All I know is... if Pat Haden is worried, you should probably be worried as well. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130402/ed-obannon-ncaa-case-primer/
What puzzles me is that ESPN Classic is not involved. Not that there is any liabiliby there but what the hell, sue everybody.
Yeah it's just awful that kids get to go to college for free. I'm supposed to feel bad that they aren't getting money, that gasp some of them have a hard time taking their girlfriend to a movie. I mean other than athletes every student has plenty of money to live the good life. None of them have to work another job, live in crap housing, drive crap cars if they even have one and then when they graduate they usually have college debt to boot. Oh boo hoo. And all that money that a few evil schools earn, as we all know the vast majority of athletic depts not name ND, Mich, Texas, Ohio State, etc operate in the red. So lets kill off college sports so that a few stars aren't shorted some money due to them.
You guys are swinging and missing. That's ok, lots of people do. That's not where the issue lies. Lots of articles, including this one, miss the point by even mentioning current players. Granted, the most recent ruling in this case allows for them to be included but that won't go anywhere. I believe that's a concession even the author made in this article. Where they are dead in the water is the past player issue. The NCAA just has no good ground to stand on there. They are dead. They continue to play chicken with this issue not realizing their are a butt naked hippie on a 10 speed in the fast lane headed straight for an 18 wheeler. There is a contractual agreement in place. It's a renewable annual agreement between player, university and the NCAA. The NCAA and the universities broke that when they began cashing those checks from EASports who was selling a game featuring FORMER players alongside of current ones. When you sign that agreement, you are not forever terminating your rights to licensing. That is the issue here. People get too obfuscated on the 'paying current players' issue and that dog just doesn't hunt. Thanks to the last ruling, it now becomes possible..but it's not likely. Where that becomes increasingly likely, or at least possible, is if the NCAA continues to push this forward playing that game of chicken... This is the NCAA making this happen. Just so we're clear, you guys have that part down right? The NCAA caused this due to their greed cashing in on former players. Had they just admitted they were wrong, cut a few checks and reworked the EA contract, none of this would be necessary. The NCAA is trying to bull their way through, which it's always done successfully, but that's not going to happen here. If you read what the original legal case is, the NCAA has zero leg to stand on. They keep wanting to fight, and they'll lose. The amount they stand to lose is growing by the day because they refuse to settle. You can mock the players. Mock the lawyers.. mock everyone but the NCAA.. but the only one who was greedy was the NCAA. The only one who cashed in illegally, was the NCAA. The reason this is an issue instead of a back page line item, is the NCAA.
Maybe so, but the greedy lawyers/former players want tons of money. So much money that it will kill college sports. They are wrong to do that...and I can't wait to see the looks on the players faces when they see how their own lawyers will end up with the Lions share of the money if they win.
and who is at fault there? I've read article after article, including one I could swear you posted, that fully agrees the former players would settle. That's the damnable thing here. The players would have settled. They didn't start out looking to bring down the NCAA. They went looking to get paid because the NCAA/Universities are making tens of millions of dollars directly off of their name/likeness. The NCAA knew what it was doing. It's the bully that thinks you won't punch back. The problem is, someone finally punched back and this is a fight the NCAA can't win. It's the pride of the NCAA that has made this worse. So you can blame those former players all you want, but the reality is that once again it is the NCAA/Universities that are screwing the kids over..the NCAA is clearly the drunk uncle at the holiday party that someone needs to go put in time out. But no one will do that, and in fact, people excuse their behavior. On a note in which I do agree with you and Gip on.. I think the 'pay the current players' group is now trying to piggy back on this issue because for once, the NCAA is just dead wrong. I don't think it will work. The best thing the NCAA has going for them is the annual/renewable one-year scholarship agreement that is signed every year by every player. That keeps them protected. If this current case goes any further past the class certification, the NCAA could risk losing that protection.. and it will be their fault because they won't swallow their pride and admit guilt.
Hey these former players have it made better than slugs like Arod. They don't have to do anything. They don't have to keep in shape, practice or play. They just sit there and watch EA do all the creative work. Then they show up and want to get paid for doing nothing. Just more members of our completely unproductive society.
I'm sorry, but we'll have to agree to disagree. I can't imagine if your respective schools (Texas and Notre Dame) were still trading directly on your name/likeness and profiting in abundance without ever consulting you or offering you compensation, that you'd both take that lying down. Whatever the school profits while you are under contract/scholarship is fair game in my opinion. That contract does not, however, extend in perpetuity. That's the ethos of this case. That's abundantly clear and anyone who has read it can't deny it. There's no way out for the NCAA here other than settling, or blowing themselves up. Hate em all you want, but you guys are quite clearly defending the thief and blaming the victim here.
Corey should listen to Nick Wright a Houston Drive time sports guy. This morning he was arguing with everybody that football players are getting screwed, that Cam Newton should have been paid 500K for his NC year. He thinks that players should be able to sell their services to local advertisers and it's just business. He wouldn't accept that places would over pay players, that recruiting would be a bigger mess than it is now. He thinks star players on the team should get paid more than regular guys, he gives a **** if women soccer players don't get jack, they don't earn jack for the school. He would not accept any argument that it would be bad for collegiate athletics. He wouldn't accept any argument that it would change the competitive level with the rich getting even richer. Sometimes when a few individuals and that's what we are talking about here a few star players probably who's "image" is really worth a nickel aren't getting paid, that you do what's best for the whole rather than the individual.
