Terrelle Pryor, four teammates suspended first five games of 2011

It's a small point but there is still zero evidence that Auburn paid anybody a dime for Newton's services.

The fact that Newton's dad is a slimy piece of shit and asked MSU for money isn't enough proof.

 

Get ready to lose the respect. For as much as he talks a good game, Tressel's slimy as the rest.

 

When Lou Holtz was HC at Arkansas they were playing Oklahoma in Orange Bowl. OK was playing for National championship. Holtz suspended his top 2 RB's and started an unknown freshman -- Roland Sales who ran for 205 yards. AK won the game and cost OK the National Championship.

 

Alaska played in that game?

 

Holtz might not be the best coach to use as an example if you are arguing for NCAA rules and following them.

 

The twitter word of the day yesterday was that Tressel was going to sit those players for the first quarter or possibly the first half.

I know this has been said before, but something's going to give and probably soon. The amount of money on the line isn't minor anymore. Kid misses a field goal and it costs his school and conference an $18 million payday plus the hundreds of millions in national and regional exposure. You almost can't put a dollar figure on what it means in marketing world to play for the BCS title game.

Boise is, of course, the most recent example of this.

And, yes, even big-time programs benefit when they have successful athletic programs. Alumni donations go up, interest goes up, enrollment climbs.

But the athletes get a scholarship and a pretty much guaranteed job when they leave school. Across campus, the other best and brightest students also get scholarships, a decent shot at a job when graduation comes along with a stipend and the ability to make money in their field while they are still a student.

Yet no one seems to have a problem when the a writer at the student paper also strings for AP and a nearby metro.

 

The two things aren't comparable.

The reason players can't sell things like this is it will lead to corruption. If they're allowed to sell jerseys and rings, certain schools will give them more jerseys and rings as an inducement to attend. If they're allowed to have jobs, boosters will create fake jobs to lure them to school. That's the reality of the situation.

No one is lining up student journalists with jobs at the AP to lure them away from other schools.

Players are never going to get paid. Never. The sooner everyone realizes that the better. Is it fair? No. So what? Lots of things in life aren't fair. When an actor wins an Oscar in his debut film role, he doesn't get more money. He makes his money on the next movie. Same thing here - the players who are stars will make their money down the road. The players who are not stars will get a free education. It's not a bad deal.

 

I'd argue that their job isn't guaranteed. Unless they're an absolute shoo-in to be a lottery pick, there's nothing guaranteed. Guys who are slated to be first-round picks in the NBA draft end up not getting drafted. Heck, look at Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers was slated to be in the top 10 and nearly fell out of the first round. And NFL contracts aren't guaranteed, beyond the bonus.

It's only corruption because the NCAA is saying it is. I'd argue, and I'm sure economists would agree, that what the players are doing is merely capitalism.

They actually are allowed to have jobs. The NCAA changed the rule earlier in the decade after being dragged kicking and screaming into passing the rule. However, the athletes are only allowed to earn a certain amount ($2,000 a year, I think?), and the job has to be a legitimate job.

And besides, many coaches frown on their athletes having any sort of life beyond their sport and their academics.

 

So the Sugar Bowl CEO has enough pull with the NCAA to keep these players eligible. Nah, money doesn't trump all in CFB. Not at all.

 

Capitalism is more than taking advantage of an inequitable situation. To the extent that Free Market Capitalism exists, and it doesn't, is when there is easy access to the markets for both buyer and seller. These highly paid college athletes, easily earning $100,000.00/yr in education, room, board, travel, use of world class facilitates, are provided with benefits that not only the normal student doesn't get, but 90% of the student athletes at their school gets. What's going on isn't capitalism, it's Russian Oligarch-ism. Special rewards to connected people. These select college athletes aren't even buying merchandise low and selling at a profit, they are selling gifts. It is corruption for that reason.

 

"I appreciate and fully understand the Midwestern values and ethics behind that," he said. "But I'm probably thinking of this from a selfish perspective."

Selfish as in I want my fucking bonus.

 

Might be more the pull of ESPN