Traces the evolution of college athletes into university employees and describes how the NCAA fashioned an amateur myth to obscure this de facto employer-employee relationship.
Many books have been written on the evils of commercialism in college sport, and the hypocrisy of payments to athletes from alumni and other sources outside the university. Almost no attention, however, has been given to the way that the National Collegiate Athletic Association has embraced professionalism through its athletic scholarship policy. Because of this gap in the historical record, the NCAA is often cast as an embattled defender of amateurism, rather than as the architect of a nationwide money-laundering scheme.
Sack and Staurowsky show that the NCAA formally abandoned amateurism in the 1950s and passed rules in subsequent years that literally transformed scholarship athletes into university employees. In addition, by purposefully fashioning an amateur mythology to mask the reality of this employer-employee relationship, the NCAA has done a disservice to student-athletes and to higher education. A major subtheme is that women, such as those who created the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), opposed this hypocrisy, but lacked the power to sustain an alternative model. After tracing the evolution of college athletes into professional entertainers, and the harmful effects it has caused, the authors propose an alternative approach that places college sport on a firm educational foundation and defend the rights of both male and female college athletes. This is a provocative analysis for anyone interested in college sports in America and its subversion of traditional educational and amateur principles.
Foreword by Kent Waldrep, President, National Paralysis Foundation
Preface
Introduction: The Different Faces of Collegiate Sport
Rules of the Game for Men and Women
The Decline of the Amateur Spirit
The NCAA Turns Professional, 1906 to 1956
Physical Education and the Rise of Women's Collegiate Sport
A Sport for Women Philosophy
Athletic Scholarships and the Emergence of Corporate College Sport
Athletic Scholarships: From Gifts to Employment Contracts
Athletic Scholarships as Failed Academic Policy
Athletic Scholarships for Women: The Complexities of Intercollegiate Athletic Equality
Suggestions for Reform
Putting the Amateur Myth to Rest
Notes
Further Reading
Index
Reviews
Highly readable and well-documented ...A must book for anyone interested in the history or sociology of collegiate sport, or criticism of sport in society. Public, high school, and academic libraries; general and collegiate readers as well as practitioners.—Choice
Carefully researched.... An important book for future college athletes, parents of athletes, and anyone with a concern for the integrity of college athletics.—Booklist
A major theme of the book is Title IX and its effect on women's sports. The authors believe that it was a mixed blessing, providing women more access while forcing them into the competitive male model where education is incidental to athletics. A solid addition to any sports collection that should have particular appeal where there is interest in the political aspect of sports history and where there are women's programs.—Library Journal
Anyone who has an interest in college sports as a staple in American higher education needs to read this book.—Journal of College Student Development
Endorsements
The pressure to win by alumni, athletic directors, coaches, and the media has changed the face of college athletics. Even a novice can see the NCAA and the schools are getting richer off the back of the so-called 'amateur' athlete. I wonder, when is there time for academics? Many players, especially in college football, understand and recognize 'what time it is' since many opt to turn true professionals and 'get paid' before their eligibility ends. This is an ideal book for the potential college athlete and his or her parents. It is well researched and insightful, giving the average reader a closer look and a better understanding of the state of professional college athletics.—Harry Carson^Lformer All-Pro Linebacker, New York Giants^LPresident, Harry Carson, Inc.^R
The 'amateur myth' is alive and well, and thriving in collegiate athletics today. Authors Sack and Staurowsky clearly illustrate that athletic scholarships have failed our nation's 'student-athletes' as they have catapulted them into a system of professional sport that continues to deny equal opportunities to women. A must read for every athletics administrator and college president who has the power to influence the NCAA and the future of college athletics.—Laurie Priest, Chair of Physical Education and Director of Athletics^LMount Holyoke College
The authors have carefully subjected the myth of being an amateur (athlete) to clear, hard-hitting analysis and have shown that such a myth, like many myths, is no longer deserving of much respect. Amateur athletes are, in fact, professionals and should be understood and dealt with as such. They are not 'regular' students and they do not study or learn like their classmates. Sack and Staurowsky face all of these painful truths ...and they end their book by contributing yet another service: they imagine a sensible way for most universities to return to genuinely amateur athletics.—William M. Chace, President^LEmory University
Sack and Staurowsky 'played the game,' competed in college sports at a high level, Sack as a member of the famed Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. The authors know sports from the inside, love it, and see the NCAA from the athletes' point of view--as a huge, greedy organization exploiting college athletes for its own profit. They also offer a provocative solution to the current problems--a return for many schools to need-based-only scholarships.—Murray Sperber, author of^L^IOnward to Victory: The Creation of Modern College Sports^R (1998)
Professors Sack and Staurowsky have written a provocative and important book. By showing that the myth of amateurism in big time college sports has led to educational and financial abuses and the exploitation of African-American athletes, they have presented college presidents with a chance to clean their house in the 21st century. This is the most sensible proposal for college athletics I have seen in some time. This book should be read by coaches, athletic administrators, university presidents, and all faculty members concerned with the governance of college sports.—Mark Naison, Professor of African American Studies and History^LFordham University
Every now and then we have a conversation or a debate without rancor which is energizing and thoughtful. This book is one of those conversations. Its topic is one of significance for us today and, if reason fails to prevail, it is one of dire significance for tomorrow's athletes, male and female alike.—Linda Carpenter, Professor of Physical Education^LBrooklyn College
Sound in thinking and fair in presentation, Sack and Staurowsky take positions that many (including myself) will challenge. But there is no doubt that their arguments are compelling and offer food for thought for all of us in intercollegiate athletics. I recommend this book to everyone interested in collegiate sports.—Joel Maturi, Director of Athletics^LUniversity of Denver
