Katie Ledecky turning pro shows the folly of the NCAA's white-knuckle grip on 'amateurism'

[Cheesedog]

Katie Ledecky turning pro shows the folly of the NCAA's white-knuckle grip on 'amateurism'

Putting this here because it pertains to college. And a subject that more often than not gets talked about either through football or basketball...

Modern amateurism was born in the 1800s in England. Wealthy elites competed in sports such as sailing, crew and polo and dominated because they had the leisure time to practice and train. The working class may have had better athletes, but to feed their families they worked six and seven days a week in factories or on farms.

Eventually some rich guys began paying their workers to practice a sport and loaded up country-club teams with ringers. The elites, no longer assured victory, created the idea of amateurism and disqualified anyone who was paid to play (meaning the poor who had to work).

Amateurism wasn’t designed out of purity. There was nothing honorable or righteous about it. It was created to protect rich people who didn’t want a fair competition. It was codified cheating.