Financing college sports

Joe Castiglione, director of athletics
University of Oklahoma
cbssportsline.com

"The economic model for college athletics has to be one of the worst on record. None of us likes it, but it's part of the (landscape). Let's face it, we are the NCAA. If we don't like it, we're the ones responsible for coming up with a different plan. We have to quit complaining about this model and give ourselves a chance to survive. ...

"We're not cavalier about it, but you've got to pull your head out of the sand. The marketplace is changing at an even more rapid rate than people want to admit. The chance for moderation is close because the revenues are starting to flatten out."

Robert Hemenway, chancellor
University of Kansas
cbssportsline.com

"There is a free market out there. What happens in all markets is when the market can't sustain itself, it implodes.

"The thing we have to focus on is what are the values of intercollegiate athletics? What's the value of amateurism? We'll let that free market operate, but we're not going to compromise any of those values. We're not going to go to play for pay. That would be a denial of amateurism."

Value of education

Derek Van Rheenen, director of the Athletic
Study Center
University of California, Berkeley
Contra Costa Times

"I was a pro athlete, and believe me, it was not all that it was cracked up to be. Most athletes are not paid well. Your career is basically done at age 30. And then, what do you do with the rest of your life?

"Sports are great, but you're not going to impress anyone if you go into an interview and juggle a soccer ball."

Male practice players

Joanne P. McCallie, head women's basketball coach
Michigan State University
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Discussing the issue of women's teams using male athlete to practice against and whether that limits participation opportunities for women:

"People have to realize men and women are different, and we need the size and speed of those guys to emulate an opponent. There is no average woman on campus who can do that. What woman am I going to get on campus who can post up (6-1 forward) Liz Shimek? If she was on campus, she'd be one of my 15 scholarships."

Integration of student-athletes

Steve Ulrich, executive director
Centennial Conference
LancasterOnline.com

Discussing an issue in Division III regarding whether participation in athletics prevents student-athletes from experiencing all the college campus has to offer:

"After all the reforms, (Centennial Conference teams are) still competing in basketball. We're still competing in lacrosse. We have track athletes who are competing for national titles.

"We're not shirking the responsibility to the kids to give them the best chance to succeed. We're just supplying them with other outlets as well.''

"We're not kidding ourselves to say if they're not playing soccer during the spring that they're going to be in the library. But they might have the opportunity to write for the student newspaper. They could participate in a theatrical or a choral production. Or they could just hang out on the quad with friends. There's more to college than just year-round participation in sports.''