fys

1. Jonathan Young
Credibility of source
FYS Harold
The argument of whether college athletes should be paid or not has been made and the author of the
editorial, “A rim-rattling ruling in college sports”, by Michael Dobie makes the case that the college
athletes should be considered as employees of their college or institution and be compensated for their
work, and time along with scholarships. The case id being made that they should be looked at as
employees, they should be allowed to unionize and collectively bargain for better working conditions.
Claims were made on the academic, and monetary well-fare of the student athletes and their ability to
provide for the portion of the cost of living that the scholarships don’t cover. He makes a very valid case
but some of the claims he makes may not be factual backed.
In the Newsday article by Michael Dobie claims that the NCAA rakes in billions of dollars and restricts
player benefits with scholarship. (Dobie) In an article in the Tampa bay Times, by Arian Fosters titled
NCAA gets Billions; players get trophies, the Indianapolis star went through the financial of the NCAA and
found that the NCAA basketball tournament brought in $770 million in revenue off one event, which was
84% of their revenue for the year (Greenberg). It also talks of the CBS sports and turner broadcasting
contract that was made with the NCAA for the next ten years for being worth $10.8 billion
(Greenberg)ESPN Is said to pay $31 million for everything else says indystar.com. (Alesia)There is a lot
of money going to the NCAA for the sport of basketball alone, and supposedly the money is being
distributed amongst the college athletic world. According to The Tampa Bay Times in an article from
Indianapolis Star in grant and aid all student on scholarship received about $125million in the 2012-13
season which covered tuition food room and board. (Greenberg)In USA Today displayed a report stating
that bonuses for some of the head coaches at school with great performing athletic programs receive
bonuses come out to $850,000 in this season yet there are some athletes that have to pay out of pocket
on some college expenses. (Peter and Berkowitz). This also backs the claim made by Michael Dobie, in
Newsday, that some college coaches and athletic directors are making loads of money while the athletes
that the NCAA depends on , make nothing. (Dobie) USA Today is an unbiased source that, to the best of
my knowledge has no stake in whether the athletes receive compensation for their careers as student
athletes. Not too say that there might not be any bias that may be in the article, it’s just less likely. The
articles that were mentioned earlier to fact check had similar information and help strengthen the validity
of the content that was in argument that he was making.
The Author claims that there is a rate of decline in academia in student athletes in their core classes. He
say that they at lower levels in reading comprehension skills. A report by the Los Angeles times reports
that in the last year there has been an increase in the most recent APR for Division I four-year schools by
two points. (David)The discrepancies in the comparison of both statement calls for definitive proof of
whether test scores are up or down. The Newsday article claims that the report was made by a learning
specialist at the University of North Carolina but without knowing any names or background on the actual
person it could be a whole lot of fluff. Also vice a versa. The report that was in the LA Times was said to
have been released by the NCAA themselves but, with that there is a lot of room for bias.
The Author of the article that was Michael Dobie. In the byline portion of the article “A rim - rattling ruling in
college sports: it say that he is a member of the editorial board for Newsday in New York. I couldn’t find
any background information on his personal life or degrees and so forth but I do know that he is an
editorial writer. Editorial are opinions that reflect possible views on a certain topic. So even if most of his
article is backed by mostly valid concrete sources, there is still is the possibility that the conclusion will be
ultimately biased on some level. Even if it is partially or whole heartedly.
The date of the article was March 30, 2014, which makes this article pretty relevant in the content that it
presents to the readers. Over a few months’ things could change and outcomes can reveal different
information that wasn’t available at first. As far as it being something that you could use to a relevant
paper to get background information from it would be something to look at for insight.
The overall analysis of the article by Newsday’s “a rim-rattling decision in college sports; Athletes aren’t
blind to the billions they earn for the NCAA. Change is coming….” Article is that it is moderately reliable
source to use for any research paper. The fact is that there are more credible sources than an editorial
that can be used to back an argument that is being made by a thesis. The author is putting his opinion in
an editorial that is sourced but not sourced with enough information to make an informed decision on

2. whether or not what he said can be trusted.
It is an editorial form off opinion and based off of publically expressed facts. Though a lot of the articles
that are cited in this analysis can help prop up the credibility of the source there is no guarantee that it is
100% factual unless you take it from a source that has no stake in either argument. This article is
probably should not be used as a basis for a paper, there is too much that i sn’t completely credible and
backed and other options and source should be exhausted before considering this article.
Works Cited
Alesia, Mark. Indystar.com. 27 March 2014. 15 September 2014.
David, Wharton'. "NCAA reports an overall rise in athletes' academic performance." Los Angeles TImes
15 May 2014: Sports desk; part C; pg8.
Dobie, Michael. "A rim-rattling ruling in college sports; Athletes aren't blind to the billions they earn for the
NCAA. Change is coming..." 30 March 2014. lexis Nexis Academic search premeir. 15 September 2014.
Greenberg, Jon. "Lexis Nexis Academioc Search premeir." 1 April 2014. Tampa bay times. 15 September
2014.
Peter, Josh and Steve Berkowitz. "Underscoring net differences; Hoops coaches get richer; players get
hats and T-shirts." USA Today 3 April 2014: 1C. 15 September 2014.