Free Reggie Bush!: A Case Against Amateurism in College Sports

 USC is screwed for the foreseeable future, Reggie Bush never won the Heisman Trophy and more members of the NFL’s chief PR board—the players—are tainted by past crookery from back in their college days.

 Reggie had such a great season in 2005. He was electricity perfectly circuited by Pete Carroll and Co. And imagine, all of this success coming to a poor boy raised in a single-parent household with a Magic Johnson smile. Partly god-given ability and mostly determination gave him the chance to use football to give himself and his mother a better life.

 He probably didn’t know what he was getting into when all the recruits and eventually boosters came bearing gold, frankincense and cars. These men cared less about Reggie than they did about what Reggie could do for their alma mater’s brand name and prestige.

 That is to say, if ever Reggie were to come upon hard times while starring for the Trojans, a hundred bucks here, a new house there were easy for him to come by. But if he were ever caught breaking the rules after the fact, they’d cast him aside, return any awards and pretend he never existed. Then they’d blame the pros and act like the NCAA isn’t just a glorified minor league for weeding out the best of the best for the pro game—age limits for the NBA and NFL, anyone?

 Meanwhile, Reggie loses his prime and dignity to technicality. The boosters and the school: temporarily tainted but ultimately, they’ll pull through. They just need to be more careful in their exploitation of youths in the future.

 And no one actually forgets the glory days anyway. Just like how the Fab Five of Michigan never happened officially, baggy shorts and hip-hop culture are permanently ingrained into basketball everywhere in the world, and they were a huge influence in this. And even though the Derrick Rose-led Memphis Tigers never officially won a game, the NBA and the college game is still in search of the next big-time point guard—e.g. Tyreke Evans, John Wall.

 The fact is, the question of giving NCAA players stipends to compensate the multi-million dollar product they reap no benefits from is always squashed in discussion. Those in power of framing the debate say that would taint the “amateur” spirit of collegiate athletics. That is to say, it hurts the white, upper-class society’s idea of sport.

 The father of the modern Olympic games, Pierre de Coubertin, created the games in the spirit of amateurism, which was code for “no poor people allowed.”

 Besides, it’s not like the NCAA is amateur anyway. It’s just that they rely on slave labor to protect the bottom line.