SI: Oklahoma State football players got sex, drugs and money

Good reporting by SI in the traditional sense, but if I may borrow Jason Whitlock's gimmick for a moment, it's just like busting drug dealers for hand-to-hand buys and thinking any greater good will come of it. It's the system that's truly corrupt, and that's why a report like this, while done with good intentions, will be ignored a month from now.

Dope on the table. No larger issues to address here.

It's sort of craven to just shit on the reporting from your couch, because I suppose one can argue enough stories like this that show how rotten the system is from the inside (at least rotten within the current rules) can bring about real systematic change. But in a way, it just keeps the same corruption in power because they get to pretend like they're cleaning shit up when Ok State gets punished a year from now.

 

Almost starving? What kind of bullshit hyperbole is that? I've yet to see a Division I athlete who has to resort to Ramen or PB&J like normal students frequently do. Has anyone seen a training table at these schools? Nobody eats better than these guys.

If they're complaining that they don't have enough spending money to go out to dinner, well, that may be legitimate. But starving? Give me a fucking break.

 

Again, the dining hall beckons, with unending delights from the kitchen.

 

There are schools that have a chef on call 24-7. I'm not sure how widespread this is, but I know a few schools that have it, or at least had it a few years ago...

 

Is there a "training table" in the offseason? Just curious.

 

Yes, if classes are in session, the dining hall is open. And every big-time football weight room has a "nutrition center" with fruit, smoothies, etc.

 

I imagine there have been some interesting phone calls between Time and SI editors in the last week.

 

It was a few years but I knew a big-time DI player pretty well. He's in the NFL now but in college he was a broke ass poor guy from a broke ass poor family.

He didn't have the money to buy a Happy Meal at McDonald's let alone the suits he needed for the various post-season functions. The fact he was ginormous didn't help.

His entire wardrobe consisted of athletic gear from the university but that's beside the point.

Things have changed and sure his school had a dining hall and a snack area in the athletic complex but places operated under normal hours, at least then and if he had wanted to get something to eat after, say 8 at night. Somebody else had to buy or he went hungry until the dining hall opened back up for breakfast.

I'm not sure if starving is the right way to describe his situation but it was pretty miserable and not the glamorous life one thinks a big-time college athlete has.

 

I'm sorry but I don't understand.

The article says that OK St. provided under the table payments to players, provided them with jobs which involved no work, did their schoolwork for them, allowed them to use and possibly deal drugs and provided them with some sex partners. I don't think that is exactly "preparing kids for the real world".

 

I look at the money portion the other way -- every one more of these stories that gets out puts us closer to the system collapsing on itself. Very few people begrudge the kids the money anymore, whether they're living high like Cam Newton or they're just paying the bills. It's ultimately just another way to point out the hypocrisy of the NCAA foofs.

Where this story gets different is the sex and drugs. Pretty hard to justify that as the normal rewards of doing business.

The academic part will be interesting, but this is after the school that gave us Dexter Manley. And even outside the athletic department, I don't think anyone goes to Oklahoma State with the idea of being serious about studies.

 

I think everyone involved who is still playing or coaching should be suspended for the first half of their next meaningless game.

 

So what happens between mid-December and mid-January and during the various breaks in the year throughout the spring and summer?