"No-lege is power"

---Bathroom wall in Birmingham, AL

When it comes to late Jew-lie (hold on, Mel Gibson got ahold of my computer...), we should be talking about preseason polls, replacing iconic quarterbacks, and allowing everyone to pretend they have a Heisman candidate on their team (even you, Syracuse!). Instead, the airwaves are dominated of college football talk by nerdy white guys in bad suits with lots of money. No, stop Mel, I'm NOT writing that. I'm talking agents.

We at The Best Damn Poll though are solutions oriented, and it came to me last weekend waiting for Hannah Montana Forever, Episode 2 to come on (a must watch, for any fan of anything). I've come up with a real world solution to the problem plaguing Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and maybe Georgia (no word on whether or not they just want to pretend they have someone an agent wants). Bear with me, because no one has mentioned this, and I think it can work.

It goes a little like this:

When I was in college, back in what feels like War of 1812 times, from the beginning of Junior year til the end of Senior time, I was innundated with professors inviting guest speakers to talk about internships, career fairs, encouraged to go on job interviews, and even was told that it'd be utopian to find a job while IN college to be set up for the very second I graduate. That's right, find a job for the rest of your life as a student. We had workshops, lectures, projects, social networking functions...all aimed at finding jobs at what we do best before donning the cap and gown.

But the NCAA doesn't want their athletes doing that. They want them acting like "normal" students in the classroom and on weekends at frat parties. When it comes to real world preparation? Oh no, the NCAA doesn't want that for their athletes. Point blank, about 5 games into their freshman years these major college athletes know whether or not there is professional potential. By the time they're juniors...like the rest of us...they are sure of their career path. But unlike myself (even though I was a college athlete...but a short, white one with ZERO pro potential) or other students of the like, these athletes are not allowed to pursue that career for 2 years. Rather for about 2 months. So you're saying..."okay, when is the part where you solution-ize it?"

Step 1

First, the NCAA should establish courses for potential professional athletes to take to educate them on agents, ways they contact, ways they try to abuse, and ways they try to help. Educate them on timelines, finances, rules of agent contact, and the history of sports agents as they are. Educate them on "today's new age agents," ones who use Facebook to contact athletes and pay them huge sums of money to sign on with their agency, not necessarily being actual licensed sports agents. Have the class taught by a former professional athlete, maybe from the school. Have it taught by an actual agent, or former agent. Surely you can find the good people willing to educate prospective professional athletes on the pitfalls of going college senior to pro millionaire in a matter of 6 weeks.

Step 2

The course should be offered as an elective. Because if there's anything that embodies the great American spirit of today's university, it's fisting people out of their money via courses that pertain in no way to whatever job field the student will go into. They call them "elective" courses, which belies the actual term...that they are elected free of will. They're forced, and for the record, neither "Bowling" or "Women's Ethics in Religion" have done anything for me professionally. So for these student-athletes, this is a 300 level elective course.

Step 3

Upon documented completion of this course, the athlete as a senior is now allowed agent contact. This allows one full school year for the athlete to use his knowledge to "interview" agents, make a reasonable decision without having to sneak around, involve mom, dad, coaches, fellow friends, and anyone else who might lend a positive hand to the athlete's decision making, and eventually make the decision to sign with an agent if so desired. All while knowing the pitfalls and calamaties that go along with bad agents, or people out for blood. So what if you have Mark Ingram $100,000 richer (no, Mark Ingram to my knowledge is just an example and has NOT NOT NOT taken any money from anyone) as a senior? Is a senior business student not allowed to take a job and gather a signing bonus if applicable, before graduating? He is. It's high time to start treating student-athletes like students, so says the NCAA. Here's their chance to do it.

Why it works...

-It gives student-athletes an incentive to stay all four years of college and have a degree to fall back on if a knee blows out and you can count their professional seasons on one hand. This also allows better product if more seniors play, and as we know, the NCAA loves to pimp better product.

-It comes within the framework of a college education, which means no talk of paying athletes, no talk of lost money for the NCAA. As is well documented, the NCAA will leave no penny in the couch cushions. They'll shake it til the springs bleed. This way, the NCAA loses nothing, not integrity, star players declared ineligible, or cash flow. In fact, it opens up another class, which at $125 per credit hour these days...means a lot more loot.

-No more sneaking around, money under the table, expensive, on the NCAA's dime investigations (that's right, NCAA, I'm proposing something to make you MORE money!), program decimating agent to athlete contacting. The kind that is butchering amateur football right now. Instead, out in the open, public agent meetings can lead to players not taking the first dollar waved at them. Rather conducting it how it should be...an interview for someone working FOR them for the rest of their professional athletic career. That's a heady, major decision the NCAA wants made in 2 months, my friends.

-Lastly, it allows agents knowledge that they'll be able to sell themselves and their brand in due process. No more having to break the rules or offer envelopes full of cash. Simply knowing that they're guaranteed to have a chance at open contact with athletes will likely ensure that they won't be illegally contacting these kids otherwise. Instead of having a major financial decision "legally" having to be put together in about 2 weeks after a bowl game, agents can sell the product in a more decent facet. This will also put a much needed end to "Facebook" agents, or people with a lot of money, but not a lot of knowledge. Suddenly, when it comes to meeting with Drew Rosenhaus or "Fred, Facebook trust fund baby," the athlete will have the shot at making a legal, informed decision.

I welcome you to poke holes in this. Like a voudou doll or Vin Baker's liver. The NCAA wants solutions? How about helping the kids they whore out, instead of knee capping college programs and their own product? Times are changing, as the NCAA demands hundreds of millions to broadcast its product. This isn't 1970 anymore. College sports is big business, and like any big business, the people getting screwed are the ones putting in the most hours. It's time to fix college sports. Grab your tools, Myles Brand.

Editor's Note: The ideas here were expressed on "The Best Damn Forum" a week ago, and are originally of user "teddydupay4." If you choose to "pirate" my ideas like most people tend to do to much of the material on this site, I'd like credit. And one million dollars. If not, you will be sued.

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