Firs....aw

These pretzels are making me Third!

You know, I had a thought about this. I'm no lawyer, but isn't there some kind of remedy for this? If the players relied on Electronic Arts and the NCAA's representations, or "promises," wouldn't they be entitled to damages for this detrimental reliance? I believe I read something about this once in some statement of law, in the neighborhood of § 89. Hopefully one of you can fill in the blanks for me.

its called a free education...i wish i had gotten one.

-- debted downer

great post man, can't stop laughing. i rarely post on this site, but some of your best work to date.

Who is more gay? Lat for sleeping with men, or Mystal for his interest in this stuff? Is PE possibly a woman, or also a skin flutist?

Who is more gay: Lat for sleeping with men, or Mystal for his interest in this stuff? Is PE possibly a woman, or also a skin flutist?

Ahhhh, it's been fun watching the rise and fall of the PE.

Rank the quickest downfalls: Michael Vick, Chris Brown or PE?

Careful with those comments, post. no. 7 and 8, or I will ask you to remove your trousers.

This, and all the arguments surrounding it, are just ridiculous. I played a revenue sport in college, got a $150,000 education for free, then went to law school without a dime of debt from undergrad. (The lack of debt from undergrad) could never have happened without the scholarship. I count myself lucky. And I don't give a damn that NCAA 200*'s ***OG #** was based on me. I just thought it was cool. If these kids want to get paid to play semi-pro sports, then they should feel free to do so. No one says you HAVE to go to college and play.

I love how in every NCAA antitrust case (particularly ones involving the 'student-athletes'), the courts so readily accept the argument that the NCAA is "promoting amateurism." Right.

This is completely inaccurate.

The only programs that make money are the big football/basketball programs.

PE: suspicions confirmed

elie, you truly suck

Elie, how much did you get in your settlement with nintendo for using your likeness for the fat guys in NES Ice Hockey?

THE MIAMI HURRICANES U IDIOTS

Fuck Michigan

"Athletes are not allowed to profit off of their skills while still in school."

Fuck Michigan

"Athletes are not allowed to profit off of their skills while still in school."

THE MIAMI HURRICANES U IDIOTS

RBI Baseball used real teams and real players.

Frank Viola of the Twins is pitching to Allen Trammel of the Tigers in the screen shot on the Wikipedia page.

Also from the Wiki: "Although it also featured excellent gameplay, the MLBPA license is what set RBI Baseball apart from the rest of the baseball games in the late 1980s."

Just sayin'. :)

Bravo, Elie. Great post.... made even better by the bashing of Tyrell Pryor.

THE OHIO SHIT UNIVERSITY

THE U

IDIOTS

College athletes get paid plenty. First, as much as we talk about student loan debt on this site, free tuition, room and board sounds pretty good. Second, not only would most scholarship athletes not have gotten into the prominent (if not excellent) colleges and universities for which they play, they would not have gotten into ANY college or university at all. The average college grad makes $50-55k, the average HS grad makes $30-35, so we're talking about $20-25k per year over the course of the player's working life, assuming no NFL dreams, including a step up from lower to middle class, in addition to having four years of the "college experience." And, third, insofar as the players are "pretending" to go to college and really just seeking exposure for the NFL (or other future employers) and future product endorsements, there is no better league to get exposure. Plenty of semi-pro teams and a leagues in Canada and Europe, but I don't see any interest from HS students who don't want to go to class in those leagues.

Ultimately, NCAA football is the best deal going for HS students who want to make a career out of football (whether playing, coaching, sports medicine, etc). And we know this is the case because every player buys what the NCAA's selling. So the argument that the NCAA should provide some additional compensation is misplaced.

If there were someone to blame, it'd be the NFL, for imposing a 3-year rule. But HS players typically are not physically prepared to play college football (hence the popularity of redshirting), let alone NFL football.

Athletes are not allowed to be paid while still in school, except at USC where such violations are commonplace.

These clams are such bullshit. The athletes get paid tens of thousands of dollars in free tuition. It's enough.

MIAMI HURRICANES

you idiots

I think PE is just acting this way because he read in the comments yesterday that gay males were the best bosses.

Also, another brief story on the history of PE.

Back in the spring of 1976, I was a rising star in my peer firm. A senior partner walked into my quarters and informed me that if I blew him, I could make junior partner at the firm. I proclaimed

QUID PRO QUO!! NON QUID PRO QUO!!!

QUID PRO QUO!! NON QUID PRO QUO!!!

