[caption id="attachment_17916" align="alignleft" width="300"]Photo by Hoss McBain Photo by Hoss McBain[/caption] It is time to pay college athletes, especially the ones who help colleges rake in money on a yearly basis. The arguments against it are outdated and go against all of America’s beliefs on fair wages and market values. We’re not talking about children. These college athletes that help conferences and the NCAA gain billion dollar television contracts are old enough to vote, be in the military, buy cigarettes and get married. The debate about if college athletes should get something extra than a normal scholarship wouldn’t be as frustrating if the anti-pay crowd didn’t go so far out of the way to talk about fairness. We’re not a country that cares about fair. Life isn’t fair, and neither is big money college athletics. North Texas already can’t compete against Texas A&M in recruiting or on the field. The ability to pay players with more free food and some extra spending money doesn’t do anything to make that divide greater than it is already. The NCAA has gone out of its way for decades to preserve the student-athlete and the illusion of amateurism. At some of these programs, players are spending close to 40 hours a week on film, meetings, workouts, practices and games. That is a full-time job. Some argue that a scholarship is enough, but the guy on an academic scholarship is allowed to go use his brain to make money with a part-time college job and no one is up in arms about the ruining of his college experience. The truth is that we love control and manufactured purity. Giving athletes money to go to the movies or buy a video game won’t change the passion of the game. Life isn’t fair, but it is time to start giving out a fair wage for a fair days work.
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