Ugly analysis of March Madness from John Oliver

#4
#4
This really was more an analysis of the NCAA, not so much march madness (the video after the 2:15 mark is almost entirely about the issues of the NCAA, not the march madness tournament).

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX8BXH3SJn0[/youtube]





SEC-GoalTenda said:
Ouch.
Click to expand...

So maybe the thread title's a bit off?



(I do like the "authentic" and "accurate" college athletics video game that starts at 18:33, though.)




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#5
#5
I'm not sure there's really anything shocking here; the same stuff in the video is the same stuff people have been fussing about at least the last year or two:



  • the NCAA making billions,


  • the exploitative usage of the athletes through the "amateur" status, some of the rule enforcements ranging from petty to ridiculous (or heartless - the Rick Majerus buying a player lunch after said parent passed away incident is used here),


  • the idea that student athletes are being compensated with "the remarkable opportunity" to get an education, yet if they don't/can't stay healthy they lose that four year scholarship/opportunity and regarding said education - as the Richard Sherman interview (6:25 in the video) furthers - the schedule they're required to maintain barely allows time for it...not to mention how the education they do get often ends up "insultingly watered down" (UNC's athlete-GPA boosting "paper classes" being brought up here, for drastically boosting struggling GPAs in the offseason...as well as that Swahili course)


  • the NCAA making money off the likenesses of former athletes long after they've graduated (the O'bannon case)


  • the NCAA's claims that schools could barely afford to pay athletes - i.e., these sports being run for "the love of the game" - yet some of the biggest money-making schools barely having profit by design (some of the biggest schools maintaining non-profit status by spending more money to make profit appear lower...which also cause the competitive arms races among the not-so-rich schools), (Alabama's recruiting video of its facilities was used)


  • the amounts head coaches make (partially a result of part of the previous bullet)...with special mention for Dabo Swinney insisting that athletes receiving anything would just further current issues of "entitlement" in the world...while Swinney has trademarked his own name for merchandising, as coaches are free to pursue endorsement & consultation contracts (Jalen Rose gets referenced, shown mentioning how the amount coaches get paid come from the schools, running camps, apparel companies, a TV deal, and having a radio show)


  • despite people saying that “they’ll just become rich as professional athletes,” the numbers indicating that less than 2% of student athletes make it to compete at the professional level (1.6% of college football players; 1.2% of male college basketball players)


  • the issues if any of these student athletes ever become injured - the NCAA’s first director had said that the term student-athlete was created in the 1950s to avoid workmen’s compensation for the athletes; (former OU recruit and scholarship player Kyle Hardrick was brought up, who had a knee injury in practice his freshman year which led to him losing his scholarship, and because of the cost of the resulting medical bills couldn’t afford to stay in college)


  • the NCAA’s insistence that any sort of payment fundamentally changes what college sports are all about


  • the issue being not that people are saying that need to be paid "millions/hundreds of thousand/the same amount” or that every school needs to pay every athlete, but to pay everyone zero while “the kid selling their jersey in the campus bookstore gets $10/hr, seems a little bit strange”




I do like the point that if the NCAA is really going to insist that it’s about the authenticity of amateurism, then they should be fine giving up the sponsorships, TV deals, the million-dollar coaching salaries, etc.
 
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#9
#9
TrueOrange said:
I'm not sure there's really anything shocking here; the same stuff in the video is the same stuff people have been fussing about at least the last year or two:



  • the NCAA making billions,


  • the exploitative usage of the athletes through the "amateur" status, some of the rule enforcements ranging from petty to ridiculous (or heartless - the Rick Majerus buying a player lunch after said parent passed away incident is used here),


  • the idea that student athletes are being compensated with "the remarkable opportunity" to get an education, yet if they don't/can't stay healthy they lose that four year scholarship/opportunity and regarding said education - as the Richard Sherman interview (6:25 in the video) furthers - the schedule they're required to maintain barely allows time for it...not to mention how the education they do get often ends up "insultingly watered down" (UNC's athlete-GPA boosting "paper classes" being brought up here, for drastically boosting struggling GPAs in the offseason...as well as that Swahili course)