QUID PRO QUO!! NON QUID PRO QUO!!!

Then I blew him.
The End.
-PE

Isn't the proper quote "[t]hese are the facts, and they are indisputable"?

16- funniest thing i've read on this site.

PE- unfunny, once again.

PE posts today: 14. Get a life.

THE EYES OF TEXAS ARE UPON YOU

The fact that you have MICHIGAN sack Terrelle Pryor of THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY 8 times only proves the point that the attributes of these video games are wholly unrelated to the real teams.

I don't ever knock the content or grammar on this site, Elie, and I find those who do pathetic. But your preference for the whoresons of Michigan is inexcusable and revolting.

Good day, sir.

maybe if sam keller spent less time suing video game companies and the NCAA and more time practicing he wouldnt suck so bad and he could make the NFL AND shut the hell up.

nebraska used to be a great football team...now what a joke. theyre almost as bad as U of M

Mystal, I always thought commenters were too hard on you about the rules of grammar, spelling, and such. But now, you've broken my sacred rule and made fun of Ohio State football. The picture up top was enough, but you had to go on and make those punk ass comments about Pryor and the Buckeyes at the end.

Shame on you. Sure, you can take jabs at our TTT status (35ish actually) and our poison nut mascot, but don't deprive me of the one good thing I get in exchange for my tuition money: top notch football. USC, Florida, and a few other SEC schools can talk shit, but you can't, at least not until you learn how to spell.

Awesome rambling analysis, Mystal. How about this: the student athletes get to get into a much better school than they otherwise would ever be able to (and generally skate through without exerting themselves too much), receive free tuition, nail everything that moves, and, after graduating, have a chance to get drafted - if they are good. Do they really deserve anything else on top of that?

Yeah Elie, RBI baseball was the one that had the MLBPA license. There were others from the same era that had better graphics, but were not as fun because they didn't have th real players and teams (Bases Loaded is one I had). Get it straight buttnose

I'm not saying the NCAA or the schools should pay the players, but why restrict the players from going out and making some money from third parties based on their talents?

Currently the NCAA prohibits players from cashing in on their status as athletes - they can't make commercials or endorse products, and they can't take jobs available to them based on their status as players.

Imagine if law schools prohibited students from taking paid summer associate positions that are available only because the students's staus as law students?

Ridiculous.

P.S. - learn to read with a modicum of attention to detail. That's not P.E.

Nobody noticed that we have a brand new (and distinctly predictable) PE troll?

Partner Emeritius... check that spelling one more time everybody...

Damnit Elie. For the first time you actually write a post where you have added interesting information that was not otherwise readily ascertainable in the article you link to. In all other circumstances you are nothing more than the liberal Drudge, except where he posts countless stories your day is done after 3. But back to my point. You finally write a decent article then you fuck it up by bashing OSU.

Michigan can have its law school. I'll take Columbus' weather and girls over that entire state any day.

You were so close to having my approval. So close.

Yes Elie, you are absolutely correct. Colleges make way too much money and higher education is way overfunded.

"Look, if Napster can go down, so can the NCAA and EA."
Come on really? Who's editing this?

Who gives a flying fuck what happens to these gangbangers.

Don't they go to school for free? Isn't that a payment? Maybe I'm just missing Elie's "point" (as usual).

I thought that Marc Edel...whatever covered the sports law beat. Fire the new guy already? Way to pull a Latham, ATL.

16 FTW.

Players are starting to skip college and go straight to foreign teams. They're not as dumb as the schools think. Well, not all of them anyway.

Let's not pretend most people in law school could not get in one of these schools for free.

I went to a large state school (with a national football program) for free and I didn't have to endure hours of practice, a lack of real professional opportunities, or a sub-par education based upon the crap-shoot of me being good enough -- and not getting an injury -- to maaaaybe get drafted.

The free tuition argument only matters (for football/basketball) at the Ivys, Duke, Stanford and Georgetown.

Good post. Why not follow up with a post on the legislative efforts (from Texas, no less) to force a playoff for the national title?

Thanks!

I have bigger problems with EA. 1995 Nebraska is the greatest team in the history of college football (there is not denying this), yet EA has them rated no better than the any other good team (at least in prior versions of the game). Also, EA has some michigan/ND game as the game of the century and everyone knows that the "Game of the Century" was between Nebraska and Oklahoma in 1971. EA hates on Nebraska and so I hate EA.

Now, most of you 1L trolls on this website won't know this, but the word you're looking for is "monopsony."

