The bowl season is in full-swing, and what can beat lounging out on the couch with some buddies and watching two teams go at it on a neutral field in front of 10,000 people?
So maybe I hyped it up a little bit just to have a drop off there at the end, but I do love bowl season just because it gives me another chance to watch my favorite sport, College Football. One likes to think that while watching this sport, the athletes are pure and honest.
However, word from Columbus, Ohio is that there's another chapter in the book of "Cheating"
To the NCAA, the cheating going on is receiving improper benefits from their schools or others around them. But the situation at Ohio State doesn't look wrong to me.
Terrell Pryor sold his own 2008 Big Ten Championship ring. The ring was put in his ownership, why is he not allowed to do what he wants with it? If he wants to hop over to Niagara Falls and throw it off the top, what's wrong with that? It's HIS property.
I know plenty of players in the NCAA that are on full ride scholarships, but come from lower class backgrounds. The argument is "These players don't have to pay for school, they should have plenty of money from home to cover any spending money they need."
In reality, most of those players do have that cash flow from home. But for those players who don't, what are they supposed to do?
Pick up a part time job? The average college football team spends a lot of time on physical workouts alone. When I say physical workouts, I also factor in the time it takes to prepare for those workouts, drive to the field, and the time it takes after practice until they get back to their living arrangement. In High School, I spent three to for hours on this, I can't imagine what they do at the college level. On top of that, you have film, you have your whole Saturday taken away for games, your whole Friday taken for away games, and Sunday's for post-game weight lifting and film. Oh, and don't forget about those pesky classes they fit between all of that.
So after all of that, where's the time for a job? How is a player supposed to earn any money at all? Granted, the schools do provide mealplans and dorms if the players want them, but they don't pay for taking the girlfriend out for a night on the town, going to catch the latest installment of their favorite movie at the theater, and they sure don't help them out when it's time to buy Christmas presents for the entire family in December.
So with that said, why can't the players make money off of the property given to them? I would say that it definitely needs to be regulated (i.e. walking off the field and selling everything they're wearing to the crowd of people waiting.) But to sell their jersey, in A.J. Green's case, or their championship ring, in the Ohio State case, what's wrong with it?
Let the athletes protect their wellbeing and financial situation. Regulate it to some degree, but let the athletes do what they want with their property and the things that they've earned through years of playing and practicing, and countless hours representing the school they play for.
That's all for this post, I'm off to enjoy the family during the Christmas Holiday. Merry Christmas to all of my readers, and I wish you a Happy New Year!
Go Cowboys, Pokes, Rangers, Mavs, and Stars!
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