Ronald A. Smith’s Sports and Freedom: The Rise of Big Time College Athletics details the birth of intercollegiate sport and the evolution of the sport industry to how it is known today. Though Smith discussed the complications of sports as they existed in the late 19th century, many similarities can be found in college sports in the modern age. The National College Athletic Association (NCAA) is the nonprofit organization responsible for the regulation of college athletics and creating and enforcing its rules. As technology evolves and the use of media advances, the question of compensation for college athletes has been debated. More athletes are able to speak up through the use of social media. Athletes are being broadcasted on television and streaming services and used as walking…show more content… Accepted forms of these academic crutches still occur on campuses today. Coaches and schools encourage athletes to pursue specific degrees that will better cater to their athletic schedule. It is almost impossible for student-athletes to pursue degrees in STEM fields with heavy course loads. While the NCAA prohibits payment for playing a sport, it allows the schools to compensate athletes via education and “other benefits” in order to back their assertion that the “student” is the foremost part of the student-athlete experience (Smith, 1988). Their attitudes toward athletics, however, display the opposite. This reality is a shame because it comes at the cost of the athletes’ future. Of the almost 200,000 athletes playing for NCAA schools, 98 percent will not become professional athletes (National Collegiate Athletic Association, n.d.-b; Finkel et al.,
