Indentured
The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA
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Narrated by:
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Dominic Hoffman
About this listen
"How can the NCAA blithely wreck careers without regard to due process or common fairness? How can it act so ruthlessly to enforce rules that are so petty? Why won't anybody stand up to these outrageous violations of American values and American justice?"
In the four years since Joe Nocera asked those questions in a controversial New York Times column, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has come under fire. Fans have begun to realize that the athletes involved in the two biggest college sports, men's basketball and football, are little more than indentured servants. Millions of teenagers accept scholarships to chase their dreams of fame and fortune - at the price of absolute submission to the whims of an organization that puts their interests dead last.
For about 5 percent of top-division players, college ends with a golden ticket to the NFL or the NBA. But what about the overwhelming majority who never turn pro? They don't earn a dime from the estimated $13 billion generated annually by college sports - an ocean of cash that enriches schools, conferences, coaches, TV networks, and apparel companies...everyone except those who give their blood and sweat to entertain the fans.
Indentured tells the dramatic story of a loose-knit group of rebels who decided to fight the hypocrisy of the NCAA, which blathers endlessly about the purity of its "student athletes" while exploiting many of them: the ones who get injured and drop out because their scholarships have been revoked. The ones who will neither graduate nor go pro. The ones who live in terror of accidentally violating some obscure rule in the 400-page NCAA rulebook.
Joe Nocera and Ben Strauss take us into the inner circle of the NCAA's fiercest enemies. You'll meet, among others:
- Sonny Vaccaro, the charismatic sports marketer who convinced Nike to sign Michael Jordan. Disgusted by how the NCAA treated athletes, Vaccaro used his intimate knowledge of its secrets to blow the whistle in a major legal case.
- Ed O'Bannon, the former UCLA basketball star who realized, years after leaving college, that the NCAA was profiting from a video game using his image. His lawsuit led to an unprecedented antitrust ruling.
- Ramogi Huma, the founder of the National College Players Association who dared to think that college players should have the same collective bargaining rights as other Americans.
- Andy Schwarz, the controversial economist who looked behind the façade of the NCAA and saw it for what it is: a cartel that violates our core values of free enterprise.
Indentured reveals how these and other renegades, working sometimes in concert and sometimes alone, are fighting for justice in the bare-knuckles world of college sports.
©2016 Joe Nocera and Ben Strauss (P)2016 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
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Game Over
- Jerry Sandusky, Penn State, and the Culture of Silence
- By: Bill Moushey, Robert Dvorchak
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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It's a scandal that began in a place called Happy Valley. But it's not as happy as it once was, as the child-sex-abuse charges against a longtime coach and the conspiracy of silence surrounding the allegations have rocked America and Division 1 college sports. In Game Over, journalists Bill Moushey and Bob Dvorchak investigate claims of a startling cover-up within the Penn State hierarchy that attempted to protect its football legacy, quite possibly at the expense of disenfranchised children.
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Heartbreaking
- By Claire on 04-24-12
By: Bill Moushey, and others
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The Fall of the House of FIFA
- The Multimillion-Dollar Corruption at the Heart of Global Soccer
- By: David Conn
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2015, FIFA - the multibillion dollar governing body of the world's most-loved sport - was brought down by allegations of industrial-scale bribes, kickbacks, money laundering, racketeering, and tax evasion. Beginning with early morning raids in Zurich and the indictment of 27 executives by the US Department of Justice, the rottenness at the core of FIFA seemed to extend throughout all of soccer, from the decision to send the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar to lesser known cases of embezzlement from Trinidad to South Africa.
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quite good
- By kevin m on 12-14-17
By: David Conn
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Wheelmen
- Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France, and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever
- By: Reed Albergotti, Vanessa O'Connell
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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The first in-depth look at Lance Armstrong's doping scandal, the phenomenal business success built on the back of fraud, and the greatest conspiracy in the history of sports. Lance Armstrong won a record-smashing seven Tours de France after staring down cancer, and in the process became an international symbol of resilience and courage. In a sport constantly dogged by blood-doping scandals, he seemed above the fray. Then, in January 2013, the legend imploded. He admitted doping during the Tours and, in an interview with Oprah, described his "mythic, perfect story" as "one big lie."
