It starts at the top
Joseph Schwerdt
Sun Sentinel
First of all, Nick Saban questioning the integrity of sports agent rings hollow in South Florida, where four years ago he stared stone-faced at the Miami Dolphins' fan base and flatly said: "I'm not gonna be the Alabama coach." Right.
But we digress.
Who has ruined college sports? Agents. Coaches. Athletic directors. School presidents. Boosters. Networks. And others. Slice up the blame pie and give each an equal piece. Every year it's a different school or a different sport, but the same story. The fabric of college sports is stained by cheaters, liars and those who would manipulate young athletes for their own financial gain, self-promotion or insatiable need to win.
Of course, the master enabler here is the NCAA, whose archaic rules and shortsightedness have made it all possible.
jwschwerdt@tribune.com
A few bad apples
Teddy Greenstein
Chicago Tribune
Nick Satan has done more than his fair share to suck the fun from college sports, the latest being his skirting of NCAA rules by hiring all those "quality control" and assistant strength coaches for his bloated staff. (They wouldn't be there to supervise the players' "voluntary" summer workouts, would they, Nick?)
But the man is right about agents. The unscrupulous ones ruin it for the guys who are trying to follow the rules. The solution seems simple enough: Work with the NFL and the NFL Players Association to punish the rogue Jerry Maguires.
If you're caught giving money to a player — or a buying a house for Reggie Bush — you're banned from representing players for five years. End of story.
tgreenstein@tribune.com
Give kids a hand
Nick Fierro
Morning Call
College sports are no more ruined by crooked coaches than they are by agents. They're pretty equal when it comes to spreading the blame. But they're not even the main culprits here.
The NCAA, with its inane rules defining the boundaries of amateur sports, is mostly responsible for creating these problems we keep seeing. It's ridiculous that college athletes are not allowed to have agents while they're in school or not even allowed to be paid the same sub-minimum wage for, say, participating in mandatory practices as their peers are for doing other various campus jobs.
Many of these athletes grow up in poverty and then suddenly find themselves away from home for the first time, without two dimes to rub together. No wonder boosters can manipulate them so easily. Put a few dollars in these kids' pockets right away, and things will become a lot cleaner almost immediately.
nfierro@tribune.com
Misplaced priorities
Matt Murschel
Orlando Sentinel
Sports agents have the stigma of overshadowing college athletics.
But a bigger shadow is cast by those college coaches who value winning above all else.
Concerns for academics and character are gone, replaced by the all-out pursuit of winning. That is not the fault of the agent but the coach.
Coaches heap promises of playing time, national exposure and championships, all the while searching for bigger and better things. They want the best players to provide them with the best chances to win.
Nick Saban's rant against agents is ironic considering it was made after one of his players was implicated. Would he have been as passionate if we were talking about one of Urban Meyer's players? Probably not.
mmurschel@tribune.com