College Athletes for Hire: The Evolution and Legacy of the NCAA's Amateur Myth [Hardcover]

Allen L. Sack (Author), Ellen J. Staurowsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 30, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0275961915 | ISBN-13: 978-0275961916

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The heart of the authors' argument is that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) continues to maintain "that corporate college sport is education rather than business" and that the educational establishment "has rallied around the myth." Sack, a professor of sociology and management at the Univ. of New Haven in Conn. and a former college football star, and Staurowsky, who teaches sports sciences at Ithaca College in N.Y. and is a former college athletic director, finger the NCAA as their villain. They accuse the organization of pretending to embrace amateurism while fighting for professionalism during the past half century; of helping colleges avoid suits by seriously injured athletes who were being used for financial gain; and of allowing schools to give athletic scholarships to students who were unqualified academically. The authors further charge the NCAA with sabotaging women's sports programs in an attempt "effectively to deny women equal educational opportunities." Their solution is a two-tiered system that would allow certain colleges to field semipro teams and to pay their players accordingly (as some institutions have been doing for decades), while other schools would have strictly amateur teams. The historical perspective provided in this well-organized study helps readers to better understand how the present system came about.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Unsportsmanlike Conduct (LJ 10/1/95), written by former National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) president Walter Byers, is used here as a platform to launch a discussion of the NCAA and its role in the development of big-money college basketball and football. Sack, coordinator of the Management of Sports Industries Program, University of New Haven, and Staurowsky (sport sciences, Ithaca Coll.) cover the usual ground concerning the exploitation of the student-athlete and the hypocrisy involved in pretending that education is the goal of the athletic scholarship. They go on to use the development of Division III college sports and the history of women's college athletics as evidence that college sports could have developed along other lines. A major theme of the book is Title IX and its effect on women' 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.?Terry Jo Madden, Boise State Univ. Lib., ID
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (July 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275961915
• ISBN-13: 978-0275961916
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #790,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Sports Science
  • #51 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Basketball > College & University

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A subject which needs further analysis, December 25, 1999

By 

R. Spell "raspell" (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: College Athletes for Hire: The Evolution and Legacy of the NCAA's Amateur Myth (Hardcover)

As President of a D1 Athletic dept. fundraising board as well as a close friend of a recent coach who was fired during a scandal, I felt it was appropriate to review the role of college athletics in America. This book was a great starting point and gave exceptional historical reference to understand how our system got to where it is today.

This book reads like a college text so don't buy this for entertaining reading unless you are prepared to study this subject. The historical review is exceptional. I have to admit that I did not fully read the substantial section on women athletics although I did summary read. There were debates and NCAA rules passed in the 40s I was not aware of and am glad I discovered in this book. It also shows a historical backdrop to why the south is so overzealous about college sports. Frankly, I'm glad I read this book and would recommend it for anyone interested in the subject. I would not recommend it for light reading. The unique experience of the writers gives you respect in their ability to write this book and the opening by the athlete who was paralyzed frames why this subject should be reviewed further. As cynicism is creeping into my love for the sports of my alma mater, this book helped me understand the issues better.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars College Athletes: Amateurs or Professionals, April 5, 2000

By 

Jeff Goglia (Connecticut, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: College Athletes for Hire: The Evolution and Legacy of the NCAA's Amateur Myth (Hardcover)

