Terrelle Pryor, four teammates suspended first five games of 2011

What's the total value of bowl schwag the players will get this year? What kind of stuff is the Sugar Bowl buying them this year? Don't forget mileage money. Are the OSU players travelling as a team or are they meeting down there? That's big money if they're allowed to find their own way to N.O.

 

POO is thinking the same thing I am.

The players get travel bags, clothes, rings, watches, iPods and other swag. I don't remember who did it, but there was a story within the last few years about the amount of stuff the bowls can give.

What does it matter if they sell the stuff, or a jersey or a ring? Big deal.

 

Fucking rules. Always screwing shit up.

 

I'd rather them sell something that's their rather than steal something that wasn't theirs (cough Cam Newton).

 

I think the swag maxes out at $500.

 

Correct.

But I think that excludes the clothing (t-shirts, hats and track suits, usually) and bowl watch. Some bowls are just giving players a Best Buy gift card for $500.

 

College Football Live currently on the air, including a straight-faced Craig James commenting on players receiving improper benefits.

 

No more so than if the five players were injured and unable to play. Plus you're talking five games out, assuming they all come back, than one.

There's nothing wrong with the athletes having their hands out, especially when some of them do have families who are struggling financially. It's the NCAA and the schools that are restricting them from earning what they are worth, through their rules.

I still don't see what's wrong with them selling the rings. They were awarded them. If they don't want to keep them, why should they have to hold on to them?

 

He can speak from experience, can't he?

 

Well, then I guess we can never discipline another important player or a group of players ever again. Because that would be "screwing the entire team."

Every single time I think the NCAA can't become more of a farce, it goes out of its way to prove me wrong.

 

A cynic would suggest there is an ulterior motive behind the NCAA office's decisions with regard to bowl game eligibility.

But not the one you're thinking of.

 

So USC gets killed because of someone's parents taking benefits. Auburn will likely get nailed a couple of years down the line for the same thing.

But a group of athletes deliberately set out to profit from their status as athletes, breaking basically NCAA Rule 101, and get off scot-free?

The NCAA, what a model of consistency.