Undoubtedly, i am completely biased regarding this issue. Partly because of my involvement in division one collegiate sports, but primarily because of my close personal friendship with a college teammate of mine, "Donald Manning." In March of 1998, we were one of the 64 teams slated to play on college basketball's biggest stage, the NCAA tournament. The setting was a packed gym of over twenty thousand in Kentucky's Rupp Arena. We were the number 12 seed going up against 5th seeded Syracuse. The game was intense and well fought by both teams. After leading the majority of the game, our college faltered at the end, losing on a last second three pointer. The game was televised on CBS, who had just signed a multi-billion dollar deal to be the exclusive television host of the tournament games. Coaches were being paid hundreds of thousands by the universities they represented. Nike and other sponsors paid to have their logos worn by these same coaches on the outside of their blazers. The arenas took in large revenues from the fans who came to see the athletes in action. Even the university received a couple hundred thousand because our team had made it to the tournament. What did the players earn? A scholarship to attend the school, a meal card and some free sneakers, sweatsuits and bags. Billions of dollars being made and the ones who are making the revenue receive none of that revenue. Now, "Donald" was a member of our team who fit the mold of many recruits of the time. He grew up in a disenfranchised community and his parents were, for the most part, absent during his life due to drug use and frequent incarceration. He beat the odds and made it to college. Not only did he make it to college, but he made it to the NCAA tournament and started on a team in front of a national audience on CBS. Though he was a great fit for our collegiate team, who celebrated tremendous success that year by winning 27 games while losing only 6 times, he wouldn't go on to play professionally in the NBA or overseas. His basketball career was over after he graduated that year. The next time I heard "Donald's" name, it was when another teammate of mine conveyed news of his arrest. Just two years after basketball prominence, "Donald" had been arrested for armed robbery. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and was sent to the same prison as the Oklahoma City Bomber, Timothy McVeigh. The details surrounding the incident aren't nearly as significant as the amount of time that it took "Donald" to drop from prominence. How does a young college athlete go from CBS in the NCAA tournament to 12-14 years in prison in two years? How indeed... Regardless of what our proclaimed major was on our transcript, our major was the place where we devoted the majority of our time, the basketball court. For college athletes to generate a tremendous amount of revenue and force them to sit idly by while they watch everyone around them enjoy the fruit of their labor while they are supposed to be content with the scraps that fall from the table is criminal. "Donald's" choice ultimately rests with him and he has to take responsibility for his own poor judgement, but what if he had some money after his college career. Would he have even contemplated such an act? Not many people who have financial stability wake up with a plan to rob an armored truck. Isn't there enough to go around? I was at a mid-major school and the coach was making a great salary. The coach who came after him reportedly made 300k a year. These players, some of them, will never play basketball after college and they leave it all out on the court. In their attempts to placate a screaming crowd, uphold the traditions of a university and secure championships to solidify a legacy, they sacrifice everything and tangibly, gain nothing. It's not fair...