Our first edition of this “new” Friday feature starts on a dark note: we commented on this years ago, and nothing has changed: the NCAA continues to kill itself by giving in to the corruption and greed in sport. Now, the schools will be directly paying “student” athletes—more than just the traditional athletic scholarship, which is already worth around $1.5M in value, factually. We explained this before, of course.

Welcome to Rose Bowl Friday, as we try to keep some college athletic traditions intact for those who still have brains, critical-thinking skills, and logical reasoning intact. The landscape of college sports may be changing for the worse and forever (well, as long as it takes before the money runs out once alums/fans realize their schools are being left out of the “championships” because the payroll isn’t large enough).

So, if there is not going to be a class-action lawsuit to force the NBA and the NFL to form minor leagues for athletes who want to go professional right out of high school—you know, like MLB and the NHL already have had for decades—and paying the kids directly is the “way” that is chosen, there have to be some real rules that make sense for any “professional employee” of a college campus, especially the public-funded ones.

Salary Caps

Unless the NCAA wants to lose most of its audience for championship tournaments, there has to be a cap on how much money a school can spend per year per sport on paying athletes directly. Otherwise, college basketball and college football will devolve into unwatchable garbage, just like MLB has done without a real salary cap in recent decades. Jokes aside, no one wants to see the same teams in the title game every year.

College sports are about loyal tribalism for one’s alma mater and/or one’s local school. If 90 percent of the fans follow schools that never have a chance to win because they’re not buying the best athletes, you know what happens there: ask the Pittsburgh Pirates. They haven’t won a World Series since 1979, and since then, the team has just 6 postseason appearances across the last 45 years. That won’t fly for most college campuses.

No More Tuition/Board Scholarships

If the “students” are getting paid to play, then they don’t get scholarships anymore, period. That money previously set aside for scholarships now will have to go for paying players directly, especially if a campus doesn’t want to have to open up entirely new revenue streams to pay for those players now. This is basic logic, anyway: the schools provide what is needed to play the sport only—not tuition, board, etc. Nope.

Players can pay for their own housing, their own food, their own tuition. Welcome to professionalism, kids, where you have an income and have to budget for what you need in life. You better make sure you don’t blow all your money on pimpin’ that ride, or else you won’t be able to afford tuition—and then you’ll be ineligible and have to pay all that “salary” back since you weren’t able to earn it on the field of play. See how this works?

As Professionals, Athletes Can Be Fired

This is the one that may be most important: if the student athlete fails to perform at an acceptable level, their “job” will be revoked, period. Perhaps not midseason, as anyone can have a bad month, but yearly performance review will be necessary to maintain integrity. If a player doesn’t meet expectations, they can be fired, and their contract with the school will not be renewed for the upcoming year. This is basic economics.

The “students” already will have to deal with angry alums and fans when they lose to their rivals or don’t make the playoffs. So like paid professionals, when they fall short of benchmarks, their employment has to be terminated. This will remove the whole “transfer portal” nonsense and just let these athletes be free agents every year. So be it: you want pay for play? Win the conference title or go find yourself another job.

Conclusion: Harsh Realities Coming by 2030

This is never going to last; we’re telling you right now. But this is the reality: with paid salaries comes higher expectations, so you better make that catch, kick, tackle, or throw, because otherwise, you’re gonna get fired. You better hit that 3 or grab that board, or else you’re on the unemployment line again next year. Amateurism protected kids from exploitation, and now greed will expose them to realities they can’t handle. You get what you deserve.