By Zach Slaton, Contributor Normally this blog only focuses on the intersection of soccer and statistics, but every so often events in other sports compel a break from the purely analytical world of soccer and a diversion into commentary instead.  Soccer fans in the United States who have grown up in a nation filled with college athletics and closed professional sports leagues while simultaneously watching open soccer leagues with promotion and relegation elsewhere in the world have a unique perspective on how professional sports can be run.  The merits and drawbacks of league and team stability via the North American model can be debated versus the ruthless competition and elevated levels of player compensation and debt found in European soccer leagues.  What has become less defensible, however, is the National Collegiate Athletic Association‘s policies and economic model regarding collegiate athletes, especially when it comes to its two biggest sports – football and basketball. …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest