game is underway, but also pushing yourself even harder when nobody is watching; dragging yourself out of bed for early morning weight-lifting sessions and gutting out the preseason two-a-days. It means cracking the books, I hope, on those late-night bus rides home and making sure to leave time to study when everybody else is out having fun. And it means that after practice, when other folks might turn off the lights and head home, you ask the janitor to keep the lights on so you can run another drill — or two or three.”
Yea, yea, yea ….
Right Obama “cracking the books.” The fact is that many of the college athletes in the big money sports like basketball and football never graduate because they are treated like full –athletes, not students who also play sports as an extra activity after they do their studies.
Question – what is the difference between an NFL or NBA player and a college football or basketball player? The NFL & NBA players get paid.
Next this nonsense from Obama Monday …
“And at a time when legendary conferences are being reshuffled and too many schools have been forced to cut sports, athletes like all of you remind us that at their core college athletics are supposed to be about a lot more than just network ratings. They’re about the shy freshman who develops into a team captain; the underdog who learns how to play in the spotlight and learns how to slay the giant; the role player who fights through an injury to play on Senior Day. It’s about playing a game that you love, even if you’re not on a full scholarship or even if the only folks cheering you on are your mom and dad. And at their best, college sports teach us about giving back to our communities.”
How about this President Obama?
These so called student athletes and are often are left seriously in debt because the “scholarships” they get only pay part of the full cost of attending these colleges, and of course they can’t afford to work part-time because that would be time away from the sport they are not being paid to play as “full time” college athletes. And if they get injured playing, too bad they have to take a hike.
Sure there is a kernel of truth in this carefully crafted praising of college sports by Obama but what this mostly fictional view of the reality of college sports and the way student athletes are treated more than anything else masks, is the reality that many of these students are paying a heavy price because not only are they not paid but the NCAA, to preserve this fictional view of college sports, prevents student athletes from profiting in any way from the sports they play because of the illusion of “amateur” sports that the NCAA and the colleges are so desperate to preserve would be shattered.
So what would a REAL President be saying to these student athletes …?
You student athletes playing well and winning championships for your colleges are getting a raw deal. Many of you in fact are treated like indentured servants in return for your scholarships if you even get one.
An organization like the NCAA and all the complicit colleges should not be allowed to operate as they do here in the 21st century, and I intend to do something about it. NO more abuse of student athletes. Time to get paid!
Each of you is an employee of the team you play for as much as if you worked in the college book store or cafeteria except your work as an athlete is far more valuable to your college especially if you play a major sport.
And making matters worse still as you know if you accept a free sandwich or sign your autograph for a dollar the wrath of the NCAA enforcers will come down with no mercury and without any way of defending yourself.
With all you outstanding student athletes assembled here at The White House today stand here with me and let us resolve to put an end to the abuses of the NCAA toward student athletes once and for all.
Instead Obama concluded his disingenuous remarks with …
“It’s about learning how to lift other people up. That’s what makes a true champion. That’s what will serve you well no matter what path you choose in the years ahead, whether as a coach or an athlete or a doctor or a teacher or an entrepreneur. Our country needs young people like you to keep giving your best and to keep bringing out the best in those around you. That’s how we keep making progress and moving forward. And that’s why we’re all looking forward to seeing what all of you accomplish in the years ahead.”
And March madness goes on and on in ‘ America.
Too bad we don’t have a REAL President who will lead the way away from March MADNESS to fairness and equality for student athletes.
Instead the games continue just as they have in Obama’s America.
How sad to live in Obama’s America instead of a better America!
.
