A week and a half ago, I was unconcerned about the coronavirus. I knew about it, and how it was beginning to affect the United States, universities, and threatening sporting events. It was still the furthest thing from my mind.

A group of students and I were eating dinner in Washington D.C. We joked about the amounts of hand sanitizer we used coming off the metro and signs on doors that said “no cash, stay healthy,” or “we will not be hand-shaking at this time.” It was all still a foreign concept.

All of a sudden, during dinner on March 11, alerts on a nearby television screen popped up one after another. In a matter of 20 minutes, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Washington DC declared a state of emergency. Mississippi State tweeted that administration was considering online classes. Our professor received an e-mail that he should begin the transition to online classes. Even though this was unknown and scary, I still didn’t comprehend the gravity of the situation. We asked professors, congressional staff members, and congressmen if we should be concerned. Everyone said no, and the sun was still shining outside so it seemed like just someone else’s problem.

The cancellation of sport was my eye-opener that COVID-19 was a much larger issue than the flu. Professional sports and the NCAA don’t give up an enormous sum of revenue for the flu. I thought it was crazy when the Ivy League canceled their tournament and planned on just sending their regular-season champion, Yale, to the NCAA Tournament. How terrible for any of those players! Two weeks ago, the Ivy League was crucified on Twitter for jumping the gun on this issue. Little did any of us know, almost every sport entity would follow suit a few days later.

I was in the Metro Station headed back to our hotel when ESPN alerts started firing off. First, no fans at March Madness. No fans allowed in Big Ten, ACC, Pac-12, or SEC conference tournaments either. Mississippi State released a statement that athletic events would be off limits to fans through at least March 30. 

My plan up until then was to arrive back in Starkville Friday evening, and head straight to work at softball on Saturday morning. My parents planned to meet me after the game. I was picturing how bizarre Nusz Park would be with no fans, and how much we would have to tweet scores to keep our fans updated.

On Thursday, it was one alert right after the other. Conference tournaments were all of a sudden canceled. The NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, and MLS put pauses to their seasons. Duke, then Kansas, suspended the rest of their spring and winter seasons. This was shocking – I mean, Duke and Kansas? Both legitimate Final Four teams? Then the NCAA canceled everything.

For fans, it hurt. Our little hobby turned lifestyle was quickly out of reach. Those games we were excited about attending, too bad. For workers, it hurt too. There’s experience, connections, and money that won’t happen for the rest of the season. Seniors are going into the workforce with a little less preparation than they planned on. I love going to work, its where I have the most fun, and there was no more of that for another semester. I can still do some work for softball, but all the hands-on work is finished.

I felt the most heartbroken for the players who had their entire passion ripped off the field. There was so much more to accomplish, and so much time. Conference play hadn’t gone into full swing, so the stand-out moments were gone. These feelings are doubled when it comes to student athletes in winter sports. Everyone’s eligibility is in question. No matter your classification – will the NCAA just wipe off the remainder of the season? Especially those seniors, who’s last game came unknowingly and much too early.

I don’t have much to complain about. I’m still a sophomore planning to hop right into football season next fall. I don’t play a sport, I just love to be involved. I don’t have a full-time job that depends on sports being played. There are people in the sports world who are struggling much more than I am. I’m dealing with the stoppage of sport by accepting it and knowing it will be back soon. There’s a multitude of questions, but they will all be answered sometime. That’s what we all have to do, accept that it’s out of our hands and wait until it passes, and our beloved pastimes return.

So in the meantime, post your favorite sports memories on social, vote in would-be bracket pools and re-watch those legendary games. Become a little bit more knowledgeable on sport history with documentaries and biographies. That’s my plan until next season.

Paying college athletes sounds fair, doesn’t it? They seem to work harder than most students in college. They put the most energy into their talent, and they bring in millions of dollars to their school and the NCAA. 

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has proposed a bill that will allow collegiate athletes to benefit off of their name, image, and likeness. They are hoping to have an idea on the table by April, with each division to begin to come up with rules but have them in no later by January 2021.

