Scholarships

Student-athletes have been begging to be compensated for their performances. Here is my view on what student-athletes should get:

1. Tuition

The most basic part of their scholarship is tuition. The students should get tuition for more than four years though. If a student-athlete wants to enter a grad program, they should get a part of this paid. Yes, the student-athletes do not have any eligibility left but they have committed almost all of their time for the past four years to their sport. They deserve a little more than that scholarship for four years. 

2. Room and Board

Room and board is also a basic part of a scholarship. The student-athletes should have a dorm paid for on campus. I don't agree with having nicer dorms for student-athletes, I won't argue against it. If a student-athlete is living off campus, they have no right to ask for payment. If you are living off campus, you are leaving half of your benefits. You are basically eating half of a pizza, leaving the other half alone, and begging for more pizza. 

3. Four-year Scholarships

Student-athletes deserve to have four-year scholarship. The scholarship should come with restrictions. Basically, you could lose your scholarship for anything but lack of performance. It's not ridiculous to ask a kid to not get arrested and keep your grades up in return for a free education. The one-year renewable contracts are not enough. If the star recruit doesn't pan out, he shouldn't lose his scholarship.

Student-athletes NEED to remember that playing college sports is optional. The student-athlete scholarship needs to be reformed but I will never support student-athletes being paid.   

The Week of Sports. (1/27/14-2/2/14)

NFL
The football season came to an end this week. Seattle embarrassed Denver is the first 'cold weather Super Bowl.'(Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl IX were colder.) Seattle linebacker Malcolm Smith is going to Disney World after  recording ten tackles and returning an interception for sixty-nine yards and six points.

NBA
Pau Gasol and trade rumors seen to be like peanut butter and jelly. The Phoenix Suns are the latest suitors for the Spaniard. He is averaging seventeen points and ten rebounds this season. The Lakers are still terrible.

College Football
Northwestern football players are trying to form a union among college athletes. According to former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter, the goal of the union is medical insurance from the NCAA. I am against paying student-athletes but I do support this. This is not a ridiculous request and I like where this union is going.

College Basketball
The #1 ranked Arizona Wildcats fell after winning a school-record twenty-one straight games. The Cal Golden Bears upset Arizona with a fourteen point, eleven rebound performance from junior forward David Kravish.

MLB
Nothing exciting happened in baseball this week. Oh well, fantasy baseball is right around the corner.

The Week of Sports-1/20/14-1/26/14

Yankees Spending Money

The New York Yankees signed Japanese pitcher Mashiro Tanaka to a seven-year, 155 million dollar deal. The Yankees outbid(did what they always do) the Diamondbacks, Cubs, Dodgers, Astros, and the White Sox for the import. This deal brings the Yankees off-season spending total to 438 million dollars.

Pro Bowl

Aloha Stadium hosted the most pointless football game of the 2013-14 season and it still got a ton of viewers because it's football. The NFL changed how the teams were picked but they could not change the amount of effort put forth. Instead of the traditonal AFC vs. NFC set-up, Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders picked players from a pool of fan selected players. Team Rice beat Team Sanders by a score of 22-21.

"Upset"

Michigan "upset" Michigan State in the biggest game of the week. The term 'upset' should be used very loosely because Sparty was playing without junior forward Branden Dawson who broke his hand while watching film. (This is not worse than torn ACL's while celebrating.) There is no number of "Yes!" chants that can replaces 10 points and 8 rebounds a game. Nik Stauskas(I didn't have to look that up.) and Derrick Walton Jr. added 19 points.

2 Years, 2 Schools, 2 National Championships?

Jacob Coker has backed up a first-round draft pick and a Heisman winner. After winning a National Championship with the Florida State Seminoles, he has decided to transfer to Alabama. Coker was not an elite recruit coming out of high school and does not not have impressive numbers at FSU but Jimbo Fisher has said the Coker is the 'real deal.'

@KDTrey5

Kevin Durant dominated this week. Dominated is probably an insult. KD dropped 46, 36, and then 32. He had a triple double to go along with the 32 points against Philadelphia. Durant is the second best player in the league. There. Is. No. Argument.