Interview

For my interview I was not able to get into contact with an athlete at Rutgers University but I was able to sit down and talk to my brother, a former Division III runner, who is now participating in a Division I program.  Max Robinson first attended Johns Hopkins University, a Division III program, where he was part of the cross country and track teams.  After graduation, with a year left of eligibility, he went to graduate school at Duke University where he also participated on the cross country and track teams for a year.  Many athletes do not get to see these two different sides of college sports from the aspect of the different divisions that it has to offer.  One thing was clear when he first arrived at Duke University, everything was about the basketball team.  Almost no attention was being paid to him and his team, as all the focus was about the team that brought in the most profits, which was the basketball team.  Last year their men's basketball team brought in about $27 million while all the other sports combined at the university (not including football) only brought in $24.3 million.  This is a staggering number that truly shows the gap between these big time sports and other "intermediate" sports.  The university realizes the profits that the basketball team is bringing in and as a result focuses most of its funding towards them.  So much is being put into these programs but the athletes are not gaining anything in return.  Not only are the lower "intermediate" sports players being neglected but the players of the basketball team also are.  With the $27 million that the basketball team is making, the players are not seeing any of the money.  My brother has multiple friends on the basketball team and he thinks that they should receive compensation for what they are bringing in.  He realizes that his track team is not really making the schools a large profit and so does not think they he should receive this compensation.  The basketball players are the ones that are being exploited on the highest level because of the great profits they are making the school.  The major sports teams deserve compensation for the amount of money they are currently making for schools.