Good luck getting it by the current right-wing brain trust on the Court (hollaback Clarence!)

Now suckonit, lawschool turdmongers!

This guy isn't the same Partner Emeritus we've all come to know... the poster on this thread misspells "Emeritus" as "Emertius" (transposing the "i" and "t").

He's an imposter.

Awaits with anticipation the PE vs. PE showdown!

Not compensated! A blow job's worth 50 bucks. Get it while you can. You might even be able to squeeze in a FREE DEGREE while you're at it.

Great post, Elie.

can we talk about MANNY'S STERIOD PROBLEM NOW?

Pryor is the truth.

16 - I loved that game! The fat guys rule!

This is the way EA can pay all of the athletes. They can just use the players' names while making generic references to Universities. Like "Buckeye State University". That way they skip paying the universities and the NCAA. This way the players sue and EA will quickly settle with the players for misappropriating their likeness on a class-wide basis that is fair and avoids an injunction. The settlement includes royalties to the player's fund and is distributed for future use. It's a legal claim and the players aren't signing any deals before hand. Their legal remedy to make them whole. Just like the NCAA can't prevent a player from suing a driver that runs over the player's big toe, they can't prevent a player from suing for misappropriation of image.

It's a disgraceful system. Universities get rich off of these kids, who, if not for their athletic ability would not be college students in the first place.

MysTTTal

Elie, nice post blending law and video games and sports. Very enjoyable read!

D'oh. Blew it with the RBI thing. I meant Bases Loaded, I was thinking Bases Loaded. But when my little mind went back to games of my youth, I went back to RBI because I loved that thing.

It's been fixed.
--Elie

I'm at work and I misjudged a fart. What should I do? I'm wearing khakis, too.

51 - Penn probably has the best football progam of all the Ivy schools, but perhaps players go there to play for JoePa rather than for the free tuition/education.

I wish Texas would get taken over by Somali pirates.

Oh man, Bases Loaded. I'm having flashbacks. Wasn't "Star" the player with something like a .500 RBI?

Not all athletes get the benefit of free tuition. For example, Ivy League schools and (at least, up until very recently) Patriot League schools do not give athletic scholarships. Also, "smaller-name" sports like baseball, wrestling, etc. give partial or minimal scholarships, so the athletes financial gain is much less.

Of course, the athletes in the above situations are probably not as prominent in EA Sports games. However, they are exploited in other ways - for example, you can walk into university bookstores and buy team jerseys with player(s) number(s) on them - even in smaller schools or smaller-name sports. Of course, none of those dollars go to the athlete - instead, they go to the store, the licensing company, the manufacturer, the university, etc.

Now, some may argue that players in the above situations may profit indirectly (for example, gaining admission into a school they may not have but for their superior athletic talent, and thus a degree from such school, higher earnings potential, etc.). However, that's pretty attenuated.

Can anyone think of other situations where companies can profit off of a person's likeness without the latter's consent?

I'm going to lose my $&#.

I don't know if Elie intentionally makes mistakes, or is the biggest GD moron to ever go to Harvard. But there have been multiple posts about the number one recruit a year ago and no one has caught this?

Its Terrell Pryor, not Tyrell Pryor .

Before coming to law school, I played college football.

On the first day of camp in the fall, they made us sign a relase/waiver type agreement that would allow the Athletic department to use our name and likeness in their promotion, marketing etc.

Fair or not, I would imagine all schools use similar forms. I could see these forms being a defense and wonder if Mr. Keller signed one as well...

Glad to see a former Nebraska player using his brain . . . proves that some teams actually have players with them.

Before coming to law school, I played college football.

On the first day of camp in the fall, they made us sign a relase/waiver type agreement that would allow the Athletic department to use our name and likeness in their promotion, marketing etc.

Fair or not, I would imagine all schools use similar forms. I could see these forms being a defense and wonder if Mr. Keller signed one as well...

The athletes in the non-money sports get to have a subsidized experience playing whatever bullshit sport they happen to either excel at or think they excel at. It's not like the athletes have to pay for their own volleyballs or soccer cleats, or softballs, or women's sized basketballs. The school is already losing their ass funding sports that no one wants to watch. Those athletes should be doubly thankful that not only are they in there, but the other students and alumni are forking over significant fees so their cross-country team can travel all over the place and compete or their low-level football team can play to empty stadiums.

REMINDER:
Ohio State Pwn3d Michigan every year for the past 5 seasons. LOL at Elie's ridiculous UofM trolling.

