Souhan: Minnesota Gopher Basketball: Pitino is right...and wrong

BleedGopher

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
60,568
Reaction score
15,642
Points
113
per Souhan:

I emphathize with Gopher coach Richard Pitino. And I think he's wrong.

After fans at Williams Arena booed his team on Monday night during a lackluster victory over Drake, Pitino criticized those who booed, saying they weren't helping his team.

It's natural and right for Pitino to defend his players. But his mindset demonstrates the illogic at the heart of major college sports.

Major colleges want their revenue sports to produce tends of millions of dollars. They pay their athletic director and most prominent coaches millions of dollars. They have turned revenue sports into a major and incredibly visible business. Then they ask us to lay off the players, because this is amateur sports.

You can't have it both ways. Either admit that you're trying to profit off of student-athletes and understand that those paying the freight will hold you accountable, or stick to intramurals. Don't hide behind the amateur status of athletes who actually should be paid something for producing revenues for a major company.

http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-gopher-basketball-pitino-is-right-and-wrong/463697373/

Go Gophers!!
 


in college basketball, it is a myth that the players make the revenue.
Take the pro-am at de la salle.

Hundreds show up.

Take the big ten logos off of the jerseys but have the same players out there and the revenue generated is minuscule comparatively. Though I see merits to making life better for athletes, to pretend like the University of Minnesota isn’t a bigger draw of fans than the players on the court is ridiculous.


If the players were the draw and it were that easy to pay them, somebody would start a league to do just that.
 

in college basketball, it is a myth that the players make the revenue.
Take the pro-am at de la salle.

Hundreds show up.

Take the big ten logos off of the jerseys but have the same players out there and the revenue generated is minuscule comparatively. Though I see merits to making life better for athletes, to pretend like the University of Minnesota isn’t a bigger draw of fans than the players on the court is ridiculous.


If the players were the draw and it were that easy to pay them, somebody would start a league to do just that.

kinda like... the NBA ?
 

in college basketball, it is a myth that the players make the revenue.
Take the pro-am at de la salle.

Hundreds show up.

Take the big ten logos off of the jerseys but have the same players out there and the revenue generated is minuscule comparatively. Though I see merits to making life better for athletes, to pretend like the University of Minnesota isn’t a bigger draw of fans than the players on the court is ridiculous.


If the players were the draw and it were that easy to pay them, somebody would start a league to do just that.

It's a two way street. The U has the benefit of being the only D1 program in the state. If we had a Marquette or Iowa State here and they had a better team I would imagine they would do better attendance wise. Missouri sold nearly 4,000 more season tickets than they did last year when Michael Porter Jr decided he was going to be a Tiger. Do the Gophers sell out student season tickets if they had Drake's roster instead of the talent and potential this one has? I doubt it.
 


Tuition, books, room, board, health care, tutors, trainers - don't get paid? What is the value of this? Student athlete is a full time job - but they get compensated just fine. Plus, they get to do what many dream about doing. If any student athlete thinks he or she is getting a bad deal, they are not being forced to do it. They can walk away. Me thinks Souhan has another agenda. One most of us are fully aware of.
 

The total cost of a scholarship for 4 years is close to 500,000 dollars. The players and their families are thrilled when they get their scholarship. The research reveals that very few schools are making the kind of money to pay athletes.
 

in college basketball, it is a myth that the players make the revenue.
Take the pro-am at de la salle.

Hundreds show up.

Take the big ten logos off of the jerseys but have the same players out there and the revenue generated is minuscule comparatively. Though I see merits to making life better for athletes, to pretend like the University of Minnesota isn’t a bigger draw of fans than the players on the court is ridiculous.


If the players were the draw and it were that easy to pay them, somebody would start a league to do just that.

Lol this is kind of a strawman. The pro-am at De only draws hundreds because people know the players will also play and take it more seriously in NCAA games, so those are more exciting to go to. If the U of M took me and my 9 friends off the street and threw us in Williams Arena while the real players only played in the DeLaSalle pro-am, I think DLS would have a higher attendance.

Yes, the University has a brand that draws people, but your post makes it sound like more people rather watch the U even if it was a inferior product, which I don't think is true.
 

The total cost of a scholarship for 4 years is close to 500,000 dollars. The players and their families are thrilled when they get their scholarship. The research reveals that very few schools are making the kind of money to pay athletes.

