December 24, 2010

Tattoo OSU.

Ouch!
Terrelle Pryor and four of his Ohio State teammates will be suspended from the first five games of the 2011 season ... for first accepting discounted rates on tattoos and then letting that escalate into selling personal OSU memorabilia to the owner of a local tattoo parlor....

32 comments:

Bartender Cabbie said...

At least they are not car jacking.

kjbe said...

Unfortunately, we don't play them until Oct. 29. It's the first thing we checked when we saw the headline this morning...

Pete the Streak said...

Explain to me again why they're eligible for the upcoming bowl game?

Oh - right. For the NCAA, it's all about the loot.

Absurd.

I wouldn't be too concerned, k*thy. TPeezy and crew won't stick around for the consequences (unless they are drastically reduced). We visit them Nov. 19; I expect them to be long gone.

madAsHell said...

Tattoos....tomorrow's regret today!!

AllenS said...

They got caught selling their autographs, awards, trophies. They won't be able to sell the tattoos.

Anonymous said...

It's sad to me that they were in a position where they "needed" to get $1000 for selling their BigTen champ or RoseBowl rings. They probably don't understand how rare/important those things are. They don't understand that in the not too distant future, football will be gone and the memories and rings would have been much more important to them then the $1000.

rhhardin said...

It's worse than that. The local Rush affiliate preemted Rush for an athletic department news conference.

Talk about bad programming decisions.

The voice of listeners uninterested in soap opera is once again ignored.

rhhardin said...

The root of the problem is the monopoly power of college football.

Pay the players what they're worth.

Ann Althouse said...

Not only are tattoos permanent, but these guys now have the tattoos as a constant reminder of their colossal screwup.

Clyde said...

"I've seen the needle and the damage done..."

AllenS said...

"I went to Ohio State and all I got was this lousy tattoo."

rhhardin said...

Maybe the band could learn some tattoos.

kjbe said...

We actually weren't too concerned. More curious (and cynical) than anything - their aura isn't quite what it used to be :)

Lincolntf said...

They sold their own property? And didn't file a 1099?
Hang 'em high.

traditionalguy said...

The minor leagues for developing future NFL multi-millionaires will just keep increasing their size to add games to their TV contracts sold to finance multi-millionaire coaches and add 50 million to the schools income...with a the rule of no compensation for its athletes. Reality is more interesting than fantasy everytime.

Tank said...

Who pays more than $1,000 for someone else's Big 10 ring? What do you do with that? Is there a market for those?

Hey, that's a nice ring you've got on. Yeah I bought it from an OSU player [who is now in the NFL, bagging groceries, in jail, whatever]. I mean, is it so you can lie and say you played? Or your just a jerk wearing a ring someone else earned?


Add to the list of collectable stuff I "don't get."

AllenS said...

Stuff you won't see on the Antiques Roadshow.

Unknown said...

Never forget, football is a business at Ohio State.

These guys made the mistake of going into business for themselves.

ThreeSheets said...

I don't think Pryor will regret anything. He'll come out a year early and make a fortune in the NFL.

Roger von Oech said...

I was a varsity athlete (swimming) at Ohio State (in the 1960s).

40+ years later, some of my proudest possessions are my medals from the Big Ten Championships.

The tattoo affair makes me sad. The money gained is small potatoes. But to think so little of the rewards that the team strived for is a slap in the face of one's teammates and coaches.

Bender said...

(1) Players do get compensated. And quite substantially at that. When you add in the cost of tuition, books, medical coverage, and room and board, that scholarship they receive easily exceeds $20-30,000 per year for in-state players and another $10,000 per year for out-of-state players.

Over the course of their college career, they have received well over $100,000 worth of benefits, and received it tax free (worth another $20,000). Meanwhile all the other slubs come out of college $100,000 in debt.

(2) These violations are BS. Either these items are theirs, either they own them, or they don't. If the items are not theirs to keep as their own property, then why are they given to the players? No, if they are given by them, and they keep them after they leave school, then they are not simply loans to the players but are their personal property to do with whatever the hell they want. Getting $1,000 for these items does not sound like it exceeds market value. Thus, it does not sound like these sales were used as a subterfuge to launder money to these people.

Where's a good lawyer to sue the NCAA when you need one?

MayBee said...

I agree with Bender.

Too bad they can't just say their dad negotiated the deal.

Bob_R said...

Is there are more transparently evil, greedy, and exploitative organization than the NCAA. They can play in the games that make the NCAA the most money, but are suspended from the games where the NCAA isn't getting a cut.

traditionalguy said...

Do you remember the old style Dems in Congress who passed rules against taking bribery like gifts to Pols, but then they all "wrote a book" that would sell 100 copies to readers and 100,000 copies to briber makers. The NCAA remembers.

Bob_R said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bgates said...

Over the course of their college career, they have received well over $100,000 worth of benefits

Over the same period, the football program will bring in about $260,000,000 in revenue. The coach will make $14,000,000 over 4 years. By comparison, the coach of the Cleveland Bengals makes $1.75M a year, and the 21 highest-paid players get $1.1 to $9.75M a year.

You're also calculating tuition as though these young men were going to pay full sticker price otherwise, which isn't true for two reasons: they'd qualify for significant financial assistance if they were admitted without plans to play football, and more importantly, many of them wouldn't be admitted if they didn't commit to play football.

Meade said...

rhhardin said...
"Maybe the band could learn some tattoos."

Tap toes.

David said...

I stand with Bgates.

Cedarford said...

Meanwhile the shenanigans of Cam Newton continue to be overlooked. Millions in NCAA and Auburn revenue...check!
Millions in TV receipts from his Heisman TRophy...check!
Now on to the "Cam Newton" BCS!

NCAA is ridiculous.

james said...

yo @traditionalguy -- "Do you remember the old style Dems in Congress who passed rules against taking bribery like gifts to Pols ...". you seem to conveniently forget that political bribery is bipartisan ... just ask Republican Brothers Abramoff, DeLay, Vitters, etal who have recently feasted on the lobbyist's trough. Open your mind and the rest of ya will follow. the NCAA is a cartel that needs to be broken up.

Bender said...

You're also calculating tuition as though . . .

I'm calculating tuition and other costs the same as I would for any other college student -- but that any other student has to get loans to go to school. And whether they would have otherwise been admitted or not, the fact remains that they are admitted, and they receive tens of thousands of non-taxable income each year.

Of course, we could always pay players a wage for their services. To be fair though, each player would have to be paid the same, regardless of playing ability. But if they were paid, then that scholarship would need to be yanked, and they would have to pay their own tuition and room and board and books like every other sucker.

iqvoice said...

bgates, I completely agree with you... except, WTF is the Cleveland Bengals?