While I'm here, a couple of extra points:

A) I'm not saying that a free college diploma isn't worth something. I'm saying that the profit margins for the universities are WAY out of whack with what they "give" the players who produce that profit. To say nothing of the fact that a college degree is not worth what it was in, say, 1950.

B) Even if you say that these kids shouldn't get paid to play, I don't see how you can support the prohibition on them getting endorsement deals and other perks associated with their celebrity. No other class of college students (also known as "taxpaying adults") are in this position. If I want Tyrell Pryor to do an ad with me where he stabs me and then has a big laugh with my worst enemy, I'm *not* allowed to pay. That's just ridiculous

C) Don't forget that other college athletes are allowed to get endorsements and maintain their college status. There was the famous case of Jeremy Bloom (?) was an Olympic skier and football player for CU. He needed endorsements to pay for all his ski stuff, and that was fine for skiing, but it made him ineligible to play football. Swimmers, track athletes, at the Olympic level it's the same thing. But the sports that Universities make money off of, oh no, *those* guys can't get endorsements.

C) Speaking of TP. Look Mich is my adopted College sports program (try rooting for Harvard. Go ahead, I'll wait ... you see what I mean?) We have a system that is perfect for Pryor's skills. Instead, he abandoned us for the right to get whupped by the SEC every year. Meanwhile, Mich is trying to get basketball players to play QB. So, EXCUSE ME if I every time I see him I hope for his knee to spontaneously combust.
--Elie

great post Elie!

they need to pay some of those black and hispanic kids

This complaint looked good, however it leaves out an important potential cause of action for the plaintiffs. Two words: Promissory Estoppel. Check out Section 90, Restatement (second) of Contracts. This theory has legs, gentlemen, legs.

In response to C) Bloom wasn't a college skier you dumbass.

Issues like this really interest me (I am particularly interested in publicity/personality rights) and I thought the post did an extremely good job of explaining the issues.

From what little I know of the NCAA situation, I have long thought it abusive and unfair to athletes (in at least some cases) given all the money that's involved. It's like everyone can make money except for the athletes risking their lives and health (I realize they get a free education, but the value of that compared to how much they bring in and how strict some of the rules are...).

As for the publicity and marketing waivers, as a matter of contractual interpretation I wonder whether appearing in a video game as opposed to e.g. on the college website or in a brochure would necessarily be covered. I mean, in a sense it might promote the school but it seems minimal.

I believe I was a young associate when the Nintendo machine first became popular. I never understood the appeal those video game machines, but they always gave me an excuse to spend time around young boys.

it's great
to be
a michigan wolverine
(repeat)

82,

75 here. I agree the scope might be limited to websites or programs. I just remembering having to sign the release and now I would be interrested to see the precise language on that form.

Also, there is the issue that we had to sign it to be allowed to practice. Without sounding to much like a lame law student, unconscionability?

THE MIAMI HURRICANES U IDIOTS

Actually, it's Terrelle (with an e at the end), 72. Elie is a moron.

Boy, I'm sure glad that we are finally seeing some action related to the inexcusable exploitation of college athletes. They get such a raw deal--they get free school and often big grade inflation because they are "on the team", and if they picked the right school and work really hard at their future career, they have a small chance of getting a HUGE payday if the make the pros, but most just take their free degrees and go on to other careers, carrying no debt from school. They bang every hot undergrad they want and have enough free time to attend every single kegger on campus. Meanwhile, the schools make big money off of the programs these guys are part of.

I mean,college athletes don't have it cushy like law students, who often rack up six-figure debt to go to school, and if they picked the right school and work really hard at their future career, they have a huge chance of getting laid off after working for four months and then finding both that they are essentially unemployable and that there are no jobs to have anymore anyway. So most just sit around collecting unemployment and awaiting eviction/starvation/suicide, because they aren't qualified to do anything else that will even scratch the surface of their debt. They have no time to bang undergrads because they are always reading cases, studying for finals, studying for the bar, or working 80 hour weeks for four months; once unemployed, they have no job, money, or prestige to impress said undergrads, so they have no leverage to even get in the door. Meanwhile, the schools make big money off of the programs these guys are part of.

Poor college athletes, they really have it rough. I'm glad people are finally coming to their aid.

THE MIAMI HURRICANES U IDIOTS is the REAL U OF M

THE U

EA should make a competitive law school franchise, where you play the dean and try to get ranked higher in USNWR than other schools. You need to manage recruitment of students and professors, supervise the career services folks so that your students get employed, and enhance your public visibility so you can go on to a prestigious political office or become the dean of the entire university.

