skip a workout if they want to. The typical student is not missing class because they are out of state playing a game.

I remember the season showtime followed the football team. After the game at Fenway they showed Kizer talking about the fact he needed to get home because he needed to study for accounting test on Tuesday. I think that game ended at like 11:15 East Coast time Assume an hour to get players showered and on the buses, 20 minutes to get the bus to the airport, 15 minutes to load the plane, an hour flight time home and assume 30 minutes to get off the plane bus back to school and get to your dorm / apartment. I have no idea if those guesses are right but if anything it seems quicker to me than it likely takes. so just say 4 hours from the time the game ends until a player is in his room. That means they got home at 3:15.

Now planty of students go out until 3:!5 but it is their choice and they dont need to be in the training room for treatment the next day or meet with a position coach.

Pigs are cute hogs get slaughtered. Somewhere between college sports pre-ESPN and today the business went from cute "pigs" like Holtz making 300K in 1985 (890K adjusted for inflation) a year to "hogs" like Brian Kelly making 10 million.

To be clear I am not blaming ESPN nor am I calling Holtz a pig but there is no question the development of ESPN led to an explosion of television content and that drove an explosion of the money. Take a look sometime at the University Athletic Department Staff list. I fault none of those people their jobs but I dont think any of us realize how many people across the country make their living (and in many cases a very nice living) off a system where the players are not allowed to be paid.

an attendant dilution in value for many of the teams. Back in the day, Notre Dame-USC was one of maybe two games on the air. Now it fights for air time with at least four other games. The result? The need for bigger stars on the field and better results for the team to draw more eyeballs and butts for the seats.

Yes, there are a select few programs in college sports...at the most 50 across all sports that generate big revenue. At the same time, partly due to Title IX...which I am a believer in, there has also been an explosion in the number of non-revenue sports at major universities. I am all for it. The net/net is less money to go around unless you are a true blue blood bringing in big dollars to cover the non-revenue sports.

workload of college athletes and what the off season entails.

Uh, I am sort of familiar with this stuff, Irishdog80. I kind of have an idea, and I know that you don't. The idea that the work load is much less in the offseason is basically stating that they go from 80-100 hours per week to 40-50, so I suppose that's true in a sense, but not in the sense you mean, as you apparently believe they spend most of their time snapping towels in the shower at each other and gold's gymming it in the weight room by the curl bar.

I have agreed that high level athletes at major programs put in a lot of hours especially during the season. The concept of "paying college athletes" is not just limited to football and it's not just limited to the top programs in the country. My point is the vast majority of college athletes are handsomely compensated with their scholarships and other benefits. End of story. The issue is only about those that make a difference and how they should be compensated within the overall athletic department budget.

And where am I lecturing? I am expressing a viewpoint...nothing more. You want to lecture me.

and yet presume to tell me how much these athletes (stars and non-stars) are working and how much they deserve (in your opinion) to be compensated.

You know what? I think that you might have a point. I pay my support staff too much. I need to find a way to lock them out and prohibit them from working anywhere else for at least three years. I will handsomely reward them with some cheap meals, some decent dorm rooms, and some sweat suits and sliders that you value at about $1000/year (snicker). Once they're done working for me for 3 years, I will give them a valuable diploma and a reference and they can go work anywhere for however much they can get; if they did a really good job for me and outperformed expectations, they will likely be able to get fantastic jobs with major firms and earn a 6 figure income. That is a handsome reward from where I sit. And in the meantime, I will go ahead and keep all the profits and divert them to good causes like the church, jobs for my family members, etc.

There is a reason that the judges laugh at this argument, Irishdog80. There is a reason that Notre Dame guys like Jenkins, Swarbrick, and Smith are appealing to Congress.

been some growing pains with the new transfer rule and NIL, it is a big step in the right direction. The market has changed so your "argument" regarding your support staff, etc is not valid today. You are shouting into the wind.

Your argument is solely for the big time college sports. My argument has always been about the general concept that a full tuition, room and board and other benefits...much more than the average student...is fair compensation for an 18-22 year old college athlete. If you are arguing about the blue bloods of college sports and the big money making sports, I am pretty much on your side.

And pay floors. And unions. And arbitration. College athletics have none of that. It is so far from an apples to apples comparison that I don’t think you are debating in good faith.