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UConn Guard Napier Says He Goes to Bed Starving

Discussion in 'The Sports Book' started by klawrey, Apr 7, 2014.

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  1. klawrey

    klawrey High-Roller

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    Didn't know whether to post here in Sportsbook or Non-Vegas Chat.

    Connecticut's star player Shabazz Napier was recently asked about Northwestern's unionization attempts and replied that he was glad to see they were allow to unionize because he feels athletes should be paid because although he has a full ride scholarship there are nights that he still goes to bed "starving." He mentioned it's hard to see the school selling your jersey, albeit without your name on the back but still your number and representation while you go to bed hungry.

    Here is a link to the story:
    http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/07/us/ncaa-basketball-finals-shabazz-napier-hungry/

    I was a college athlete, although only at the NAIA level, and I can say I NEVER came close to going to bed hungry. As an athlete, I was given a meal plan and there is no way the top player from a basketball school like Napier is does not have a meal plan as well. At least one dining hall was open in some form until 10 o'clock. One might try and argue his schedule is so busy with school and basketball he can't get to a dining hall before closing, I say no way, although they may have practice at odd hours, most practice are in normal hours and you could make it to dining hall by 10. If not, do what we always did if we didn't want to go back to the dining hall later, take food with you. Most have cereals or breads or some type of food that would not need to be refrigerated that he could eat post practice to at least not be starving.

    Further, he's a star athlete, you tell me some "jersey chaser" or "fan boy" wouldn't buy him a couple double cheeseburgers? I'm sure he gets plenty of free drinks out at the bar on the weekends so why not ask for $5 footlong instead?

    Plus most scholarship at the D1 level especially in basketball and football are "cost of attendance" vs "cost of tuition", meaning tuition may be $40k but they get $55k to cover books, housing, etc. The problem here someone like Napier has thousands of dollars worth of tattoos and I'm sure a few pair of $200 Jordan's, yet he's crying he's starving. Maybe instead of blaming the institution he should look at his priorities. Are the newest kicks more important than being full when you go to bed?

    I fully support athletes being paid at minimum on jersey sales that are clear representations of them and wouldn't object to them getting paid for schools bring in millions due to their respective sports. But to cry wolf that you're starving when there are plenty of other college athletes that eat like kings on the same scholarship as you because they use the dining hall and use the money left over after tuition for food instead of shoes and tattoos.

    Just curious of other peoples take on this.
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2014
  2. klawrey

    klawrey High-Roller

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    Last edited: Apr 7, 2014
  3. zolar31

    zolar31 Low-Roller

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    I'm not buying it either. I went to UConn in the late 80's, one of my roomates was a 6' 8" skinny white guy non-athlete. We would go to Ted's (bar just outside campus) and he would get free drinks from the bartenders because they thought he was on the basketball team.
     
  4. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    Isn't this what Ohio State went down for? I don't know if $41 goes far enough to cover a diet with increased calorie requirements on his campus. I also don't know if he has a meal plan and if so If he's using. It's possible that his hunger is due to poor money management on his part but one of the complaints about the NCAA program is what kids don't learn on their scholarships. At NU, the cafeteria's weren't open late but at least in season, they made sure they had training table for the guys to make sure they didn't miss out. I never met a football player who had more than exactly the money they needed to cover expenses. Many of them were on tight budgets like the rest of us. The only difference was they didn't have loan debt on graduation day.

    And I am also sure this guy has some pretty high end sneakers littering his closest. All those kids better at least be getting that out of the shoe deals their coaches cash in on!
     
  5. klawrey

    klawrey High-Roller

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    The Ohio State guys were selling jersey and memorabilia for tattoos. I hardly think Napier would be busted for someone buying him a double cheeseburger from McDonald's.

    Further, the increased calories falls on deaf ears. There is a US Bobsled member that lives on a Taco Bell diet because of his increased calorie expenditure and it being the easiest way to get extra calories he needs because if he cooked regular food he would have to eat so much to get the calories he needs but when a single taco has 200 calories its easy to fill up. So theres no way Napier couldn't get the calories he needs for $41 a day, I don't care if its 38 McDoubles plus the 6.35% sales tax he can get the calories for $41.

