DAC

Was Oscar cool?

So can the NCAA control you image forever? Oscar Robinson found out the hard way. "The answer was the NCAA had signed licensing deals with the companies without Robertson’s direct consent. The association maintains it has the right to control a player’s likeness in perpetuity." http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_ylt=AqSXQNVs.yWNoM8qLg8eK3jevbYF?slug=dw-robertson012611 But, hey, this is just amateur sports, right? Big O should be happy for his tuition (which was probably about $100 a semester then.) The courts will sort this out once the lawyers have made off with all the money. (Oscar shoulda gone to LAW school.)

Try Grand Lake St. Marys. All you neded is a huge, shallow lake with lots and lots of manure runoff.

Beautiful bike! GLWS. If I had seen something like this two years ago, I might be riding one of these now.

A very sad, and strange, event. I don't think we've heard the end to this one.

You make a good point on the other sports. Counterpoint: I'm guessing Tressel gets $2 million total - think the field hockey coach gets that too? How many sports would benefit if we cut the football coaching staff costs in half? Your last point seems to contradict your earlier one. So if the diploma isn't really worth anything, what is the player getting that has value? They're back to playing for room and board. In this vein, I really like what Tres did with the pros coming back to train with the college guys. If you didn't graduate, then you can't come back to work out here until you do. At least that was the way it used to be.

If he was so concerned, then I guess the question is why didn't he go to TSA or some other agency first? Or maybe he did. I have more sympathy for him if he tried to get this fixed through channels and then if he got no results went to the 'net.

Good luck. Hope it works out for you!

Happy B-day!

Fun discussion. And, uh, thanks for the "news flash." I'm paying for one, and next year two, kids to go to college. Wouldn't be doing that if I didn't think the "piece of paper" had value. So, to recap, the collective wisdom is: "Be happy with your $35k a year while we make a dumptruck sized loads of cash per game from wealthy alumni and the Big Ten Network or CBS." Understood. Or we could up the "stipend" to $20k per game for starters (25 players including kickers/specialists), $15k per game for players who see field time (another, say, 20) and $5k for 40 other dressing players. Then I think the problems like the one that started this thread go away. Not every team could afford or would be forced to do that. But that would be the max. Around $1 million a game. That's a respectable sliver of the take (probably less than 10% of the all-in revenue) for the players. And away we go . . .

What, the little league guys are left out?

They get paid $100k a year to play? That's news. If that's on top of tuition, room & board, books, etc., I stand corrected. I had thought that athletic dept. wrote a check to the univ. for tuition & fees and did reimbursement to the athlete for rent, etc.

That's the spirit!

Renting a car? You lost me. If you're saying these guys aren't ready to play pro football at 18, you're absolutely right. Almost none of 'em are ready at that age. However, your original point was that the researchers and student assistants at universities are getting pimped like the football players are. That's not on point. Bill Gates left Harvard very young (19 I think) to start Microsoft. There is no age limit for free enterprise risk-taking.

Look at it this way - the gate at OSU is something like $6 million +. That's just THE GATE! Not concessions, merch., media, etc. How much of that do the players get? Yeah, some will make millions in the pros some day, some will do okay. Others could have done that but blew out a knee or finished with 6 concussions. Still other players played, never went pro - but got an education and will treasure the memories forever. Look, I grew up here and I'm and OSU grad and I root for the Buckeyes. I love the place - but it's changed a lot. The college game has too. College athletics is mostly a business - still with some good people involved, just like any other business. Let's not pretend that these are just little amateur contests among some college kids. This is a more or less unpaid minor league for the NFL with some nice traditions and aesthetics thrown in. The players aren't here for their academic prowess or their saintly character. They're here to play.

Dunno. But there sure as hell isn't an NCAA or a Player's Union standing in their way if they want to take their skill to market. Right?

Better yet, pay the guys their fair share of the revenue. The Big T(12)en will take in between $200 and $250 million this year and these guys get suspended for selling some charms and autographs? This situation is brought on by NCAA/BCS/conference monopoly powers that, coupled with NFL collective bargaining, result in slave wages for these athletes.

81-year-old Buick-driving ladies smashing into the back of my daughter's stopped car at 45 mph.

I have always thought the Factory Five Shelby Cobra repicas were cool. Find a totaled 5.0 Mustang, get the kit then "some assembly required."

Actually, after watching a couple times, that looked like a good piece of riding and a sound last minute decision. Glad all turned out well. edit: actually, last second decision.

I believe it's free for U18 here.

I like Sesame Street. Please send me some blank signed copies for fun!

I was in SE Ohio today and I'm seeing a few on the road. Seems kinda early. If we don't get some rain, I think we'll have an early fall. Sort of new to riding the hills - but I don't think lots of leaves on the curvies is a good thing.

I had a work issue crop up that kept me busy 'til 1am but I still made it out. Didn't leave until 10 but got down to Athens via 56 to see the kid at OU and then back on 56 to 374 and 33 home. A shorter loop than planned but still nice. Hit some gravel in a place or two that took the starch out of my shorts but no mishaps.