Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: The NCAA
March 16, 2015 8:35 PM - Season 2, Episode 6 - Subscribe

ISIS gains an ally in Boko Haram. Ireland accidentally legalizes a number of psychoactive drugs for a day. Brazil prepares to investigate politicians taking bribes from oil companies. And Now: Newscasters Who Don't Know About You. Main story: NCAA is a billion dollar industry, but with many problems with how it treats its players (YouTube 21m). Last Week Tonight introduces the hashtag #soybeanwind and ends with an ad for their more realistic NCAA simulator video game.
posted by JHarris (6 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
What bothers me most about the way college athletes are treated is the hypocrisy of constant exhortations about amateurism and honor. Yet when someone gets hurt or something else happens, suddenly what matters most are the rules and contracts. You do occasionally hear about colleges doing the right thing, but my intuition is that these stories are notable precisely because they're so rare.
posted by ob1quixote at 12:46 AM on March 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


Hear hear! The show so neatly deconstructs all the arguments the colleges use to shield themselves. That's why I love Last Week Tonight!
posted by JHarris at 1:58 AM on March 17, 2015


Yeah, it it straight up insane. I even kind of get the argument the schools are making except that they themselves are cashing in so heavily on these kids. It's really embarrassing, and the pr guy (can't remember his role) had such a line of bullshit memorized down pat, that it was extremely telling.

I'd love to see the students themselves start gaming the system; putting in a fraction of the effort just for the college degree. But I don't know what it takes to keep the scholarship so that might not be possible. A walk-out during March madness to protest the situation might be another fantastic way of raising awareness.

I am not a sports person, but I even remember about hearing of this a few times. It's disgusting, and I really wish the courts would slap it down.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 5:10 AM on March 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


Seriously, fuck the NCAA.
posted by gaspode at 5:55 AM on March 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


I would pay good money for a "Fuck you, fuck me, and fuck everybody" kitten poster.

Didn't the rules just change so that they could at least accept paid sponsorship deals? I thought I saw that somewhere.
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:22 PM on March 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Also, I believe they also changed the rules so the Universities can give athletes unlimited food. Since athletes being hungry is a significant argument for them to be paid, I guess the NCAA is trying to undermine it.
posted by LizBoBiz at 10:07 AM on March 18, 2015


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