College Sports Changing As NCAA Loosens Rules
By Paul Doyle, The Hartford Courant | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
A day earlier, the
Changes in the way student athletes are treated are coming in a variety other areas, from financial aid and health insurance to how tickets and travel expenses are handled.
Yes, the college sports landscape is undergoing a shift. The earth is moving under the
How will things look when the dust finally settles?
"I think it's too soon to really know,"
In the short term, Manuel and other Division I-A administrators will benefit from more streamlined
To best illustrate where the
The answer, according to the
The
Slather a bit of cream cheese on that bagel and it turns into a violation.
Silly? Even
"The rules are a perfect example of where there is way too much
Now, whether a bagel is a meal or snack won't matter. On Thursday, the
The change will be implemented in August and had been in the works since 2012, but the issue was pushed into the spotlight by
Emmert, in acknowledging the silliness of the food rules, said in his ESPN Radio interview, "If UConn wants to feed Shabazz breakfast in bed every day, they can."
And they can even put cream cheese on his bagel.
Manuel, who has served on
"I think it gives us the freedom to make decisions on our campus about how we want to move forward and how we want to deal with issues related to student-athlete welfare, whether it's stipends or food or travel or whatever it is," Manuel said. "Those things give us the flexibility to work on our campus and work with what's best for our student-athletes, what's best for
Manuel can speak from both sides, having been a Division I football player at
At
After the rule change, of course, non-scholarship or walk-on athletes will be eligible for food through the athletic department. So if the school chooses to embrace the "unlimited" part of the
But loosening the food restrictions will make life easier for college administrators everywhere. Think the food rules are trivial and easily ignored? When the
The school noted the three athletes were required to donate
"[The changes] will be at the institution's discretion," said
The food reform is indicative of an overall movement. Rather than apply the same rules to a high-revenue school such as
Under the plan endorsed by the
"They're saying, 'We have more resources so we want to be able to use those resources and not be limited by members of Division I voting against something because they don't have the resources to do it.' That's the premise," Manuel said. "I don't necessarily see a problem with that, with the exception of how will it affect the landscape. On the student welfare pieces of it, I agree with it. The question is, how does it affect the landscape of sports? The issues that need to be vetted about are issues that go away from student welfare, issues on our individual campuses and within conferences. In general, I support looking at the ability of conferences to have more flexibility in the use of resources."
But in the big picture, the
At the Final Four, the
The plan endorsed Thursday addresses increased academic support, particularly for at-risk athletes, along with expenses for such things as parking and travel for families.
"I think it's starting to clear it up and put it into the school's hands," Manuel said. "When I was on the [
The movement comes under the backdrop of two important stories. On Friday morning,
Manuel has no opinion of how the
"Having been a student-athlete myself and working with student-athletes at several different campuses, I do not see them as employees at all," Manuel said. "Regardless of what decisions are made, I won't refer to them as employees."
It would be months before results of Friday's vote are made public, but the story has raised the question of compensation for college athletes. There is also the case heading to trial involving the use of player images and names -- O'Bannon vs.
"I am one who hopes -- you would expect it from me given that I've devoted the last decade of my life to academics -- that athletics in college and universities is still for college student and that it is still seen as part of a college program and not as free-standing entities," said Harrison, the
"If the rule is -- and I think this is a dangerous ruling, by the way -- but if the ruling is that students who receive athletic scholarships in revenue sports are primarily employees, I think you'll see a lot that will change college athletics."
Where does the public stand? A nationwide survey by the Seton Hall Sports Poll found a majority (64 percent) consider athletes students and not employees, while 60 percent believe athletes should not be allowed to unionize.
The results were released Friday after polling conducted last week. Of the 628 people polled, just 29 percent said athletes should be considered employees and 34 percent support unionizing.
Also, 29 percent said their interest in college athletics would decrease if players received a salary.
But an earlier poll conducted by
"People want to give them something, but don't give them a salary," said
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