  • the NCAA making money off the likenesses of former athletes long after they've graduated (the O'bannon case)


  • the NCAA's claims that schools could barely afford to pay athletes - i.e., these sports being run for "the love of the game" - yet some of the biggest money-making schools barely having profit by design (some of the biggest schools maintaining non-profit status by spending more money to make profit appear lower...which also cause the competitive arms races among the not-so-rich schools), (Alabama's recruiting video of its facilities was used)


  • the amounts head coaches make (partially a result of part of the previous bullet)...with special mention for Dabo Swinney insisting that athletes receiving anything would just further current issues of "entitlement" in the world...while Swinney has trademarked his own name for merchandising, as coaches are free to pursue endorsement & consultation contracts (Jalen Rose gets referenced, shown mentioning how the amount coaches get paid come from the schools, running camps, apparel companies, a TV deal, and having a radio show)


  • despite people saying that “they’ll just become rich as professional athletes,” the numbers indicating that less than 2% of student athletes make it to compete at the professional level (1.6% of college football players; 1.2% of male college basketball players)


  • the issues if any of these student athletes ever become injured - the NCAA’s first director had said that the term student-athlete was created in the 1950s to avoid workmen’s compensation for the athletes; (former OU recruit and scholarship player Kyle Hardrick was brought up, who had a knee injury in practice his freshman year which led to him losing his scholarship, and because of the cost of the resulting medical bills couldn’t afford to stay in college)


  • the NCAA’s insistence that any sort of payment fundamentally changes what college sports are all about


  • the issue being not that people are saying that need to be paid "millions/hundreds of thousand/the same amount” or that every school needs to pay every athlete, but to pay everyone zero while “the kid selling their jersey in the campus bookstore gets $10/hr, seems a little bit strange”




I do like the point that if the NCAA is really going to insist that it’s about the authenticity of amateurism, then they should be fine giving up the sponsorships, TV deals, the million-dollar coaching salaries, etc.
Click to expand...

Why give up the millions if so much of it is used on nicer dorms, athlete oriented cafeterias, swanky locker rooms and pro level practice facilities. The sense of entitlement is mind blowing.

Off topic, man I'd like some tacos.
 
#13
#13
TNsnyper20 said:
Jon Stewart is accurate when bashing. And funny while he's at it.
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I've learned, in comparison, crazy conservatives are far more offended when they are called out on their hypocrisy than crazy liberals. For example, Jon Stewart is a crazy liberal despite having made fun of Hilary and Biden extensively just these past few days.

Anyone that isn't biased can see the republican, tea party, and fox news are far easier to make fun of consistently than the other side this past decade or so. Either that or all of my non american friends who laugh at our political system are double secret muslim terrorists, which is just as likely.
 
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#15
#15
Daloth said:
I've learned, in comparison, crazy conservatives are far more offended when they are called out on their hypocrisy than crazy liberals. For example, Jon Stewart is a crazy liberal despite having made fun of Hilary and Biden extensively just these past few days.

Anyone that isn't biased can see the republican, tea party, and fox news are far easier to make fun of consistently than the other side this past decade or so. Either that or all of my non american friends who laugh at our political system are double secret muslim terrorists, which is just as likely.
Click to expand...
but liberals are always being far more offended
 
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#16
#16
Remember when the NCAA held a gun to these students heads and made them indentured servants?












Yeah..me neither.
 
#17
#17
TNsnyper20 said:
Jon Stewart is accurate when bashing. And funny while he's at it.
Click to expand...

So is Oliver. His analysis of the NCAA was spot on, as have been most episodes of his show. I like how he delves into a lot of interesting issues that might be off a lot of people's radar.
 
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