Funding Madness

      64 teams are given invitations to the tournament of the NCAA championship.  This is one of the biggest money machines in sports anywhere.  Hundreds of millions of dollars are collected by the NCAA for their coffers to distribute as they see fit.  How nice!  Unfortunately, none of this money makes its to the actors involved-those young men and women who spend years developing their skills, hoping to beat the odds.   The NCAA falls back to the position that the member schools offer valuable scholarships to these "student athletes".   Hah, nobody believes this charade at all.
      NCAA is nothing more than an "Old Boys" network, engineered to put $$$ in the pockets of academic elites and their cronies who administer the funds that allow campuses to put up ludicrous sports facilities to make generous alumni comfortable during the season du jour.  Paying coaches salaries in 7 figures is routine, while adjunct professors will never have a tenured position nor a salary they can live on.   Teaching assistants are routinely dealt with by working them to the bone while they hope to complete an advanced degree that will then admit them to the system they have grown to despise.   The NCAA sports machine generates almost a billion dollars to the organization.  It competes with the NBA, the NFL, and MLB, to name a few.  And all this wealth comes on the back of a very few talented young men and women who get nothing for their efforts except promises, promises, and more promises.   While in the clutches of these programs and their ministers, the players are subject to threats and intimidation. " You must practice on your time when I say so", goes the order.  If not, "No more scholarship, and you will be sent back to the poverty you left so willingly just a short time ago".   How many hours a week are required to "keep" the scholarship?  20 hours?  40 hours?   60 hours is closer to the norm.  How much time is left for classes?  For fun?  For serious contemplation about the future?  Not much at all.
      All the libs that populate academia hardly give it a thought.  They enjoy the reputation of "their" institution as it hits No.1 in the conference standings.   They love the "spirit" displayed by the undergrads who flock to the contests on or near campus.  "It's what college is all about".   Or so they think.   It is a sad statement of affairs across the landscape that has become increasingly foreign.