As we get set for the 2015 NCAA Tournament—one of college sports’ biggest money-making events of each calendar year—a whole rack of people in the media are once again pointing out just how hypocritical the NCAA continues to be. (Our own Dave Zirin wrote on this topic recently, in fact.)
It won’t ever stop us from watching March Madness because, well, it’s basketball. But damn if it doesn’t make us think twice.
The NCAA is so ridiculous, in fact, that even pop culture is catching on, not just sports talking heads. The latest and probably best dismantling of the NCAA’s hypocrisy came last night courtesy of HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In a 20-minute teardown segment, Oliver makes a mockery of the NCAA while making complete sense at the same time.
His basic argument: “The NCAA doesn’t pay athletes because they consider them amateurs. The NCAA considers them amateurs because they don’t get paid.” Watch the clip above, and applaud this man.
H/T: Deadspin
