College kids should get something close to the NFL treatment. Unfortunately it won’t be the financial compensation. It might be the public disclosure of their bumps, bruises and other injuries.
The Big Ten Conference has asked the NCAA to consider creating a nationwide college football injury report, according to reporting from CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd.
The U. S. Supreme Court’s ruling allowing sports gambling nationwide prompted the convention to file a request under the governing framework of college sports.
Players look for an edge before placing their bets. This happened before the infamous Supreme Court decision. This will continue as long as other people place bets on anything, a coin toss, racehorses, or poker hands derived from the serial numbers on dollar bills.
The advantage gamblers seek is one of the first things college students looking to break into sports learn about. Wide-eyed college freshman, new to campus, dreaming of a career in sports, head over to the athletic department. They sign up for a volunteer position in the sports information or athletic communications office. Their first job in the office is to learn about the various sports and the layout of the place by filing. But they have to be able to answer the phone, too. There are a couple rules for this task. First, speak clearly and greet the caller with the name of the department. Second, don’t give out any information on the football team. Callers will ask, but don’t answer questions about what the team looked like in practice. Who practiced. Who didn’t practice. Who is injured. Etc. The caller is a gambler looking for any information that would help them make a decision on where to place their money.
The Big Ten wants a mandatory, weekly injury update. In theory, this is a good attempt to level the playing field. It would make sure everything is operated with — gulp — transparency and honesty. Historically, injury reporting in college football has been left up to the head coach and there is no directive compelling a coach to report anything.
Big Ten sports administrators submitted their proposal, which included the NFL’s injury reporting policy for context, to the NCAA’s American Football Oversight Committee. CBS Sports reported “that the oversight committee has been receptive but has proposed that attention be paid to the measure. “
The NFL’s injury reporting policy works. It is also intended for professionals and students.
On a school level, it’s another beast to contend with. Start the list size. The NFL has 53 active players. In college, that number rises to 105. In the NFL, from the rookie quarterback to the manager of the apparatus, it’s a task for everyone involved. Non-compliance The NFL’s injury reporting policy has consequences. How would the NCAA impose consequences for injury reporting deficiencies?It’s an agreement with an uneven and almost ridiculous track record of enforcement.
Don’t worry about student privacy legislation protecting the public’s medical records. If a player chooses to protect their data, there is no way to report injuries.
All the aforementioned red tape doesn’t strike at something a college injury report could nullify. It’s the insider information readily available in the collegiate atmosphere. Programs are filled with student trainers, student managers, walk-on players. The full-scholarship players have friends from back home and hangers-on at school. All of these people have access to information that gamblers seek. That leaked insider info has been available before, but now the betting public will be able to make more use of it because legally placing a bet is easier than ever before. A uniform injury report makes this information available across the board. It’s not a catchall. The injury report wouldn’t capture a homesick quarterback or that a linebacker got his girlfriend pregnant, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be enacted.
It would be an attempt to bring some integrity to an area that, without any policy, will remain murky and gently manipulated. Even with the potential problems, the Big Ten Conference is right to push for an injury report to be released. It’s worth trying, even if at first there will be probably insurmountable variables that hinder the intent of the policy.