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Detailed and balanced account
- By Gabriel on 11-19-13
By: Reed Albergotti, and others
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The League
- How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire
- By: John Eisenberg
- Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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The National Football League's current dominance has obscured how professional football got its start. In The League, John Eisenberg reveals that Art Rooney, George Halas, Tim Mara, George Preston Marshall, and Bert Bell took an immense risk by investing in the professional game. At that time, the sport barely registered on the national scene. The five owners succeeded only because at critical junctures in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, each sacrificed the short-term success of his team for the longer-term good of the League.
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what a great book. loved it completely.
- By Daniel Mosca on 11-08-18
By: John Eisenberg
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It's Not About the Truth
- The Duke Lacrosse Case and the Lives It Shattered
- By: Don Yaeger, Mike Pressler
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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What began as an off-campus team party with two hired strippers accelerated into a rape investigation - one that exposed prosecutorial misconduct, shoddy police work, an administration's rush to judgment, and the media's disregard for the facts. In It's Not About the Truth, Mike Pressler, the former Duke University lacrosse team's coach, and best-selling author Don Yaeger expose vivid details, including the day Pressler was fired.
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Highly Recommended
- By Dave on 08-08-07
By: Don Yaeger, and others
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League of Denial
- The NFL, Concussions and the Battle for Truth
- By: Mark Fainaru-Wada, Steve Fainaru
- Narrated by: David H. Lawrence XVII
- Length: 14 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Everyone knows that football is violent and dangerous. But what the players who built the NFL into a $10 billion industry didn’t know—and what the league sought to shield from them—is that no amount of padding could protect the human brain from the force generated by modern football.
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How to Kill Friends and Influence People
- By Cynthia on 10-18-13
By: Mark Fainaru-Wada, and others
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The National Team (Updated and Expanded Edition)
- The Inside Story of the Women Who Dreamed Big, Defied the Odds, and Changed Soccer
- By: Caitlin Murray
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The US Women’s National Soccer Team has won three World Cups and four Olympic gold medals, set record TV ratings, drawn massive crowds, earned huge revenues for FIFA and US Soccer, and helped to redefine the place of women in sports. But despite their dominance, and their rosters of superstar players, they’ve endured striking inequality: low pay, poor playing conditions, and limited opportunities to play in professional leagues.
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Too much swearing
- By Rebecca Sheldon on 01-23-20
By: Caitlin Murray
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Boys Among Men
- How the Prep-to-Pro Generation Redefined the NBA and Sparked a Basketball Revolution
- By: Jonathan Abrams
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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When Kevin Garnett shocked the world by announcing that he would not be attending college - as young basketball prodigies were expected to do - but instead would enter the 1995 NBA draft directly from high school, he blazed a trail for a generation of teenage basketball players to head straight for the pros. That trend would continue until the NBA instituted an age limit in 2005, requiring all players to attend college or another developmental program for at least one year.
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Bad pronunciation
- By K. Spearman on 07-03-16
By: Jonathan Abrams
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The Club
- How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports
- By: Joshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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No one knew it when their experiment began, but without any particular genius or acumen, the motley cast of billionaires and hucksters behind the modern Premier League struck gold. Pretty soon, everyone wanted to try their luck, from Russian oligarchs to Emirati sheikhs, American tycoons, and Asian Tiger titans. Some succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Some lost everything. Today, players are sold for tens of millions, clubs are valued in the billions, and games are beamed out to nearly 200 countries, all while the league struggles to preserve its English soul.
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Read don't listen
- By JR3 on 01-23-19
By: Joshua Robinson, and others
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The Real Romney
- By: Michael Kranish, Scott Helman
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Mitt Romney has masterfully positioned himself as the front-runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Even though he's become a household name, the former Massachusetts governor remains an enigma to many in America, his character and core convictions elusive, his record little known. Who is the man behind that high-wattage smile? In this definitive, unflinching biography by Boston Globe investigative reporters Michael Kranish and Scott Helman, listeners will finally discover the real Romney.
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Hard to conceal resentment and feign objectvity...
- By I F Leger on 02-10-12
By: Michael Kranish, and others
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You Herd Me!
- I'll Say It If Nobody Else Will
- By: Colin Cowherd
- Narrated by: Colin Cowherd
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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In this age of billion dollar athletic marketing campaigns, “feel good” philosophy with no connection to reality, and a Sports Media echo chamber that’s all too eager swallow whatever idiotic notion happens to be in vogue at the moment, it’s tough to find people who aren’t afraid to say what they’re really thinking.
