SAN DIEGO — The Ship of Fools docks, but nobody gets off.
This is not some takeoff on famous bigamist Frankie Lymon's "Hooray and hallelujah, you had it coming to ya. Goody, goody."
It is The Great Misconception.
Now that the NCAA, squeezed on all of its weak sides, has announced it will allow collegiate athletes to benefit monetarily from their names and images, I'm hearing how great this will be for the players who have gained nothing for their labors (except for expensive scholarships and those who have cashed through cheating) while their universities and the NCAA have exploited them for billions.
True. And that's great for them. The working stiffs not so much.
Simply, I don't like it.
Never have we seen a college player starve. But it's so much more than payment. It opens a No. 10 can of worms.
So much can go wrong. Players can have agents now, and while so many agents are legit and caring, so many are unscrupulous, and so many collegians were vulnerable before this, let alone now.
How will this affect the gambling element? Not all people in that business are Saint Francis of Assisi.
The Age of Innocence at the university level supposedly ended long ago, but remember, we basically are dealing with kids here, many who come from little or nothing, impressionable and not all wise to the ways of the real world — and its filthy underbelly.
I read something on The Unsocial Media the other day saying how great this is going to be for the little guy, the walk-ons, etc.
It's not going to be good for them. Not a bit.
It will affect a molecule of the college world's population.
Do you really think a backup tight end or even a starting point guard without NBA game is going to be selling their names and images?
Athletes already are grabbing cash, including autograph sessions. LSU corner Derek Stingley Jr. reportedly has signed with a sports bar chain. But he's a star.
How will this affect recruiting, where cheating always has cast ugly shade? I can see a coach tell a five-star prep: "Come to us, you can sign a deal with one of our sponsors for a million."
Can boosters now legitimately run amok?
Some of these kids are going to make an awful lot of money, without question. How much could Trevor Lawrence have made at Clemson?
But the foot soldiers who grind for the stars to shine aren't going to sell Buicks.
There are limitations. But the rich can't help getting richer.
The NCAA, now totally useless and neutered, has been far too strict, selfish and stupid, but this is whacking a mystery piñata with no idea what's inside.
I realize players have been used, but like I said, they haven't been thrown out onto the streets.
With this, the skies will rain confusion. There will be new obligations for universities, checking on compliance. There must be some law to this disorder.
We can't have Dodge City here.
But please don't tell me this is going to benefit everyone. Because it absolutely is not.
Without a name to serve as yeast to raise dough for the bread, we're looking at an unleavened playing field.
