Great news for the Bruins. Looking forward to seeing Chris to do great things in his senior season.
But I'm sadly skeptical that there will be a season. The NCAA recommended health and safety guidelines (at least the one I found on the NCAA website) are sadly pathetic. College players are expected to self-monitor when they are away from team activities and facilities; the NCAA recommends testing only once a week during the season. These guidelines are far looser than the MLB guidelines and we're already seeing MLB swirling around the toilet, on the verge of going down the hole.
i'm actually more concerned about that list of demands that group of pac 12 players put out. The covid ones I expected. But the social justice ones? lmao. Yeah, that's going to happen in two months. How does the pac 12 or ncaa achieve that? Worse, the 50% revenue share caused me to fall out of my chair howling in laughter.
Strikes don't work too well unless everybody does it. 100 players across the PAC-12 probably won't cut it. And yeah, some of their demands are pretty ridiculous and merit belittling. Some are legit.
I think there is some rationale behind all they are asking for, but I don't think they have a hope of attaining some of them, so instead of calling them ridiculous I'll call them extremely improbable. It sounds kinder ;-). I agree with you that solidarity in this process will be critical for them. I'm curious to see how much room is there for negotiation or if there really is a hard line in the sand for the entire package.
Which demands are ridiculous in your view? If 100 of the top players and leaders boycott, it will put pressure on the NCAA and the PAC 12. Of course, if all players refused to play, then the games couldn't be played.
the 50% revenue sharing to start with. Also the social justice demands. Even if you accept the claims of institutional racism as true, the NCAA is not the correct entity to direct the grievance (unless you are trying to fix racism within the NCAA). The NCAA has no power whatsoever to achieve social change outside of its institution. They can try, which is fair, but they really just don't have the power to make the call.
The scholarship amount pales in comparison to the billions the athletes make for universities. This would never happen in any other country. The NCAA also has no legitimate legal place and was essentially created. The race issue if obvious considering the presidents and athletic directors are predominately white (we only have our first African American now) making money on the backs of black athletes.
you are right -- this would never happen in any other country. No other country is built in such a way that so many athletes could gain so much from playing a sport. Not one. It is truly an honor for these kids to put on the UCLA uniform and to obtain a UCLA degree FOR FREE. It's an honor and a privilege, not a right. And I don't mean to denigrate them -- our players deserve this.
They can have the honor and privilege of being a UCLA Student-Athlete while at the same time not be compensated fairly for the value they bring to the institution, those two things are not mutually exclusive.
Also, "No other country is built in such a way that so many athletes could gain so much from playing a sport" does not really hold well as an argument when European soccer exists
I actually work in European soccer. That's a great example because at 16 top players have professional contracts and can be paid. Especially in the US where people should be paid for the revenue they generate, the college athletes are nowhere from fairly compensated. They can't even make money on their image and likeness!
i must be thinking of a 2021 recruit who has UCLA as a finalist. Or a recruit (i dont think Maker) who would have taken Smith's spot but picked another school (Michigan?). I dunno.
This is great news. It would have been a whole lot greater if we had Nix and a normal season on the horizon, but, 2020...
Hopefully there will be some semblance of a basketball season this winter. I think there's a decent possibility there may be some early vaccine options by the end of the year, making a limited or conference-only season more likely, which could then give us a couple months to see if an NCAA tourney is an option.
Either way, I love having Smith back in Westwood for another season, in whatever shape it assumes. Go Bruins.
Great news for the Bruins. Looking forward to seeing Chris to do great things in his senior season.
But I'm sadly skeptical that there will be a season. The NCAA recommended health and safety guidelines (at least the one I found on the NCAA website) are sadly pathetic. College players are expected to self-monitor when they are away from team activities and facilities; the NCAA recommends testing only once a week during the season. These guidelines are far looser than the MLB guidelines and we're already seeing MLB swirling around the toilet, on the verge of going down the hole.
http://www.ncaa.org/sport-science-institute/resocialization-collegiate-sport-developing-standards-practice-and-competition
i'm actually more concerned about that list of demands that group of pac 12 players put out. The covid ones I expected. But the social justice ones? lmao. Yeah, that's going to happen in two months. How does the pac 12 or ncaa achieve that? Worse, the 50% revenue share caused me to fall out of my chair howling in laughter.
They achieve it simply by striking. You seem to belittle their very important claims.
Strikes don't work too well unless everybody does it. 100 players across the PAC-12 probably won't cut it. And yeah, some of their demands are pretty ridiculous and merit belittling. Some are legit.
I think there is some rationale behind all they are asking for, but I don't think they have a hope of attaining some of them, so instead of calling them ridiculous I'll call them extremely improbable. It sounds kinder ;-). I agree with you that solidarity in this process will be critical for them. I'm curious to see how much room is there for negotiation or if there really is a hard line in the sand for the entire package.
you might be underestimating today's youth. rarely a protester does not think they will achieve 100% of their goals!
Does that mean you don't try? Would you say that to MLK or any other issue?
You're probably right. I've been underestimating various factions of the American public for several months now.
Which demands are ridiculous in your view? If 100 of the top players and leaders boycott, it will put pressure on the NCAA and the PAC 12. Of course, if all players refused to play, then the games couldn't be played.
the 50% revenue sharing to start with. Also the social justice demands. Even if you accept the claims of institutional racism as true, the NCAA is not the correct entity to direct the grievance (unless you are trying to fix racism within the NCAA). The NCAA has no power whatsoever to achieve social change outside of its institution. They can try, which is fair, but they really just don't have the power to make the call.
pac 12* not ncaa
not belittling it. well, yes i am. but my point is this is just a very strange forum to advance social causes, or even the revenue sharing issue.
The scholarship amount pales in comparison to the billions the athletes make for universities. This would never happen in any other country. The NCAA also has no legitimate legal place and was essentially created. The race issue if obvious considering the presidents and athletic directors are predominately white (we only have our first African American now) making money on the backs of black athletes.
you are right -- this would never happen in any other country. No other country is built in such a way that so many athletes could gain so much from playing a sport. Not one. It is truly an honor for these kids to put on the UCLA uniform and to obtain a UCLA degree FOR FREE. It's an honor and a privilege, not a right. And I don't mean to denigrate them -- our players deserve this.
They can have the honor and privilege of being a UCLA Student-Athlete while at the same time not be compensated fairly for the value they bring to the institution, those two things are not mutually exclusive.
Also, "No other country is built in such a way that so many athletes could gain so much from playing a sport" does not really hold well as an argument when European soccer exists
I actually work in European soccer. That's a great example because at 16 top players have professional contracts and can be paid. Especially in the US where people should be paid for the revenue they generate, the college athletes are nowhere from fairly compensated. They can't even make money on their image and likeness!
LET'S GO BRUINS
Wasn't there one last recruit waiting to announce? Does this put us out of the running?
Not really. Smith is a senior who will be gone after this year, while the recruit would be for 2021.
i must be thinking of a 2021 recruit who has UCLA as a finalist. Or a recruit (i dont think Maker) who would have taken Smith's spot but picked another school (Michigan?). I dunno.
This is great news. It would have been a whole lot greater if we had Nix and a normal season on the horizon, but, 2020...
Hopefully there will be some semblance of a basketball season this winter. I think there's a decent possibility there may be some early vaccine options by the end of the year, making a limited or conference-only season more likely, which could then give us a couple months to see if an NCAA tourney is an option.
Either way, I love having Smith back in Westwood for another season, in whatever shape it assumes. Go Bruins.