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Great book, Repeats majority of themes from radio
- By Troy on 01-20-14
By: Colin Cowherd
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Saban
- The Making of a Coach
- By: Monte Burke
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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As the head coach of the University of Alabama's football team, Nick Saban is perhaps the most influential - and controversial - man in the sport. Unpredictable in his professional loyalties, uncompromising in his vision, and unyielding in his pursuit of perfection, the highest-paid coach in college football has changed the face of the game. His program-building vision has delivered packed stadiums, rabid fans, legions of detractors, countless NFL draft picks, and a total of four championships.
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Narrator is awful.
- By kenneth on 08-12-15
By: Monte Burke
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Football for a Buck
- The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The United States Football League was the last football league to not merely challenge the mighty NFL but also to cause it to collectively shudder. It spanned three seasons, featured as many as 18 teams, secured multiple television deals, drew millions of fans, and launched the careers of legends - but then it died beneath the weight of a particularly egotistical and bombastic owner, a New York businessman named Donald Trump. Jeff Pearlman draws on more than 400 interviews to unearth all the salty, untold stories of one of the craziest sports entities to have ever captivated America.
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Ahhh the USFL
- By Film Lover on 10-11-18
By: Jeff Pearlman
What listeners say about Indentured
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-10-16
couldn't put the book down
Loved the book. I knew the NCAA had some crazy rules but I had not known the extent of the ludicrous situations that have been going in for years. I now see how these players are like indentured servanrs. The system needs to change.
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- W Perry Hall
- 03-15-16
An Armament agnst NCAA: Enlightening, Infuriating
Don't get me started on the blatant hypocrisy I've watched over the past 22 years since taking a class in Sports Law in law school, a period over which the NCAA has repeatedly violated the precepts of basic fairness (forget about due process rights) that should have protected numerous student-athletes (and a few coaches), as the NCAA has run roughshod carrying the NCAA "rulebook" and in the name of "preserving" "amateurism" in college athletics (can I get a Hallelujah?!?!), while it, its member schools and their respective conferences have negotiated and signed astronomically $$expanding$$ TV and bowl contracts and marketed themselves into a CASH COW business rapidly approaching the scale of the NFL and MLB.
There's not a chapter in this book that isn't impeccably researched, well-written and eye-popping in its collection of assorted ironies on the positions taken by the NCAA and its Goon Squad (equated by numerous people to the Gestapo) bent on dashing the hopes of young athletes, their parents and even seeming to get very personal in their vendettas.
If you're a college athlete (no matter the division) or a college sports fan, I think you'll find this book very enlightening and, at times, extremely infuriating.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Tim
- 03-24-16
Should Get Paid
When I think about NCAA, I always assume it's college basketball and football. I hardly ever think of it as other sports, such as fencing, lacrosse, rowing, or even golf. These sports are not market to the mainstream because there is no money. NCAA is another brand as NBA and NFL. Why shouldn't college athletes be paid? They are going on the courts and fields, risking life long injuries and only a few makes it to the next level, and as far as I'm aware of, there is no pro team for cross country.
"Indentured" is one of those books that you should read, but you don't really want to know because you love watching sports. Once you see your alumni win or loose, you turn off the game and life goes on as usual. You never think what will happen to the player as a student, or if they will even graduate after they play. We never think of these things when the game is over. We just see them as a player, thinking that they are getting a full ride and their futures are already planned out. Many of them will never go to the pros and they should be compensated for doing their job while getting an education.
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- Jerry Jordan
- 04-13-16
Excellent expose'
Your look into the NCAA was eye-opening and brought out information that was previously known only to a select few. This organization is obviously in it for the money - the students and their education be damned. Great work. The NCAA plays on private jets and lives a life of luxury while kids in college (primarily black kids) try to sneak a sandwich without getting suspended for a bogus rules violation. I now have incredible disrespect for the NCAA and the colleges that wouldn't stand-up for the students.
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- Collins A. Ezeanyim
- 07-05-16
Powerful case for paying college athletes
The last three chapters drive home the need to pay especially college football and basketball players. The author tried to be as fair as possible but ultimately advocates what I think is the correct point of view.
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- Arielle
- 03-15-18
Long and somewhat jumbled
I would have liked the book more if I’d read it rather than listened to it. It would have been easier to flip back for reference.
While the narrator was nice (not good not bad not particularly memorable), I found this book difficult to follow at times. I found myself not caring if I missed some sentences or portions of the stories because this book really did not capture my attention.
I would have enjoyed this book more if it were half as long.
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