By Fred Guzman
Remember the standard schoolyard comeback to name-calling? You know, the old line about how it takes one to know one?
That's what came to mind when University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban, of all people, described player-agents as pimps because what they do is, he said, "entrampment for young people in a very difficult time of their lives."
Those comments, from someone who has based his career on successfully luring 17-year-olds into his recruiting web. This, from someone who has found and capitalized on every imaginable loophole to circumvent NCAA recruiting rules.
Remember, it was Nick Saban who started using video conferencing as a means of avoiding rules limiting face-to-face meetings with recruits. No Saint Nick, this Coach Nick.
Why shouldn't players be allowed to receive the advice of agents before making important decisions regarding their professional futures?
Why shouldn't the top players be allowed to receive cars, cash and other benefits from admiring boosters? The top schools and the top coaches are cashing in, so why shouldn't the star attractions?
And please spare me the lame comeback about how these kids are privileged to be receiving a college education.
Big time college sports are not about education, but about money. Why else would big time programs admit so many marginal students to their universities if not for the huge return on their modest investments.
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