Samardzija to play pro baseball and football

if it does let the record show that I spelled it correctly

 

If Jeff Samardzija and Mike Krzyzewski were being interviewed by Gene Wojciechowski, would the closed captioner just quit in the middle of the interview?

 

The closed caption, like Boom, would just go on none the wiser.

 

It's different because Samardzija will be receive a salary from the Cubs.

The key with Bloom was endorsements. The NCAA ruled that Bloom could have received endorsements because he was a football player and not a skier. It may seem asinine, but what if a Colorado booster was a CEO of a company that gave Bloom $1 million for skiing? It's a slippery slope at best.

As long as Samardzjia doesn't receive any endorsement money (and it's doubtful he will in rookie or A ball), he should be fine.

 

I think he's playing in Idaho this summer, with the Boise Hawks of the Northwest League. I hope he enjoys bus rides.

Last I checked, ND doesn't control media access for the Boise Hawks. Ask him whatever the hell you want, whenever the hell you want. If the kid is smart enough to get into ND - which, as they tell us, values academics over athletics every day of the week asnd only recruits true student/athletes - then he should be capable of thinking for himself and acting like an independent adult for two months this summer without someone from the ND SID office babysitting him.

I'm not so sure he's an NFL first-round draft choice. He's an Ed McCafferty clone.

 

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned that the ND SID was upset over the thought of Samardzija having to answer questions all by himself this summer. I know bashing Bud is like shooting fish in a barrel, but where does Bud get off telling a team how to negotiate a contract with a draft pick? I realize he's always on the lookout for the best interests of baseball, but doesn't he have other more important things on his plate right now? [/sarcasm font] Micromanaging just a bit?

From Paul Sullivan's notes in The Tribune

"Baseball America reported the Cubs plan to give their fifth-round draft pick a $7.25 million bonus if he winds up making baseball his primary sport over football. Samardzija, a wide receiver for the Fighting Irish, and the Cubs have agreed in principle to a five-year deal that will be backloaded so the Cubs will pay out less than $1 million over one year if he opts for the NFL and gives up baseball.

Justin Upton, the No. 1 pick in 2005, received a $6.1 million bonus from Arizona, the record for a player signed by the team drafted him. Baseball America, citing unnamed sources, reported Commissioner Bud Selig was upset by the Samardzija bonus and became personally involved in the negotiations because the Cubs have upset the slotting structure for signing bonuses, giving out money no first-round pick has ever received to a player selected in the fifth round.

 

I don't think Samardzija is your typcial fifth-rounder, though. I think he would have gone higher had he not also been a top football player.

Still not worth $7 million, but hey, who am I to question The Tribune Company? They certainly know how to build a team that can win a pennant.

 

No argument there. Stanford always put out quality receivers under Walsh/Green.

 

You're sort of making my points for me Freelance. I wasn't saying Samardzija was or wasn't worth the money. I was more saying: 1) If Bud's going to step in, he should realize the kid would have likely gone higher had he not played football as well. So the contract likely won't upset Bud's precious bonus/salary structure as much as he fears it will. 2) Who is Bud, supposedly the commissioner (laugh, laugh, cough, cough,) to tell any team how to pay its players/draft picks? To me, this is worse than a few weeks back when David Stern wanted to give the Knicks some advice. Here Bud apparently is actively getting into the running of a team, which I think IMHO is way overstepping his bounds. That is, if was a real commissioner.

 

Good thing the Tribune Company CEO didn't go to Notre Dame! Oh, wait, their third in charge did. I wonder if he lobbied for the Cubs to draft the ND guy so he'd have some money and be better off in football.

 

Especially since bending over and taking it up the ass following ND's media policies isn't going to earn you a break from those guys. Unless of course you're from ESPN.

Again: Fuck Charlie Weis.

I'd find a hungry kid in Boise and pay him to get quotes for use in my Indiana-area story on Jeff whatshisface.