Only it’s not funny. Just a few minutes ago I saw an NCAA ad before today’s lead-in game for the final 32. In the ad, the NCAA purports to be protecting the student-athlete from the thugs legally placing bets on college sports. Some of these thugs have taken to threaten players and make (unbecoming) comments on social media.

Since the floodgate of free agency has opened and NIL is the norm, there is no such thing as a student athlete beyond intramurals. Everyone else is getting paid to play which sounds notoriously like professional sports. I’ve been wondering if the higher paid athletes even live on campus any longer and slum it with the regular students. Do they still bother with meal plans and RA’s? For decades, athletes at larger schools and bigger programs, were often kept apart from the general population.

As we’ve learned from watching the football tournament the past few years, athletes need not attend classes to participate. Some guys are on the 6-year plan with multiple teams. When I attended university, I remember several basketball players battling to make the grade to maintain eligibility each semester. Forty years ago, a friend of mine was tutoring several players on Tom Osborne’s Nebraska football squads. Those days have gone the way of H.R Pufnstuf. I’m not sure that’s for the better.