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I have been covering sports for more than four decades, and I have never been more disgusted with the state of athletes as I am right now.

There have been plenty of highs and lows through the 41-plus years I have been doing this. There have been plenty of highs and lows over that span, things I have agreed with and others I have not. But what is going on right now borders on the ridiculous.

I wanted to say that high school sports seem to be in a good place right now, but I would be lying to you. As you will read later in this column, there are potentially big issues coming that this level as well.

But my real issues come at the college and professional levels. Sometimes it is hard to tell if there is any difference. That is part of the problem. College sports used to be for amateurs. I would hardly call what we have today is amateur athletics. Name, Image and Likeness was the final straw in killing amateurism at the collegiate level.

Do not get me wrong, I was for allowing college athletes to be compensated in some form for decades, but as usual, the NCAA allowed something that it no longer can, or at least, seems like it wants to control. We have transported college athletics back to the 1970s and 1980s when boosters “bought” players. The schools with the biggest booster pockets got the best players. I never expected to see that era again, but here we are.

The other major beef I have with the NCAA and college athletics is the fact that conferences are being swallowed up and spit out, and left for dead, all in the name of the almighty dollar. It is shameful that a handful of conferences are going to have all the top teams in them, while the smaller conference will be lucky to survive. All they have become is fodder for the big schools to beat up on, send them away with a big payday and then they are off to the next patsy.

There is one thing that links both college and professional sports at the hip, which will in my estimation, potentially kill both — legalized betting.

For decades, betting legally on sports was taboo at both levels. Then, as states began legalizing betting, the National Football League decided to jump into the murky waters with both feet. The NCAA followed shortly thereafter. Now we have people questioning the legitimacy of contests based on shady officiating and what appears to be a slanted field for one team each contest.

I want to believe that there is no connection between legalized gambling and athletics, but I did not just fall off the turnip truck and I was not born yesterday. I question the outcomes of games on a weekly basis now. I used to only do that a couple of times a year. But I know with the type of money being thrown around, there is probably not a really good way to keep this from happening.

As a fan of sports — from high school through the professional level — it saddens me to think that people no longer play them because they have a love of the game. It is all about the money now. How much a player can make starting in college, and then moving on to making even more for some players at the professional level.

One of my biggest fears is that NIL has trickled down to the high school level. I know in Michigan there has been an attempt to make that happen. In mid-October, the Michigan House of Representatives approved a bill that will allow high school students to enter into NIL agreements. Michigan becomes the 20th state to allow it.

This is by far the worst idea I have ever heard of. It is ridiculous to play high school students endorsement deals. The last form of amateur athletics is heading out the barn door and like the saying goes, “there is no way to put the horse back in the barn once it is out.” I am praying the Michigan Senate has more sense than the House and blocks the move.

If you want to allow athletes to be used by say the local car dealership or his families’ business, I am fine with that as long as they are not getting paid for it. Nothing will break a team apart faster than one or two kids making money while the rest of them are I guess there to make them look good.

What is worse is that the Michigan High School Athletic Association worked with legislators on the bill. They claim it would affect about 25 percent of its 180,000 athletes. They called them student-athletes, but I am not going to because if you are going to pay them, then through the student part right out the window because they will be more focused on being an athlete to improve their profits.

This from an association that has blocked Michigan high school students from participating in all-star games outside of the state, like the McDonald’s All-American Game,” for decades. Talk about the hypocrisy.

I have to think that the two sides believe that their provision in the legislation that blocks boosters and alumni groups from pooling their money to provide funds for an entire team or to attract that star athlete make it better. And that parental consent is needed and that they must disclose all teams to the MHSAA is going to make it better.

Fat chance.

Michigan already has an ongoing problem with illegal transfers. You throw money into the equation and it will become an epidemic. And, if they think parents are going to be the adult in the room when money is being thrown at their child, you are living in a dream world.

I hope I am wrong. As I look down the road I can see potholes everywhere. It is almost like driving on a Michigan highway. The pitfalls are everywhere, and if we do not get a handle on it now, amateur athletics could be lost forever. Sports that are played on the up-and-up could be gone forever. Please do not let this happen.

It is up to us, the fans, to hold our institutions accountable. We must demand better at all three levels. Contact your local state representative and tell them to stop this ridiculous idea that high school kids should be making money off their likelness.

Make your voices heard at the college and professional levels where money talks.

 

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com