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Gambling in sports essay
Gambling in sports essay
Gambling in sports essay
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I think that it’s a tragedy to see that many collegiate athletes are involved in gambling situations. It’s hard on the athletes too, because they’re not getting paid to play the game so it’s hard to resist thousands of dollars to only win by a few, in cases on point shaving. When I was watching that movie “Blue Chips”, which is all about illegal college betting and buying athletes to come to their school, there was a scene involving the coach and the point guard regarding a point shaving incident three years ago. After the student was harassed by the coach he finally confessed saying, “We won the game, we just didn’t beat the spread. That’s only for those gamblers anyway”. He has a point with what he said but that’s not the point. A lot of young athletes do see point shaving as partaking in an illegal and unlawful event or don’t believe that much in it, morally.
So people say that if the college players were getting paid none of this would happen. I don’t know if giving the players a stipend is going end this because unless you’re paying the athletes thousands of dollars a week or a game, the stipend won’t be more than what they’re being offered. I do think that it might help but I’m not sure if that help is going to make a big enough difference. On the same note, if you eliminate spreads, can they be sure that it will make a difference when it comes to gambling. Don’t get me wrong, eliminating the spreads would decrease the amounts of point shaving incidents, but it won’t necessarily stop them. Bookies can make up their own spreads and ask players to shave points regardless of the fact that the spread is not publicized. The bookie has an idea by about how much one team may beat another. I understand that they will probably never “eliminate collegiate gambling” but they’re trying to limit and reduce it and I’m all for it too.
Unfortunately there is the big issue of the politicians and their campaigning for funds and it’s going to be hard to control that too. I can understand why Congress isn’t closing the Nevada loophole or at least delaying it, but I still don’t agree with it.
“Lobbying groups would be able to finance lawmakers' travel as long as those funds were channeled through a nonprofit foundation. And almost all banned perks would still be permitted if given in the context of a campaign fundraiser(Arkush).” The watchdogs almost seem pointless if there are loopholes to allow lobbyist to continue to abuse corporation’s like Jack Abramoff did to the Indian tribes. Through loopholes lobbyist and lobbying groups are still allowed to take lawmakers on golf junkets due to their nonprofit foundation affiliations, even though travel is banned, it is acceptable because of the nonprofit foundation affiliations. Restrictions on lobbying need to be tightened even more due to the fact of the loopholes allowing lobbyist to continue to waste money on bribing lawmakers and other government officials.
The current use of soft money in the US Governmental elections is phenomenal. The majority of candidates funding comes from soft money donations. Congress has attempted to close these funding loop holes; however they have had little success. Soft money violates standards set by congress by utilizing the loop hole found in the Federal Election Commission’s laws of Federal Campaigns. This practice of campaign funding should be eliminated from all governmental elections.
To pay or not to pay college athletes, that is the question. It seems like it would be a simple yes or no answer, but there are many underlying factors as to why paying athletes would be a negative. All universities vary in size and popularity, so how would it be possible to pay all athletes the same amount? Student is the leading word in the term “student-athlete”. They are not considered employees, which is what paying athletes would make them. While universities are making some profit off of the abilities of their athletes, college athletes make the personal choice to play a sport. Due to the differing popularity and size of universities and their athletic programs, there would be no fair way to pay all athletes. In addition, many athletes already receive compensation in the form of publicity, scholarships, and access to a high education, and therefore the NCAA and universities should not pay athletes.
“Shaving” is a short story about a teenage boy who shaves his dying father. Throughout this story, there are many lines of dialogue, and although they may seem simple at first, most of them have a profound deeper meaning. For example, near the beginning of the book, where his father stays to Barry that “You could have used electric razor, I expected that.” Barry replies by saying that “You wouldn’t like it, you’ll get a closer shave this way.” In this quote, what they talk about on the surface is fairly obvious, the quality of the shave ad the razor. However, beneath the surface of this quote lies a much deeper meaning. Barry uses a real razor instead of an electric one, which shows not only his confidence in shaving skills, but also the fact that he has taken the family matters into his own hands, as to put his father into such danger like that, as
...state politicians need to wake up and smell the dry aired air, and begin to work together for new laws that apply to the supply and demand of today, not yesterday.
“Big time athletes do get paid. They get free college tuition.”(Posnanski). College athletes not only get tuition, but they also get room, board, and meals. They also get to be coached by top coaches, train in the best training facilities, travel around the country for free, be treated by the best doctors and medicine, and have their chance in the spotlight (Posnanski). With universities constantly raising tuition prices, having free tuition is a big thing, but most, if not all, athletes waste that by focusing just on their sport. The athletes themselves probably aren’t the only ones to blame. Practices should be cut shorter to allow the students’ time to study more and actually get a college education. While you hear many athletes complaining that they don’t have personal spending money, other college students can say the same thing. While athletes are practicing, others are working to pay off tuition fees, which the athletes get free. In an interview at his trial against the NCAA Ed O’Bannon, a former basketball player from UCLA, said “I was an athlete masquerading as a student. I was there strictly to play basketball. I did basically the minimum to make sure I kept my eligibility academically so I could continue to play.” (Dahlberg). People should be going to college for what it is meant for—education, not sports. College sports are an extracurricular activity that should be
...whole different world from professional sports considering they supply men with a family to help grow character with, supply them with a free education, and create a whole community of people that are loyal and generally remain loyal to one school. This bridge between the two sports could be majorly affected if college athletes were to be paid and would then bring up the issue about paying even high school athletes eventually. It is merely opening a can of worms and has been a tradition for so long that it should remain one for years to come. College athletes might not be receiving a full salary but that is not the point of it and they know what they are getting into when they commit to playing a sport. This long-standing barrier between professional and college athletics should remain how it is for the good of everyone but mostly the athletes and college programs.
