Tim Benz: NCAA needs to be fixed, not eliminated. Focus on solutions, not fake outrage

This happens from time to time at “Breakfast With Benz.” I get an email, tweet or a post in the comments section that I want to use for “U mad, bro?”

However, sometimes that comment itself gets me mad enough that I find myself writing a response so long, it turns into its own column.

Well, that happened (again) this week. With that being the case, for Friday’s column, I’ll share this email from a guy named Matt. He has a very balanced and measured take on the state of the NCAA.

“Boycott & Bankrupt the NCAA! They have done more harm than good. Allow all the Big Power Schools to develop a program to operate as a ‘farm system’ to the NFL. Set up a basic pay program and contracts to allow the league to operate!! Allow 18 & 19+ high school graduates to enter programs and develop their trade.”

The lower tier and smaller programs will form a league which allows them to compete on an equal basis. JUST A THOUGHT! THE NCAA IS NOT THE ANSWER!!”

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nothing says constructive dialogue like railing against an institution with lots of hyperbole and exclamation points.

“Boycott the NCAA!! Bankrupt Wall Street!! Defund the police!!”

No one wants anybody to be in charge anymore. Having authority is viewed as a sin in society these days. Everyone wants to attack any entity that makes the rules.

Oh, and God forbid some of them make money along the way.

You can argue that many NCAA guidelines are outdated, its discipline is draconian and its definition of amateurism is warped and hypocritical. I’d agree on all points.

But how does the NCAA do “more harm than good,” Matt? Beyond the schmaltzy promos and cheesy messaging within their game broadcasts, the truth remains that the NCAA really does bring in billions of dollars that trickles down to scholarship opportunities for thousands of kids that otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend good schools … without “bankrupting” themselves.

What you are describing is essentially the end of college sports as we know it by turning them into minor leagues.

If we are going to do that, fine. Then why do universities need to be involved at all? College sports can just go back to being club activities. Just create minor league football, a beefed-up G-League and a better stocked and exposed American junior hockey system.

I mean, you said “Allow all the big power schools to develop a program to operate as a farm system to the NFL.”

Isn’t that kinda what’s happening already?

“The lower tier and smaller programs will form a league which allows them to compete on an equal basis.”

No, they won’t. Because if there is less money coming in to fund the “lower tier” and “smaller programs,” they won’t be competing equally. Those are independently exclusive outcomes.

The non-Power 5’s will get even fewer good players than they do now. And those players won’t be getting as much exposure. They won’t get as much money. MAC and Mountain West kids will be the equivalent of high-A minor leaguers and the SEC and Big Ten kids will be AAA.

In other words, just a pay-for-play version of our current reality now anyway.

“Set up a basic pay program and contracts to allow the league to operate” and “allow 18- and 19-year-old high school graduates to enter programs and develop their trade.”

OK. Great. Tell me how to do it. Specifically. Line by line.

It’s much harder than you think. And people much smarter than you and me who are experts in the field of sports law have a very difficult time doing so.

While you are trying, tell me who the governing body is going to be, since — you know — we’ve “boycotted and bankrupted the NCAA” already.

By the way, if the NCAA isn’t making the rules anymore, please realize then that you are just distributing their power more throughout the individual conferences, the federal courts, and 50 state legislatures.

Can we “boycott” all of them, too? Now that sounds like a good time!

As much as you may dislike the NCAA, the buck has to stop somewhere. And the bucks need to come from somewhere as well.

So, if you want nationally sanctioned, organized and funded college sports to continue, but continue in a more fair and equitable manner, then we agree.

But stop with the faux tough-guy, “fight the power” online bravado and offer real solutions.

Phew! Now you know why I couldn’t include this as part of “U mad, bro?” The post gets a little too lengthy when I get madder than the people writing the entries.

It won’t happen again. I promise.

At least not for the rest of this week.

Um, it is Friday … isn’t it?

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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