Anyone this stupid hasn't heard of Title IX. Probably can't count to IX either. Another "fairness" driven moron.
somebody threw that at him and he said BS Title IX is about participation and that paying star football players doesn't affect participation of women's sports. One of the examples besides the whole EA Sports College Football Game...is the money the school makes off of selling a players jersey. Now at least at ND the jersey's don't have names on them and neither do the replicas in the bookstore. So if I buy a number 5 who gets paid? Paul Hornung? edit: I just checked the Texas bookstore and Longhorn replica jersey's just have numbers as well. So again who gets paid?
Hey! That may mean that Brian is entitled to compensation from all those ND #23 jerseys sold. Also Autry Denson, who I'm sure requested the number worn by Baker. :lol: :lol:
Terry and Mike, Precisely. People like that do not know what they are talking about. They obfuscate the issue with their hot air fueled by ignorance and no real working knowledge of how college athletics work. If these morons get what they want, then you'll be looking at fewer men's sports. That's the reality of Title IX. You'll get no cuts from women's sports because there's still no exemption for football, nor female equivalent for the sport in Title IX's crusade to 'equality.' In reality, they are 2 totally different issues. Again, the reason this is going on and the reason those 2 issues may wind up fused into one cause is due to the NCAA attempting to bully their way through the theft. Sid, LOL. I was just talking about that yesterday. At school's like ND and Alabama there are obviously legendary players who share a number with regular players. This WOULD be a slippery slope, except that it's not. The contention is that EASports designed the games so it still has specific teams/players from the past. If you've ever looked at the games, the NCAA and EASports stayed carefully away from directly marketing the player's names by labeling them with numbers instead of last names. It's a bit disingenuous but it's a loophole nonetheless. The issue is, for example, there is a #31 for the 1995 UCLA National Championship team. There was only one #31 on that team.. Ed O'Bannon. You can't play with all former UCLA teams, just the 'legendary' ones. It's not just UCLA, there's dozens of those teams in the game. No one waived their rights for that, no one signed anything. They just keep making money off of it. That's the issue.
Terry, To address your specific question, I sort of answered it in my response to Sid but to spell it out clearly. It's the former players who the schools, the NCAA and EASports are still profiting from after their playing days are done. The center of the issue is the licensing deal signed with EASports. The NCAA and the member schools are quite clearly making a profit selling the likeness of individual players. Without having seen the game, it's hard to show you just how clear it is but if I sat you down in front of a gaming system (XBOX360, PS3 etc) with one of those games loaded in, it wouldn't take me 2 seconds to show you and you would quite clearly see what I mean. It's not 'all #31s who played for UCLA'. It's the #31 from the 1995 NC UCLA basketball team. It couldn't be more specific without actually naming the player O'Bannon. Then there is also the issue of things like this: http://all-pro-authentics.stores.yahoo.net/edoucbrthje.html You can't look at something like that and say 'the school isn't still making money off the guy.' I know you said the jerseys didn't have names on the back, and that is most likely true in many cases. If the school was smart, selling nameless jerseys is the way to go. However, I've seen Ricky Williams jerseys in the stores here. I know I can head into the mall right now and buy a Mark Ingram jersey. I can buy a Kenny Stabler jersey.. ditto that for Bo Jackson or insert former Bama/Auburn player here. That's not right. Now there's no way anyone can stop you from buying a blank jersey and you putting the name on it yourself. That's legal. Who is to say it isn't your name? That being said, when the item is on the rack, tagged with the proper NCAA license and made at the manufacturer.. that's merchandising in which the NCAA/schools are getting paid for, but the former player is not.
Additionally, as tasteless as I find this, I have no issue with this since it's 100% legal.. Adidas and Louisville cashing in on the kid's horrible injury. He'll get zero money from this because he's getting paid with an education and stipend. http://deadspin.com/predictably-louisville-and-adidas-are-now-trying-to-pr-468569876 ps Side chuckle.. deadspin bitching about anyone 'cashing in.'
Somebody explain to me why ESPN can reshow (to fill air time and make money) classic football games and other sporting events with former NCAA athletes and it's not the same as a video game (where the virtual player is created by EA sports.) Not too long ago, ESPN had a "tournment" trying to decide the greates athlete of all time. (Bo Jackson and MJ I think were the finalists.) How come they're not entitled to be compensated for that. How about all the old boxing movies that they show? I'm sorry, I just don't get what the claim is other than O'Bannon and company are trying to get a piece of the action from EA's intellectual property.
The aired contests took place while the players were under contract with their school and the NCAA. The EASports games weren't even created yet while many of these guys were playing. I, like many of you, fear the possibility of the players getting paid and forming a union. That will be the death of college sports as we now know it. A good way to force that issue to come about is to continue to turn the other cheek while the NCAA continues to run roughshod doing whatever they want. The argument against paying the players is that they are already compensated. They do sign off on this and that's pretty black and white. The NCAA took that a step further and that's the issue. The NCAA ruthlessly regulates what players can and cannot do.. the only endorsements players can give are approved by the NCAA. With a collective resource comprised of the nation's best business and law schools, surely someone has to have a better plan than this for the NCAA. There's legal precedent for this. The NCAA stepped in it badly. There's no way they are going to escape this. They could make all of this go away by simply cutting a check and settling. They could have done that long ago. Instead, they press on like a bull in a china shop and they're going to tear the whole thing down on top of them as all the whores come piling on as this thing gains momentum. It's becoming a lot more than what it started out as, and that's the NCAA's fault.
I have a question re this topic! What happens if the NCAA is disbanded? Does this pending suit have any recourse? Bobda and Gip might has some insight?