It’s an uncomfortable truth that newspapers have long been the business of writing advanced obituaries. It’s not that editors or journalists hold some morbid fascination with death, or that they want people to die. It’s just that when someone famous goes, newspapers want to run an obituary right away, without having to put together something quickly by calling grieving friends and family. If you’re famous and either old, sick, or both, someone somewhere has your life story ready for print. Don't think of it as creepy. Think of it as an honor.
So with that, I bring to you the advance obituary for the National Collegiate Athletics Association, or NCAA. How do I know it's on its last legs? Well, anybody, or anything, is just a sum of its parts. And some of the NCAA's major organs are misfiring, to say the least. Perhaps we should start with football, which is the heart, soul, and pretty much everything but the brain, which is good given the whole concussion problem. Much of what held this odd fiefdom of universities together was the prospect of college presidents realizing, or at least dreaming of fame and fortune on entirely unpaid labor, minus the scholarships that are largely underutilized and the exploding budgets that could make a hedge fund manager blush. No matter the ethical quandary, presidents and AD's and head coaches all stuck together in this largely unsustainable marketplace, reminding the public that they are in fact student athletes, which oddly enough was never said as a joke, and that the value of a college education was truly immeasurable, even though every college in the country manages to come up with a ticket price each semester.
But now, the natives are getting restless. Several current Division I football players have joined a lawsuit against the NCAA for making money off their likeness through football video games, something the players are forbidden to do themselves. And this time, loyalists like Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez has sided with the athletes, a crack in the code of silence. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney just put out his own athletics reform plan, which includes educational trusts and covering student expenses. In other words, paying athletes—at least in a way that they won't do something foolish, like unionize. This is from the same commissioner that only a couple of years ago said very publicly that it just wasn't economically feasible to pay players. It's funny what a couple of class action lawsuits can do for perspective.
Speaking of class action lawsuits and college football, former athletes are seeking class action status in a suit against the NCAA for concussions caused in the college game, much like the issue confronting the NFL. I'm not a lawyer, but I can hardly imagine the fiscal damage if scores of unpaid players can prove long-term disability. I can’t say this alone would kill the NCAA, but it sure may cause a few heart attacks.
But if football puts the NCAA in critical care, men's basketball could be the death shot. Outlandish salaries have pushed mid-tier programs to the brink of bankruptcy. Conferences have been decimated by football alliances. Like that thing we used to call the Big East, which is now something much smaller in complexion and impact. On those lines, big schools are increasingly less interested in sharing with their smaller brethren, an internal hemorrhage of sorts. And on top of that, the game is unduly dependent on the NBA's policy forcing high school stars to essentially play one year of college ball, “one-and-done” as they're called. At some point, we'll see high school players challenge this rule, and win, leaving the college game with little more than what's left.
I could go on with reasons, from the challenges of Title IX to the illicit behavior of college stars to the general financial duress of higher education in this country. But I'll leave it at this, with my stab at this advance obit:
At some yet to be disclosed date in the future, the organization formerly known as the NCAA passed away. Cause of death is greed and internal injuries. It is survived by two organizations, one that includes smaller colleges and universities that will cease to be relevant, and the other made up of the largest 64 athletic powers in the country, where athletes will earn salaries and have no academic accountability whatsoever. And in true NCAA fashion, don't send flowers. All they ever really wanted was money.
Keith Strudler is chair of the communication department at Marist College and director for the Marist College Center for Sports Communication.
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