So tuition has gone up?
 




kinda like... the NBA ?

Exactly like the nba but with players 18-22 and washouts that are 22+.


If it would be so easy to pay players and still make money...somebody should try doing that. They could make a lot of money. If it is truly all players generating revenue and not University brands...then it is a surefire way to make millions of dollars in the medium term
 

So much to talk about/argue about here. I personally don't think booing is some terrible thing to do, and I'd argue that Pitino screaming at individual players (which he certainly appeared to be doing at times last night) has a much more negative effect than booing does on a players performance. I think it is unrealistic to want a great home court environment and then not expect some booing at times. The common denominator there is passion, and I'd bet a lot of those people in Williams Arena had watched 5 halves of disappointing basketball (the two road games and then the first half) in a row from their squad and were rightfully upset.

I generally agree with Souhan that some college sports (particularly football and men's basketball with some other sports at specific schools) are much closer to a big business than they are an amateur activity. You only have to look at a list of any state's highest paid employees to get a grasp of just how important these revenue generating sports are to both the schools and the general public.

That said, I see both sides of the pay the athletes argument. The things that have me leaning against paying the athletes are the perks that are continually given to these students above and beyond what other scholarship students receiver. Whether it's gear from Nike/Adidas, "dorms" that are more like high end apartments, better food, better tutors/advisors, etc. Then you have the intangible value of having your name publicized in the community in which you play which opens the door to jobs/opportunities that you might not be the most qualified for. The two biggest things that have me in in favor of paying the athletes is that the education they are receiving is not equal to your average college student. The value of the degree is the same, but you simply are not going to perform as well on a test after having run suicides to the point of exhaustion (hopefully not vomit) a few hours prior to that exam. You are not going to perform as well when you are out of state for a day or two at a time multiple times during the semester as a student who never travels/misses class. There are also many instances where athletes are encouraged to forego certain degrees because the class times don't fit with practice or the coach/whoever believes the curriculum is too tough and could leave the athlete in danger of being ineligible. The second thing is simply the money currently being brought in through TV deals AND paid out to coaches in revenue sports. In 2017, 114 ASSISTANT coaches in college football made $500K or more with 15 over the $1 million mark. The salaries have gotten out of control to the point that 28 Football strength coaches are now making $250K or more! For what it's worth, the Gophers strength coach Dan Nichol is at $230,000 and former strength coach Eric Klein is making $220,000 at UConn.
 

The common denominator there is passion

Passion? If these were the same people that could stand for the rouser or player intros or produce a peep when the Gophers are on defense I might agree. More like pessimism and passiveness.
 



Those of us attending games pay hard-earned money, I get that, but I've never been a fan of booing college athletes (or pros for that matter). It's very unbecoming, childish, especially if you're over the age of 25.

I'm not gonna' bust Pitino's chops for sticking up for his players, and I say that as someone who was very disappointed/frustrated/ticked off at their performance Monday night.
 

Those of us attending games pay hard-earned money, I get that, but I've never been a fan of booing college athletes (or pros for that matter). It's very unbecoming, childish, especially if you're over the age of 25.

I'm not gonna' bust Pitino's chops for sticking up for his players, and I say that as someone who was very disappointed/frustrated/ticked off at their performance Monday night.

I agree. I think it is pretty silly to boo our guys, but I also don't think it affects them much either way. I would argue with the way Pitino phrased it. He made it sound like the fans job is there to help the players win. People pay a lot of money to be entertained and the recent games have not been entertaining. Now booing is still silly, with the possible caveat if the players aren't trying their hardest, which Pitino seemed to suggest was the case in the first half.
 

Singling out a college kid for booing or other targeting is over the line IMO. But booing the team as a whole for a crap effort? I see no issue.
 

I thought Pitino was commenting on the specific instance referencing that his players were in a funk, playing like the weight of the world was on their shoulders and that getting booed could have a negative effect on them. Either way, people like that Pitino speaks honestly at times and here's one of those times. Whether he should have said it or not I appreciated him sticking up for his players when they were down.

Has Pitino been weighing in on the issue and saying his college bball players should be pros and not amateurs? Seems Souhan may be taking a debate going on in the outside world and pinning it on Pitino in typical Souhan fashion.
 




Top Bottom