    It's like Doyle's article says, get $1000 a month for apartment, you split $700 a month with another dude so you pay $350 plus $110 utilities and left with $540 to pocket. Same with buying used books. all this on top of the $41 a day. All of this screams to me that he HAS to be blowing money somewhere, the question is where?
     
  6. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    At the end of the day, getting a fan to buy you food is a NCAA violation and they are inconsistent on who they decide to drop the hammer on. I don't care what Doyle's article says really. I care about what the actual package this kid pleading poverty got from UConn. I'm not passing judgement on anyone without it.

    And I really hope you aren't suggesting that this guy live on junk food to make his $41 stretch.
     
  7. klawrey

    klawrey High-Roller

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    I'm merely saying that $41 a day is plenty money to get by on. I'm a 26 year old bachelor and buy groceries for the week on $50-75 and I eat good fresh fruits and veggies and fresh meat from the butcher's counter. If my math is correct $41 a day is $287 a week but let's say he only gets $41 twice a week for $82 that's still more than enough to buy groceries and eat well.
     
  8. klawrey

    klawrey High-Roller

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    My guess is that he's spending the money on frivolous things much like his NBA or NFL predecessor that more often than not end up bankrupt. Because my experience in college as an athlete never let me come close to starving and I don't know any of my fellow athletes that were starving either.
     
  9. Viva Las Vegas

    Viva Las Vegas Elvis has left the building

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    NCAA Football and Men's Basketball take in more revenue than the NHL and NBA combined, and they have zero on field labor costs. The University of Alabama AD takes in more revenue than any NHL team, and the University of Texas AD tales in more than any NHL team and all but five NBA teams.

    Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of adults running the two entities take in billions in annual salary, serial child rapists are aided and abetted by universities for decades resulting in nothing but a reduced wrist slap, players can be cut without any further scholarship (or medical treatment for on-field injuries) and are not able to transfer, yet coaches can engage in any type of activity causing probation at several universities without recourse including one of the scumbag leeches coaching tonight and can leave at any time for a better job, leaving the "student" athletes he lied to with no recourse and no option to transfer unless their masters allow their unpaid indentured servants permission.

    The best unpaid athletes could care less about their "free education". The hypocritical NCAA says they care about academics and "can do nothing" about the pathetic one and done college basketball debacle, yet there is something they CAN and actually DID do for decades which would be quite successful if these lying scumbag leeches had any integrity. They don't.

    I still watch the NHL and MLB which actually pay their minor league talent, leaving athletes who actually want to receive an college education the option to attend college. The scumbags running the NFL and NBA should do the same.
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2014
  10. Someone

    Someone High-Roller

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    yes but UT and Alabama are also running 18-20 other sports teams

    and while you picked the two that are some of the very few that make money there is a large part of their revenue that is annual donations

    and probably 100+ of the athletics programs that have D1-A football lose money every year and take money in student fees or directly from tuition or even in some states from state support

    why should students that are actually there for an education pay more so that those that mostly care little about their education can have "running money"

    no one forced them to play college sports if the are not happy doing so then quit, get that high paying job, go on financial aid and go to bed stuffed full of food every night.....oh wait whats that if they did not put a ball through a hoop they never would have qualified to be on a college campus much less get financial aid and they have the skill set of a drive thru attendant with a really poor attitude and a strong sense of entitlement and that will not cover their rent and bills much less their athletics gear, tuition (if they could get into college), food or any "running money"

    and what enabled these "poor starving athletes" to even live until they were 18-19 ears old and got into college.......who fed them and paid their bills and bought them cloths for the first 18 years of their life and why can't they step up and hand them a few dollars for "running money"

    why are they suddenly the full ward of the athletics department at a university where many of them care little about the education and many of them would not even be a student if it was not for their ball through a hoop skills

    they can always work to earn an academic scholarship (even though those sometimes don't come with a meal plan, tons of tutors, "running money", thousands of dollars of athletics gear, health care, training and trainers ect) or they can always take their "skills" to the market place

