How 'The U' & 'The Fab Five' expose the NCAA

By: Dan

ESPN over the past two years has produced a series of documentaries dubbed '30 for 30' in light of being on the air since 1979. The entire series has been praised throughout the television industry for its detail in some of the sporting world's biggest events.

Two of these documentaries have stood out in particular. One is 'The U' which highlighted the rise of the University of Miami (FL) football program into a powerhouse. The other is 'The Fab Five' which showed the journey of the 1991-1995 University of Michigan mens basketball team featuring players like Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, & Jalen Rose.

While both films revolve around two different sports programs in two different universities something ties them both together. That something is the fact that both films show the NCAA & those unversities have benefited financially from these programs while the players themselves didn't reap those same benefits. Each film highlights this hypocricy is its own way.

On 'The U' players such as Bennie Blades & Tolbert Bain spoke about how they saw UM build new buildings for academics mainly using money coming in from the success of the football program. Another former player, Steve Walsh, spoke about seeing star players on the team dressed as burglars going out to steal car stereos just to make pocket change. Then there is the stories of players being paid by Luther Campbell, a rap mogul and current candidate for Mayor of Miami-Dade County, in order for the player to not commit crimes for money.

On 'The Fab Five' the players spoke about how the general public viewed them as living rock star lifestyles when they actually lived meagerly. Jalen Rose, who is an executive producer of the film, recounts walking around a mall and seeing a pair of Nike sneakers on the window being sold as 'the Fab Five Nike.' To Rose that showed him how much they were losing out financially while other interests gained form his success. The most blunt tale came from journalist Mitch Albom who wrote a book about the Fab Five. He told a story of him following Chris Webber in which the young man asked him for money to put gas in his car. While walking around a strip mall Webber saw that a store was selling his Michigan jersey for $75. Webber then told Albom about the price of the jersey and how had to ask for gas money while others profited from him.

These are just a few examples of how the NCAA exploits student-athletes for billions of dollars while the players are barely making ends meet. These two films should be a rallying call for student-athletes to fight to get their fair share of the pie.