The purpose of this book is to show how college athletes started playing sports as amateurs, but quickly through athletic scholorships have turned towards professionalism. An amateur is one who engages in sports in their free time. This is leisure time, and athletes joining in this time will compete solely on thier will to play and not participate in return for room. board, tuition and fees. An athlete becomes a professional when one accepts an athletic scholorship which may include any of these incentives. This book is primarily about professionlism. The start of the Sanity Code showed signs that the NCAA was turning professional. The Sanity Code stated that financial aid could be awarded to students on the basis of their athletic ability. They called these gifts for play, not pay for play. Recieving any payment at all according to Sack and Staurowsky, makes that athlete a professional. This book touches on the relationships between coaches and players. Under scholorship, athletes must perform under the rules of the coach. I just recently finished my senior year of Division II football. I was under scholorship and my coach did have total control over my actions. My coach acted as the employer, and I was the employee. Schools that don't offer scholorships such as the Ivy League, and Division III schools, players aren't under such strict control. Athletes don't have to practice or play if they don't want to. These players are under no obligation to their coaches. The authors give a good argument that under scholorships, athletes are held under contract, similar to an employee contract. Chapter 5 was a very interesting chapter. The authors explained how sholorships turned into employee contracts through the issue of worker's compensation. In the Van Horn Case the courts awarded Van Horn's family death benefits because Van Horn was under scholorship for his athletic ability, thus making it an employee contract. I thought that adding in the Askew factors made this chapter powerful. The Askew factors were used by the State of Michigan in determining the existence of an employment relationship. One factors is the employer has the right to control the employee. The second factor is the employer can discipline or fire the employee. The third factor is the employee accepts wages to pay for everyday living expenses. The fouth factor is the task provided is a part of the employers business. As a scholorship player I think that athletes under scholorship do meet these criteria. Athletes are under control of the coach and are disciplined. Athletes accept room and board that are used as their everyday living expenses. I also think that since sport revenues go into a universities general fund, then that sport is part of the universities business. This book supports my arguements. Sack and Staurowsky end their book with possible reforms of collegiate sport. I agree with these thoughts. College sport should go to either one extreme or the other. One way is to eliminate scholorships all together. Students will then come first at all universities, and higher learning can be achieved. The other extreme would be to admit that college athletes are paid professionals. This would cause college sports to become stepping stones to professional sports. The revenues generated from that sport would go right back into that program. University funds should not be put into sports, as sports would become an unrelated business to the university. Turning professional will force only the fittest big time colleges to survive in this game. The only unversities that will survive in a professional atmosphere are the schools producing the most revenues. This limits the competition to only a handful, and the rest can only be forced to return to amateur athletics.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Deep Look at NCAA's Amateur Myth, February 20, 2000

By 

Matt Mentone (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: College Athletes for Hire: The Evolution and Legacy of the NCAA's Amateur Myth (Hardcover)

An in depth look at the evolution of both amateurism andthe NCAA, Sack & Staurowsky take a historical view to show how theNCAA falsely classifies college athletes as amateurs. The authors look at current labor and contract laws, as well as historical court cases, to draw comparisons to what the NCAA refers to as athletic scholarships. Are athletic scholarships a gift given for ability? Or, are they a payment for services rendered. The authors argue that scholarships are an employment contract for services. The fact that the scholarships must be renewed every year by the coach, and can be taken away from a player for what the coach deems poor performance, or for that matter even an injury, make the arguement a very strong one. If scholarships were merely a gift, then shouldn't an athlete be allowed to walk away from the sport with no prospect of financial harm?

By current NCAA standards, the authors say this is not the case. "College Athletes for Hire" shows how and why the NCAA passed legislation allowing for one year renewable scholarships giving total control of the coach over the athlete both on the field, and in some cases off. Furthermore, athletes are awarded these athletic scholarships on athletic ability alone, with no consideration of academics or, in many cases, personal character. The thesis argued by Sack and Staurowsky that athletes are already 'unpaid professionals' is even stronger when the authors use a legal perspective to show how courts have interpreted employment contracts. When discussing amateurism and scholarships, a working definition and background is needed.

The book does a good job in providing a history of what amateurism is defined as. The use of the word scholarship, and how the NCAA defines an athletic scholarship, is also thoroughly discussed to avoid any confusion of the use of these terms. While reading the book, it was alarming to consider the point that Universities, athletic directors, and coaches can financially benefit from ticket sales, sponsorships, and endorsements, while the athletes are not allowed anything more than a full scholarship.

Although the topic is well studied, this is not a book to take with you to read leisurely. It is highly academic and close examination of the issues expressed is needed to fully understand the thesis presented. The authors do not seem to have a separate agenda or act as lobbyists for any organization; rather, they have strong beliefs in what they consider to be wrong in inconsistant by the NCAA's treatment and defining of college athletes.