    and it is not universities that prevent illiterates and fools from taking their "skills" pro it is the pro leagues so stop suing the universities and blaming it on them and instead take the issue up with the pros

    and if more "athletes" cared about academics then perhaps universities would not spend tens of millions or more on training facilities well beyond what is needed to actually train players and they would not have to spend tens of thousands on academic tutors and academic centers and fancy dorm rooms and locker rooms and indoor practice facilities to attract "student athletes" that really only care about athletic facilities and nothing about the academics

    the NCAA is going to "resolve" this by putting the student back in student athlete sooner than later and a MASSIVE amount of these idiots are going to find themselves in a position where few if any programs and especially top programs will find it not worth taking the risk on recruiting them

    they are going to put in minimum standards for NCAA participation well above what many universities have for academic admissions and especially well above what many universities have for "special athletics admissions" and they are going to put tougher graduation requirements in place, tougher loss of scholarships for students that leave for any reason while in poor academic standing and it is going to make many of these "get paid" and "hungree" types untouchable for the most part.......but hey they have "skills" so they will just go "get theirs" right :evillaugh
     
  11. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    Let the haters... hate... Shabazz will be eaten' steak tonight!!!
     
  12. vegas_or_bust

    vegas_or_bust High-Roller

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    $41 a day buys you 8 six-inch subs from Subway....or 7 burritos from Chipotle.....or four meals at Panera. They also have extra money from their refund check and housing stipend. Furthermore, it doesn't even take into account the meals that are provided by the University on game days. If you can't survive on $41 day for meals as a college student you don't deserve extra money because you will obviously waste it. The excuses that some of you make for these kids is amazing. They eat better than 3/4 the people on this message board.
     
  13. vegas_or_bust

    vegas_or_bust High-Roller

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  14. klawrey

    klawrey High-Roller

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    Steak tonight? How bout steak for life...

    The Nike contract and an NBA deal are right around the corner. Not to mention he doesn't have to worry about NCAA violations anymore so I'm sure plenty of boosters and fans are ready to buy the man a nice meal for his services.
     
  15. klawrey

    klawrey High-Roller

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    I'm right with you man. I agree they should be compensated for their likeness and jerseys. But to say he goes to bed starving on the food money and refund check from financial aid is insane. Like I said above, I'm a 26 year old bachelor and I eat like a king on $50-75 a week on fresh fruits and veggies, good ribeyes and the occasional filet, lots of chicken breasts. No way he can't get by on a refund check and $41 food allowance.
     
  16. Viva Las Vegas

    Viva Las Vegas Elvis has left the building

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    Didn't see anyone post an "excuse" for the athletes. Just calling out the mass hypocrisy and pathetic excuse of an organization (NCAA), sponsored by places of "higher learning".

    Major college football and basketball is an embarrassment to our nation. Our illiterate ringers beat yours. “We’re” number one. Rah Rah. The race to the bottom is complete.
     
  17. vegas_or_bust

    vegas_or_bust High-Roller

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    How would you fix it?

    And secondly, how do you reconcile your comment about "illiterate ringers" with the stats that a majority of D1 football teams graduate 70% or more of their players?
     
  18. PopMegaphone

    PopMegaphone VIP Whale

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    Hyperbole from Napier aside, the NCAA is an immoral organization and should be abolished.
     
  19. SBTX

    SBTX Low-Roller

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    Former college athlete here as well as a coach who used hand out those scholarships, set up training tables, arrange pre & post-game meals, road trip snacks, give cold hard cash for food (legally) and pass out tons of clothes and shoes...all at a Low D1 university. I will say Shabazz is a mighty fine basketball player but a total idiot. If he's starving it's his fault. I do think it's wrong for institutions to profit off a numbered jersey that everyone knows who it represents. It is exploitation.
     
  20. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    I think that may be the case that he is an idiot but it's hard to know what to think. He made the comment at a locker room interview and it didn't seem like anyone followed up on it. Since the game is over, I hope someone does a follow up.
     
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