Just in time for the Apocalypse: Unionized College Football!

          A preliminary ruling yesterday by the National Labor Relations Board threatens to undermine the very fabric of college football.  And it has nothing to do with the idiotic “celebration penalty.”
          An NLRB regional director ruled that Northwestern University football players are considered employees, and as such, can join unions.  I can’t wait for the day when college football players go on strike demanding shorter practices, later kickoffs, less conditioning and more interviews with Erin Andrews.
          Jokes aside, the push behind all this is the (correct) assertion that the athletes are unpaid contractors who enable universities, and their surrounding communities, to reap millions and millions of dollars.  Activists with potentially-lucrative union due dollars signs in their eyes have played the “exploited racial angle” for some time.  But who is the victim here?
          Division-one College Football recruits freely enter into a private agreement with a University.  They agree to perform a task for the university in exchange for free education, room and board, tutoring, medical care, equipment, supplies and God-knows-what-else. 
          Let’s do some math.  Depending on your source, the average out-of-state tuition at most major colleges runs in the neighborhood is $25,000.  Most division-one football players spend five years on campus.  We start off with $125,000 up front.  That includes all of the room and board, books and such.
          In addition, athletes are provided with every piece of equipment they will need to compete.  That includes a seemingly-endless supply of free shoes, which run well over $100 these days.  There are also miscellaneous bits of equipment they get to keep.  We’ll conservatively place this value at $3,000.
          Not covered in a regular student’s room and board is the limitless access to tutors that athletes have---not to mention unfettered access to state-of-the-art training equipment and the like.  Hard to put a dollar value on that.  Lets conservatively guess $10,000.
          Now let’s say Johnny Football blows out his knee.  He gets free arthroscopic surgery and rehab; plus anything else required to recover.  I have no idea how much this would cost.  In addition, if the injury is career-ending, most colleges will keep him on scholarship to allow him to complete his degree.
          Suffice to say there is no way to accurately tally what a college football player gets in return for his services; but it’s not chicken feed.  These benefits are clearly known when each high school football stud signs a letter of intent to play college football.
          More important than the tangible benefits behind this arrangement is this:  The colleges are offering a chance.  A chance at a college degree which will immeasurably improve one’s earning potential.  Whether or not the athletes take advantage of that chance is entirely up to them.
          It is much like life.  We are given various opportunities to reach our goals.  Some are obvious---others are not.  But in each case; our success or failure is almost entirely dependent upon the choices we make.
          The university and the athlete are entering into what could be a mutually-beneficial agreement.  Since both sides now the terms going in, it seems to be that there is no “victim” here…and there sure as hell is no reason to allow independent private contractors, like the football players, to form a union.
          The full NLRB will have to confirm the ruling, which will then undoubtedly be subject to a flurry of appeals and counter-appeals, etc.  I have lost all faith in the government and our justice system to arrive at what I feel is the proper decision.

More equal than others

          Last year at this time, the Obama Administration was using the fresh horror of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings to make Gun Control the dominant issue in Washington political debates.  All signs indicate that this year’s Cause Du Jour will be “inequality.”

          Where do I begin?  I suppose overriding all other arguments is the fact that if I don’t trust the person who defines what’s fair and equitable; I’m probably NOT going to agree with whatever definition they come up with.  Little else needs to be said; but I’ll say it anyway.

          The notion that we can eliminate all kinds of inequality is infantile.  Somewhere, someone is going to have a little more than you---someone is going to have a little less than you.  Deal with it.
          There are a myriad of reasons why this is the case.  The economy, life decisions, and a number of other things over which people have absolutely no control.  To think that we can ameliorate all these factors and produce equitable outcomes for all is dangerous.  It gives birth to terrible ideas.

          But this is precisely how a Statist like the President works.  ALL things are subject to Government manipulation.  Those who subscribe to this theory are married to the myth of the infallibility of The Collective.

          When you add it up, you get a record number of people on Food Stamps, an unemployment “safety net” that is damned close to becoming a permanent entitlement---and you get the subtle reinforcement of the obscene notion that your happiness and well-being are tied inexorably to the whims of Washington.

          When the President bleats about “inequality” in the coming weeks, rest assured he’s not pushing for equality in the classic sense.  He is talking about shifting more and more power to Washington.  Period.  To quote from one of my favorite movies, “That’s what he does!  That’s ALL he does!”