Athletic Supporter

Jim Tressel, the Ohio State football coach, got fired this week.  His crime was a cover-up, which included lying to the NCAA.  His players had gotten discounts from tattoo parlors and car dealerships.  Even with the penalty, the players were allowed to play in a bowl game, that was OK’d by the NCAA.  This looks somewhat suspicious, since it raised the TV ratings of the game.

It’s hard to find a place to start because there is so much stupidity and greed at play here.  Normal people can get discounts or free stuff and it’s OK with everybody, but college athletes can’t get anything because they are amateurs, whatever the hell that means.

The NCAA, the conferences, and the schools are making billions of dollars, but the kids can only have a scholarship, which many of them don’t want in the first place.  The kids aren’t allowed enough money to go to McDonald’s.  If I trade my t-shirt for a tattoo, it’s not an issue.   But let a 350 pound lineman do it, and he’s an ogre.

Coach Tressel got in trouble for lying to protect his players.  He was covering up a rule that is so stupid, that I can’t even figure out if he was wrong, except that he pontificated all the time about what an ethical guy he was.  If a player plays a video game and sees his likeness on the game, he doesn’t get paid.  If he sees his jersey in a store with his name on it, he gets nothing.  Is that fair?

I love college athletics, but this stuff is nuts.  I’ve given money to schools before, because I’m an athletic supporter, but from now on I’m giving my money directly to the players, under the table, of course.

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