Emmert: No pay-for-play. Of all the messages that NCAA President Mark Emmert has advanced since becoming NCAA president last year, the one he has hammered on the most is that student-athletes shouldn’t be paid.
He made the same point Wednesday at a meeting of writers in Los Angeles:
Emmert: No compensation for student-athletes (The Associated Press)
It’s surprising that journalists keep asking the question because Emmert certainly hasn’t equivocated since taking office last October.
Here’s what he said in January:
“We are never going to pay (athletes) for playing sports. In the vast majority of circumstances, universities are providing opportunities for students. Student-athletes get the best coaching, athletic training and facilities available. There is no place to get the kind of athletic experience other than at an American university.”
And in December:
“We can never move to a place where we are paying players to play sports for us. … There are 14 schools in the U.S. that broke even in their athletic programs last year. Every other one of them put significant to dramatic amounts of money into their sports programs to support their student-athletes. That young man or woman you’re talking about was able to gain benefit from the best coaching staff, the best facilities, the best trainers, the best educational environment anybody can get anywhere in the world. OK, so the university generates some revenue to help support that effort. I don’t have a problem with that.”
Emmert really does seem clear on this point.
Body-image questions for male athletes? Libby Sander of the Chronicle of Higher Education developed a good story in this week’s Chronicle of Higher Education.
Do male athletes have body-image problems? (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Image problems and associated eating disorders traditionally have been considered a female issue, but University of North Texas researcher Justine Chatterton challenged the notion.
“I saw that as perpetuating a stereotype,” said Chatterton, who added that by continuing to study only female athletes, researchers could be ignoring red flags among male athletes. She also said that unhealthy behaviors tied to body image might not be a problem with men, but that there’s no way to know without research.
Her study is funded by an NCAA grant. Data will be collected through May and then analyzed over the summer. A report is expected by fall.
