Terrelle Pryor tears himself away from college life

Trouble is, Junkie, without the big win-at-all-costs football and basketball schools at the top of the pyramid, the entire economic structure of college sports collapses. For the NCAA to start shooting down its big programs would be suicidal. In a very real sense, Terrelle Pryor's tattoos are the price of the NCAA Div-3 track and field championships.

 

The NCAA D-III Track and Field championships have been around since at least 1985

http://www.ncaa.com/history/trackfield-indoor-men/d3/

And I would think that there were other major meets before that. D-III teams financed teams before the money explosion. They can continue to do so if the money is taken away. It might mean some bake sales and car washes, but oh well.

The NCAA has been around since 1906. The system of amateur student athletes has always been tested, going back to George Gipp. Yet, big-time college sports has become an even bigger money-maker, thanks to TV, video-game sales, and marketing. Yet, the athletes are getting the same deal they've been receiving for the last 80 years. If anything, they're getting less. They used to get "laundry money."

 

I know Ohio University received $850,000 to go the Horseshoe, much needed cash for an athletic department that has been cash-strapped since the recession hit.

 

It gets worse for OSU.... http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/exclusive-ncaa-discovers-checks-to-pryor-29745

 

D-1 should give the kids the choice of being a full time collegiate athlete, taking the cash equivalent to a scholarship, less room and board; or the kids can be real student-athletes under the current rules.

Stop the charade, most D-1 athletes, even football and basketball, have a realistic view of their future and will at least try and earn a real degree. Those that don't weren't going to get a degree anyway.

 

Quote from the OSU AD: "We understand Terrelle's decision and wish him well in this next phase of his life. We hope he returns to The Ohio State University one day to finish his degree."

I needed a laugh today; thanks, Gene.

 

And let's not forget the truckload of money Ohio & other shitty basketball schools receive due to the TV money generated by the NCAA basketball tournament they never play in.

And yeah, Division III schools are able to operate on a smaller budget because they don't have to pay for athletic scholarships. The kids are essentially paying to play there.

 

At this point they have to be happy that he left. It would be a major distraction and stunt the ability to move forward.

Perhaps they even showed him the door.

It is the best outcome for both parties.

 

edit for accuracy

 

So, when does the IRS start snooping around Terrelle's finances, what with all this cash he got for signing autographs? And, how soon will federal tax evasion charges be filed? Hey, he could start in yet another remake of "The Longest Yard."

 

Let it go. Probably no worse that what the writer of tax code did - Congressman Charlie Rangel

 

So many points to address as i read through the four pages of this thread.

Capitalism is clearly built on paying people fair value for their worth and contribution. Does it happen all the time? No. Is it right more often than not. Yes. In the college of college football and basketball, it's completely out of whack and inequitable to the players, despite the value of a scholarship.

It's not that difficult to figure out how to pay college athletes--all of them, and withstand any legal challenges. It's called revenue sharing. Every team gets a percentage of the revenue they generate--attendance, TV revenue, merchandising. The archery team gets their percent, the women's gymnastics theirs, and the football team theirs--which will be millions.

If anyone thinks this is only going on at 15-20 universities, you're living in fucking fantasyland. Try about 5 times that number. There are kids getting stuff under the table at probably every major conference university in the country.

And the best example of why the system is broken is all the various Pryors and Newtons and Bushes and et al that continually surface. Sure, the organizations may have their rules, but the individuals playing within those organizations are stating through their actions that the rules are antiquated and absurd. The Olympics tried to espouse the whole amateur athlete thing for years and continued to run into incident after incident of people abusing the rules. When they finally came to the conclusion that their participants were professional athletes, and that was ok, the sporting events survived and flourished and the scandal went away.

I've said this before--100 years from now, people will look back in amazement that college football and basketball players did not get paid.