<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">On Dec 15, 2017, at 7:40 AM, Dave Sill <<a href="mailto:sparge@gmail.com">sparge@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<blockquote type="cite"><div><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 10:22 AM, William Flynn Wallace <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:foozler83@gmail.com" target="_blank">foozler83@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">1.6% of college football players make it to the pros. </div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I think the same ratio also applies to other parts of the entertainment industry. After all, sports are entertainment. Not everyone take drama classes in college is going to earn a living in drama, for instance.</span></div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">So what? So after perhaps making tens of millions of dollars for their schools winning conference titles, bowl games, the vast majority of the players graduate having gotten mostly nothing in return.</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">It is time to pay the players. Where else do we see employees contribute a great deal to the organization's bottom line and get a pittance in return?</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">The idea that they are amateurs is ludicrous. Even the Olympic organization got the right idea on that awhile back. How much has Michael Phelps put in the bank?</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">It is not a question of having the money. It's a question of sharing it. The players and coaches earned it. The coaches certainly get their share and their schools too. The real money makers get next to nothing - tuition, books, a very few spending dollars.</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">This blatant hypocrisy needs to stop. This is slave labor, isn't it? Where else can they market their skills? Nowhere.</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Outside of actual slavery, I can't think of another situation that is this unfair. Absolutely unAmerican.</div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>The better players get athletic scholarships. That's substantial. Athletics are voluntary: nobody is making anyone play football. Ask players why they play. I think most just enjoy playing the game and the experience of being a varsity athlete. I'd be in favor of removing obstacles to paying athletes but I hardly think it's comparable to slavery.</div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>By the way, American football might be voluntary for the players, but it’s not voluntary for the taxpayers at the high school, college, and pro levels:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.reason.com/blog/2017/09/07/stop-subsidizing-football/">https://www.reason.com/blog/2017/09/07/stop-subsidizing-football/</a></div><div><br></div><div>I think even better than pay sharing deals would be dismantling all these subsidies. By the way, recall this story:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-stadium-arms-race-snap-story.html">http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-stadium-arms-race-snap-story.html</a></div><div><br></div><div><div><div style="line-height: normal;"><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Regards,</span></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dan</span></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Sample my latest Kindle book "Sand Trap":</span></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://mybook.to/SandTrap" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">http://mybook.to/SandTrap</a></font></div></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><br></div><div><br></div></div><div><div style="line-height: normal;"></div></div></div></div></body></html>