Hypothetically, as athletes recognize that they can get an education, play college sports, and also get paid like an employee, they will start transitioning away from the lesser schools while creating a pool of players in the top schools. Not only would that turn out to be a horrible situation for minor schools, but this also means that college sports’ would not be exciting to watch when the top four schools fight it out, in the tournament each year. Eventually, ratings and ticket sales would go down due to the loss of unpredictability in games. College athletics are only a portion of the negatives that come out of paying student athletes, the athletes themselves are also in virtue of disorder. Not only would college athletics find itself in jeopardy, another negative of giving a college student a paycheck comes to mind.
College athletes are manipulated every day. Student athletes are working day in and day out to meet academic standards and to keep their level of play competitive. These athletes need to be rewarded and credited for their achievements. Not only are these athletes not being rewarded but they are also living with no money. Because the athletes are living off of no money they are very vulnerable to taking money from boosters and others that are willing to help them out. The problem with this is that the athletes are not only getting themselves in trouble but their athletic departments as well.
The debate on whether college athletes should be paid to play is a sensitive controversy, with strong support on both sides. College athletics have been around for a long time and always been worth a good amount of money. This billion dollar industry continues to grow in popularity and net worth, while they continue to see more and more money come in. The student-athletes who they are making the money off of see absolutely none of this income. It is time that the student-athletes start to see some of this income he or she may by helping bring the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are many people who do not think this is in the best interest of the student-athletes or Universities, but that being said there are also many people who are in favor of the change.
The college athletes of their respective sports today, have the opportunity of showcasing their talents in competition on local and national programming on a regular basis which has lately brought attention this controversy, paying college athletes. The issue was brought on by the athletes over time, then caught onto coaches, sports columnists, and fans. The athletes dedicate themselves to the sport to a caliber comparable to the professional tier. The idea of paying the athletes could be considered as they play major factor in reputation of their schools, as well as funds for their schools. However most colleges do not have profitable sports teams. Thus, paying athletes would prove to be a very difficult endeavor and this could destroy college athletics as we know them today.
College athletes are undoubtedly some of the hardest working people in the world. Not only are they living the life of an average student, they also have a strenuous schedule with their specific sport. One of the most discussed topics in the world of college athletics is whether or not student-athletes should be paid money for playing sports. The people who disagree with the idea have some good arguments to make. Primarily that the athletes get to go to school for free for playing sports. Another argument is that if student-athletes were to get paid then it would ruin the amateurism of college sports. People who are against paying the athletes do not want to see the young people become focused on money. “Paying student-athletes would dramatically shift their focus away from where it should be - gaining knowledge and skills for life after college” (Lewis and Williams). This is very understandable because one of the biggest reasons college sports are so popular is because the athletes play for school pride and for bragging rights. They play because they enjoy the game, not because it is their job. Most people that disagree with the idea of paying the athletes fail to realize what really goes on behind the scenes. At most Universities around the country the bulk of the income the school receives is brought in through the athletic programs. In fact the football and basketball teams usually bring in enough money to completely pay for the rest of the athletic programs all together. To get a better understanding of how much has changed in the world of college sports a little history must be learned.
College athletics is a billion dollar industry and has been for a long time. Due to the increasing ratings of college athletics, this figure will continue to rise. It’s simple: bigger, faster, stronger athletes will generate more money. College Universities generate so much revenue during the year that it is only fair to the players that they get a cut. College athletes should get paid based on the university’s revenue, apparel sales, and lack of spending money.
...oday because of the time it takes to participate in practice, games, and off season workouts for each sport. When watching pro sports, you will notice at the end of games that athletes from the losing team do not appear to be as disappointed in losing as college athletes. Sometimes when watching, fans believe that this reason is because pro athletes do not care as much because they still will get paid at the end of the day. This could be an effect on college sports if student athletes are paid. Many things that could alter college athletics is what interests me most about this topic and hopefully will help others become more informed of the situation on both sides.
Another reason that college athletes should not be paid is because they are, under NCAA rules, to be considered amateurs. In the National Collegiate Athletic Association Rules it states, “College athletes are not to be paid, not to cash in on their prominence, never to cross any kind of line of professionalism.” Steve Wieberg, of the USA Today, studied the rules that the NCAA has placed on paying college athletes. He concludes that, “Athletic programs are meant to be an integral part of the educational program” (Weinberg). The reoccurring theme here should be obvious now —education is the most important part of the student’s time in college and being an athlete should come second.