In a survey taken by yourblackworld.com, 74% of the black respondents said that the NCAA's policy of giving financial compensation to coaches and administrators and not compensating athletes is racist. The survey asks the following question:

For those who think there are limitations to what people can achieve, you should probably have a conversation with Anthony Robles. Robles, who was born without his right leg, is now the NCAA wrestling champion in the 125-pound weight class. Robles won the title after defeating Matt McDonough from Iowa in the title match.

The U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan is now jumping into the debate on whether the NCAA's business practices actually make sense. The Education Secretary is responding to a call by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics to strengthen the academic requirements for eligibility in the March Madness basketball tournament. He is also asking the NCAA to reconsider the way it distributes hundreds of millions in revenue to member institutions.

I lived through the Fab Five era within college basketball, literally breathing the same air and vicariously identifying with the brothers who brought power and style to the sport. I was approximately the same age as the five freshmen who took their team to the NCAA championship, and I even wore black socks on the court (yes, I am ashamed to admit that). An ESPN special recently took my mind back down memory lane by replaying the experience of the Fab Five and how they changed college basketball forever. To this day, there has been nothing like them, and I wouldn't be surprised if their feat is never replicated again.

Michael Vick has just signed a tender offer from the Philadelphia Eagles that labels him to be a franchise player for the team. Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Vick would earn the average salary of the top five quarterbacks in the league, giving him roughly $20 million dollars per year. This is a handsome raise over the $5.25 million Vick earned from the team last year.

ESPN baseball writer Howard Bryant's arrest has now taken a very interesting turn: Buz Eisenberg, Bryant's attorney, claims that race was a factor in his arrest:

''Mr. Bryant was the victim of excessive force,'' Eisenberg said, according to Recorder.com. ''Police responded to the scene and rather than do an investigation, they made an arrest of a black man with a white wife."

As a Syracuse University Professor, I thought I would take a moment to express pride in the trade of Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks. Anthony has become one of the top players in the NBA, and the New York Knicks are now starting to behave like champions again. During my many trips to New York City, I'd long gotten a sense that nearly everyone in the city feels that their team is about as valuable as a used grocery bag with rotten fruit in it. The Knicks were among the biggest spenders in the league and even had one of the most valuable franchises, but continuously made investments in players who didn't exactly seem interested in, well, winning.

This weekend, I was driving through the middle of "Nowhere's Ville," Indiana, on my way to Chicago. Right as I was approaching South Bend, the home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, I ironically received an email from former Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz. Holtz and I had recently debated whether college athletes should be paid (we disagreed on the topic), but the coach was gracious enough to email me twice since the interview to say that he now considers us friends. I have a tremendous amount of respect for both Holtz and his noble gesture.

Adding to the irony of the trip was the fact that I also received a text message from a friend informing me that former Notre Dame/Chicago Bears football Star Dave Duerson had just been found dead in his condo. So, on a trip past Notre Dame on my way to Chicago, I receive both an email from Lou Holtz and a text message about a former Notre Dame/Chicago Bears star who'd just died that day. Perhaps this was a signal from a higher power that I needed to dig further into the issue.

Football superstar Michael Vick initially made plans to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show. But it's just been announced that Vick is not going to appear on the show, citing personal and professional conflicts that have made the appearance impossible.

"Mike postponed the taping because of the timing of the interview for personal and professional reasons," said Michael Vick's spokesman Chris Shigas. "He does not have a reschedule date at this time."

Dear Mr. Burress,

You and I have never met, and the truth is that we probably never will. Besides the fact that we are fellow New Yorkers, I'll admit that I'm not a New York Giants fan, and I've only seen you play on television a few times. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Boyce Watkins.

I am the founder of ALARM, the Athlete Liberation Academic Reform Movement. Our goal is to explore the experience of black athletes in America and to heighten their pursuit of intellectual awareness, leadership and personal fulfillment. Our goal is not to tell athletes what to think, it is to simply encourage them to think for themselves.

My eyebrows were raised in 2008, when you were convicted of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and second degree reckless endangerment after accidentally shooting yourself with the gun you had hidden in your pants. I hope you've healed from the incident, both physically and mentally. I give my condolences to you and your family, and I personally believe that Mayor Michael Bloomberg was wrong to try to make an example out of you. As we all saw in the case of Kelley Williams-Bolar, that kind of thing tends to happen to black people a lot these days.