Speaking to a room packed with journalism students and media professionals, NCAA President Mark Emmert said the 2016 presidential race has been reported like one long sports event.
“Finally, next Tuesday, we’ll know the final score,” Emmert said.
Emmert spoke in the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication’s Holliday Forum as part of the Sports Communication Summit. The summit, which also included various sports journalists and former athletes, was designed to explore the dynamic relationship between sports and the media, according to a news release.Emmert delivered the summit’s keynote address before speaking on “The Jim Engster Show,” recorded in the Holliday Forum.
To open his speech, Emmert said the long-standing sports reporting style has started to take over newspapers’ reporting — even on topics such as business, education and politics.
The former University chancellor said a large part of that shift comes from the audience’s desire to have topics and issues simplified. Emmert said the sports reporting style gives the reader a clear winner and loser, though it is not a perfect comparison. He pointed to the issue in Syria as an example.
“It’s not two adversaries competing,” Emmert said. “It’s like people in the middle of the game change jerseys, and then all of the sudden they play for a different side now.”
Emmert also mentioned the drama surrounding former LSU Basketball star Ben Simmons, who recently spoke out against the NCAA’s one-and-done rule.
Emmert emphasized that the rule is not part of the NCAA rulebook, but was put in place by the NBA. On the air with Engster, he voiced his dislike for the rule.
“That rule is something I’ve made no secret about how much I personally dislike it,” Emmert said on the show. “It creates a farce of being a student athlete for far too many students.”
In his speech, Emmert said people often assume his job is similar to those of the NFL and NBA commissioners, though he said his responsibilities were slightly more extensive. The NBA commissioner oversees 30 teams, while the NCAA has around 19,000.
At the same time, Emmert said he is not the one who creates the rules for the league. Instead, the responsibility falls to heads of the schools and a committee within the NCAA.
He addressed several issues involving the NCAA, including concussions, time commitments and paying college athletes. Emmert spent a large portion of his time pointing out the complex problems associated with paying student athletes.
“They don’t want to turn student athletes into paid employees,” Emmert said. “If I’m going to go out and hire someone to play football for me, why in the world would I hire a 17-year-old? Why wouldn’t I hire someone who just finished up his NFL career?”