It's been several years since Cyd Zeigler and Wade Davis met and started having deep conversations about issues in sports. Whether it's the role of race in coaches hirings, the importance of gay athletes coming out of the closet or the popularity of women's sports, they always find areas of agreement and issues to spar on.

Every week Wade and Cyd will tackle a new topic in sports in a new video series, 'From The Bench.' We call it that because they've both hung up their cleats – except for being occasional weekend warriors. They're sitting on the bench talking about athletes and coaches out there every day just trying to find an advantage.

In our first episode, the guys talk about the analogy tying the NCAA to a slave-owning plantation. Is it accurate? Is it fair? They bring perspectives of two different races to the analogy, and Wade even takes a guess as to what his fair market value was as a Weber State football player in the late Nineties.

You can follow You Can Play project executive director Wade Davis on Twitter @wade_davis28. Cyd Zeigler is, predictably, @cydzeigler.

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