Some states seem to already be ahead of the game. In September 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 206, coined the “Fair Pay to Play Act.” The three major points it tackles is:

1.    California’s universities and colleges cannot punish student-athletes who seek compensation for their name, image, and likeness

2.    A California student-athlete’s scholarship cannot be changed, no matter how much money he/she is benefitting from name, image, and likeness

3.    The NCAA cannot ban California universities and colleges from competing in NCAA events due to their student-athletes profiting from their name, image and likeness

The pros are pretty obvious: student-athletes will get compensated for the extremely hard work they put in. This compensation, in the past, has gone to the NCAA and universities around the United States. The coaches get paid huge dollars, as well as the TV producers and athletic staff. 

Because all those other people, besides the student-athlete, have legitimate jobs. 

On a sweet pro, especially on the local front, student-athletes can get money from a local grocery store wanting to use their likeness in an ad. Especially if they are a hometown hero. Student-athletes could also receive money to be running training camps or giving lessons to their neighbor. 

These small benefits are not enough pros to outweigh the tremendous cons and matters to consider. 

After the passage of SB 206, the Pac-12 issued a statement: 

“The Pac-12 is disappointed in the passage of SB 206 and believes it will have very significant negative consequences for our student-athletes and broader universities in California. This legislation will lead to the professionalization of college sports and many unintended consequences related to this professionalism, imposes a state law that conflicts with national rules, will blur the lines for how California universities recruit student-athletes and compete nationally, and will likely reduce resources and opportunities for student-athletes in Olympic sports and have a negative disparate impact on female student-athletes.

Our universities have led important student-athlete reform over the past years, but firmly believe all reforms must treat our student-athletes as students pursuing an education, and not as professional athletes. We will work with our universities to determine next steps and ensure continuing support for our student-athletes.”

The Pac-12 lies out a few of the major implications of this bill:

Professionalization of college sports

NCAA leans heavily on their “amateurism model,” and compensating players for their likeness would eventually put this away. Article 2, section 9 of the NCAA handbook defines the principle of amateurism: 

“Student-athletes shall be amateurs in an intercollegiate sport, and their participation should be motivated primarily by education and by the physical, mental, and social benefits to be derived. Student participation in intercollegiate athletics is an avocation, and student-athletes should be protected from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises.”

If the NCAA allows players to be compensated, that throws out the principle of amateurism. A player becomes professional as soon as he or she is compensated for his or her success. The student-athletes’ success comes from their success on the field, court, etc. Small numbers probably mean not much money. 

Imposes a state law that conflicts with national rules

This issue must be mandated by the NCAA, not the states. Athletes who are good enough will go compete in states that allow compensation, and their universities will benefit from a huge amount of their talent. The other states that do not comply, or enact a law later will suffer from a loss of talent. Another issue is the conference rules. Rules cannot differ from conference to conference. How much money is too much? Where does it stop? There will most likely be more money coming to athletes in the SEC than the Pac-12 or the Big Sky (for example). How does the NCAA keep a cap on this? If there is a cap, under the table recruiting will just have it spill over. 

Will blur the lines for recruiting

One of the pushes for player likeness is that it would make illegal recruiting legal and fix all under the table money and player benefit problems overnight. When has this tactic ever fixed anything? Also, this is a media push. The NCAA explicitly stated that this was an issue to consider – not one they are trying to push. Receiving money from boosters is illegal and should stay that way. Under this bill, this would not be all of a sudden legal. 

Negative impact on female student-athletes

Shoe deals, major company ads, and jerseys will go to a majority of male student-athletes in football, basketball, and baseball (in that order). Most schools have a couple male student-athletes off of any of the big three sports’ rosters that can make money off their likeness. More than a few male student-athletes on the middle talent level could benefit from their likeness. As female student-athletes go, one would have to be a total superstar at their sport to be considered for major ad campaigns. Not a lot of female jerseys would be sold, and unless she is playing at a major power school, not many looks would be given. On the flip side, the number of jerseys, shoe deals, ad campaigns, etc., for male student-athletes would be insane. Granted, this money would not be flowing from the universities. But these problems would fall underneath the Title IX umbrella as female student-athletes will get unequal pay and opportunity.  

These are just some implications and effects that would be major issues, should the NCAA approve student-athletes compensating from their name, image, or likeness. The time is coming, and the NCAA will most likely cede to the calls of critics. They have many issues they will have to tackle first. Or are these issues too much to tackle? If amateurism dies, will the NCAA continue to be the dominating entity in collegiate athletics?  

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.