As the NBA Season has ended, and the NFL lockout is still in effect, there isn't much to blog about lately. It's hard to stretch for topics, and I highly doubt that you want to hear any of my political ideas (hint: Everyone involved in politics are really, really dumb). There's one looming topic that will need to be talked about, but I would prefer to wait until the last day possible to talk about the NBA Draft (hint: Tomorrow). So why am I blogging? Did I really just type 4 sentences to tell you that I have nothing to talk about? Did I just con you into clicking this link so it looks like my blog is more popular than it really is (maybe)? Did we really land on the moon? The answers: No, Maybe, and Yes (maybe). Then what, Mr. Baldwin, could you have gathered all of these innocent people here to read about?
For starters, Terrell Pryor. He's been officially out of Ohio State for a couple of weeks now. He's declared for the supplemental draft. He signed an outspoken agent. He can now trade merchandise for more tattoos without any fear of consequences (unless you count Hepatitis and AIDS, but he can't get those from the NCAA... or can he?). But there is one thing that he must fear, more than anything else. That thing, is Jon Gruden. Now, it's inevitable that Gruden is going to "like this guy," but will anyone else? I think Pryor will definitely get picked up in the supplemental draft, but not anywhere near where his agent says (first round... nice try Drew).
The interesting part of this Gruden special, airing next Thursday at 9 pm on ESPN and then at 10 pm on ESPN2 (I don't even get paid by Disney to say that... I should though...), will be seeing how Pryor answers Gruden's questions. They have already released a clip of the interview, when Gruden basically just asks Pryor "This guy.. what's goin' on with this guy?" (paraphrasing). Pryor gives the answer he should, which isn't telling. He answers the way that anybody in his right mind (though that may be questionable for him) would answer. He's sorry, he messed up, he left for the benefit of his former team, he feels bad about getting the Vest fired, etc. It would be telling if he sat there and said "I just wanted some tats, and I had this s*** laying around, and thought some dudes might be interested in that. It's Jimmy's fault that he covered it up, he could have turned me in, and I would have been in the real NFL Draft. Am I sorry? Yeah, I'm sorry I got caught." That, would have been telling. But he didn't say that, so you have to read into how he says it. From what I've heard people say about the interview(I haven't watched the clip, just had audio), Pryor doesn't make a lot of eye contact with Gruden, but was enthusiastic and engaged. How are we supposed to feel about that? I don't know. I do know that I'll be recording the episode next week so I can watch Pryor like I'm Tim Roth in "Lie to Me" currently airing on Fox, Friday's at 9 pm (I'm not employed or compensated by Fox either...).
Should Pryor have left Ohio State? Yes. Is Ohio State better off without Pryor? Yes. Is Pryor an NFL quarterback? Probably not. Is Ohio State going to compete for a national championship anytime soon? No. Which bear is best? False. Black bears. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
-----------------------------
Hey! Remember when I wrote that blog about that guy who had this "ground-breaking" article in Sports Illustrated? Remember when I broke it down point by point giving reasons why it was full of weak arguments? Remember when a couple of the players listed as being involved with tattoo parlor came out and said/proved they didn't have any tattoos? Remember when the Ohio B.M.V. investigated the sale of 25 vehicles, and found that 24 of them were sold for a profit, and that none of the players listed had received any special discount, or had given any merchandise in return for deals on the car? Remember when the guy who wrote that article got fired? Oh wait, that didn't happen yet. But it should. Idiot.
----------------------------------------------
Hey! Remember when I listed a couple options for "fixing" the NCAA's problem with players receivng improper benefits? Well, after reading Jay Bilas' article on ESPN.com ( I swear, I'm not affiliated at all, I just read a lot of sports stuff), I got fired up again. This respectable analyst (seriously, he is respectable; he might be from Duke, but when it comes to on the court stuff, he knows what he's talking about) thinks that athletes should be able to profit from their likeness. He doesn't propose that players should be paid by the school, but that they shouldn't be prohibited to signing legal contracts to profit from their likeness. Let me say be the millionth person to say, that's stupid.
If that happens, then why go to college? I think the biggest thing people on Bilas' side forget is that these kids are in college. They get paid by the college to play a sport for them, and yes that does make the school a lot of money, sometimes. There are a whole lot of schools that don't make money off their sports. And it's only in men's football and basketball, so this is even more ridiculous. But the point of being a college student is to- get a degree. If Bilas' had his way, what is the difference between college sports and professional sports? What about the kids who can wait to earn their money? The kids who have these problems are the stars who will be in the NFL anyway. Why do they need a headstart on that money? Why do they deserve a head start? Their likeness would mean nothing if it weren't for the school they were attending. They will profit from their likeness when their preparation for their intended career path is complete, just like other college students.
BUT OTHER COLLEGE KIDS CAN HAVE A JOB! THEY CAN MAKE MONEY! Fine. Let the athletes get jobs on campus, like the other kids on campus. That's how it becomes "fair" and there's no more excuses. Kids on academic scholarships aren't signing contracts and trying to profit from their name. Yes, maybe they're going to be the top doctor in their field some day, but they're not signing a contract with the Cleveland Clinic to appear on a billboard, or show up and sign casts for money. They're probably working part-time, and studying their lives away, because when you're on a full-ride for academics, your GPA has to stay above about a 3.7... not a 2.0... so you can't skip class and breeze your way through it. The kids who don't have full-rides? They incur tens of thousands of dollars of debt, that will take maybe a fifth of their remaining lifetime to pay off. The athletes on the full rides? At worst, they don't go to the NFL, the get a degree from a high caliber university and have no debt to pay off. That's not fair? Cry me a river.
It is a business. The players are paid fairly, more than most college kids get in their college jobs. What job do you get paid based off of how much money your company brings in? Oh, none... unless you're on commission (and that's how much you sell, not the company's overall revenue) or you're self-employed. And the amount of revenue that colleges bring in doesn't vary based off what players are on the team, or how many passing/rushing/receiving yards they have. Football schools are football schools- they're going to bring in money regardless of who's under the helmet. I have a number 7 Ohio State jersey that I bought when Ted Ginn Jr. was on the team. But there's no name on it. Guess what? There is going to be a new player wearing number 7 every 4 years, maximum. Guess whose jersey is timeless? Not Ted Ginn's. But Adam Baldwin's #7 Ohio State jersey is.
No comments:
Post a Comment