From The Chronicle of Higher Education A bipartisan commission to reform amateur athletics is vitally needed now Last week the NCAA, the cartel controlling college sports, received two massive shocks. One was self-administered: That was the ruling in the Big Five decision, when the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors approved a plan to give […]
From The Washington Post It’s a done deal: On Monday, the University of Maryland’s board of regents voted to have the school’s athletic department leave the Atlantic Coast Conference and join the Big Ten Conference. I am on the board, and I opposed this decision primarily because of the way it was made. Most important, […]
from The Daily Beast In the chill of the Cold War, the 1972 U.S. basketball team went up against the U.S.S.R.—and was cheated out of a gold medal. Former representative Tom McMillen, who was on the team, offers a peace plan. Nearly 40 years ago, shortly after midnight on Sept. 10, 1972, the U.S. men’s […]
C. THOMAS MCMILLEN, former college and professional basketball player and former member of Congress, Ellicott City, Md. I certainly agree with Joe Nocera that basketball and football players are treated like chattel in the present system. Denying players a basic stipend when coaches are making ridiculous amounts is the height of inequity. But paying football […]
by C. Thomas McMillen The real problem with major intercollegiate sports programs is that the NCAA is powerless to effect meaningful change in the finances of college athletics. If it tried to exercise its dwindling power to seek real transformation rather than short-term palliative measures, the most powerful conferences and colleges could simply leave the […]
by Tom McMillen After November 23 when the Congressional Super Committee must send its recommendation to Congress or face automatic cuts, the federal procurement landscape will never be the same. To reach approximately $1.2- $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years will require extraordinary discretionary cuts. Maryland and Virginia are particularly vulnerable because of […]
by C. Thomas McMillen What is one thing you would do to fix college sports? How to Fix College Sports The source of the present problems can be traced to 1984 when the U.S. Supreme Court, in the landmark decision NCAA v. Oklahoma, stripped the NCAA of its monopoly power over broadcasting rights to college […]
by C. Thomas McMillen In “The Shame of College Sports,” Taylor Branch writes that the NCAA has “an unmistakable whiff of the plantation” and that student-athletes are denied their Constitutional right to due process. Agree or disagree? How to Fix College Sports I agree with his assessment that the NCAA operates a paternalistic system in […]
by C. Thomas McMillen A SERIES of recent scandals involving players receiving money, cars and other improper benefits, along with violations by recruiters and sports agents, has debased the already tarnished reputation of college sports. Schools like the University of Miami, the University of North Carolina and the University of Southern California, to name just […]
by Tom McMillen Fairness Demands That College Athletes Be Allowed Adequate Representation in Pro Negotiations Last week, longtime University of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams announced his retirement, and very quickly Maryland announced that Texas A&M Coach Mark Turgeon will replace him. No one doubts that during contract negotiations, Turgeon had lawyers advising and representing […]
Out of Bounds is a hard-hitting analysis of how the influence of money on sports is corrupting sports on all levels, especially at our institutions of higher education. The book provides a clear-eyed look at the problems with the mindset that values “sports above all,” a mindset that has led to events such as the recent scandal at Penn State.
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