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College Sports - Slavery and the NCAA Essay

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Abstract: Collegiate athletes participating in the two revenue sports (football, men's basketball) sacrifice their time, education, and risk physical harm for their respected programs. The players are controlled by a governing body (NCAA) that dictates when they can show up to work, and when they cannot show up for work. They are restricted from making any substantial financial gains outside of their sports arena. These athletes receive no compensation for their efforts, while others prosper from their abilities. The athletes participating in the two revenue sports of college athletics, football and men's basketball should be compensated for their time, dedication, and work put forth in their respected sports.

They are …show more content…

There is a reality to college athletes participating in men's basketball and football. The reality is these athletes are being exploited, and as argued by Stanley Eitzen, they are being exploited much like slaves during the years of the plantation system. It is an idea created by Eitzen that seams overdrawn, but makes significant parallels to that of the plantation system. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) preserves the plantation system, providing the rules that protect the interests of the individual plantation overseers. The plantations are football and men's basketball factories within the universities with big-time programs. The plantation overseers are college coaches who receive hard labor from their workers. The workers on the plantation are owned by the plantation, they produce riches for their masters while receiving a meager amount of return on the profits of the plantation. Being exploited for their physical abilities is not the only injustice hindering these athletes. They are controlled, managed, and dominated by their superiors. They are restricted in their rights to freedom, and in some cases mistreated physically and mentally (Eitzen).

Many people who watch and are directly affiliated with college sports would be opposed

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