Sad to say I would probably buy this game.

EA should make a competitive law school franchise, where you play the dean and try to get ranked higher in USNWR than other schools. You need to manage recruitment of students and professors, supervise the career services folks so that your students get employed, and enhance your public visibility so you can go on to a prestigious political office or become the dean of the entire university.

Sad to say I would probably buy this game.

FUCK YOU... Never, ever make fun of my beloved Buckeyes. We have been stuffing it in scUM's ass for half a decade. I have abstained from commenting on your atrocious editorial work thus far. I ignored your piss-poor grammar (no doubt acceptable for amateur commentators, but isn't this your profession?). I have ignored your fear-mongering, your utterly terrible analysis of emerging issues, and incredibly insightful and downright misleading commentary. But this i cannot ignore...

Hey, 92, it's 87 here. No one gives a shit whether UM or OSU is "better" at football. Both teams and the entire Big 10 suck. (I'm assuming "Big" is describing the size of the pussies on each team) In the past few, you've gotten your asses kicked by Texas, USC, LSU and Florida...well, pretty much every non Big-10 "big game." What a joke - hopefully they stay the fuck out of the BCS title game for a good long one...

Just liquidate all the scholarship sports and make all of the "student" athletes get in like everyone else. . . .or stop complaining and take your 100+k free education and perks

The biggest restraint is in the scholarship system itself. Not so much that they limit the number of players that can be on scholarship, that is akin to limiting the number of players on the field and in competitions you have to have rules. It's the limit on the dollar value of the scholarships that are the biggest restraints. For example, if somone is the best pianist or cellist they can get a full scholarship to study music and in many cases that will include free room and board AND will likely include a stipend of some substantial amount because the NCAA hasn't figured out a way to regulate that because they aren't a sport. But there are limits on what you can provide to an athlete. Stipends are out and any extra meals, even rides to the airport to catch a plane to visit your sick grandparent will result in huge disciplinary actions. The NCAA's days are numbered as they no longer have justifications for many of their regulations. Rehnquist is out and so is his love of the IDEA of amateur athletes competing only for the glory.

The next lawsuit is also going to be the NCAA's regulation in agreeing with MLB on when players are eligible for the draft. High School players are eligible, junior college players are eligible, and so are non-NCAA players (NAIA for example), but if you go to an NCAA Division 1 or Division 2 school (where the school can give a scholarship) you cannot be drafted or sign with a pro team until you are either 21 on draft day or completed 3 years of school - I think if you sit a year while not being enrolled you will recreate your eligibility.

Remember the SMU death penalty? Yeah, these football players are certainly paid, and paid well.

look out for those MIAMI HURRICANES YOU IDIOTS

Good for the players. NCAA and Universities should let the players earn what they are worth. Right now the rules artificially take what should go to the players and give it to the NCAA and Universities.

Pure exploitation.

Tulane 12-0 in 1998! We was robbed!

Last time I check, college athletes were paid very well. Let's see here...I paid roughly $50,000 per year to attend Villanova (including room, tuition, board, etc.). College athletes paid nothing. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Paying college atheletes would really ruin college sports.

Instead of wasting his time on this blog, Elie should start a minor football league that has no age or education restrictions and pay the players what he thinks they're worth. He'd make millions!

Actually 88, most of these guys end up working at car washes or driving UPS trucks because they never belonged in college to begin with and every employer knows that a degree is just a piece of paper to wipe your ass with if the holder can't even read.

good christ elie, you're so obnoxious when you're on your soapbox. stfu, nobody cares about your eternal fight for the little guy. those poor, poor college athletes.

newslfash: if the NCAA were not permitted to make money off their likenesses, there would be no fucking amateur sports enterprises for them to participate in.

Keller is a cokehead and needs $ to support his habit.

True story -- check out the circumstances of him "leaving" ASU. His teammates basically ratted him out to the staff and told them that the team wanted him out.

Eff him.

Isn't the quote:

"Those are the facts. And they are undisputed."

100 (and everyone else crying about having debt when college athletes don't) -

Almost any of you (really ANY of you that should be in law school) could have gone to a school for free. Probably many of you did go to undergrad for free, and many of you could have gone to a law school for free (even perhaps a T14 one) - but you choose to pay to go to a different school.

These college athletes, except the absolute top few, have the same choice - pay to go to a school, or go to a different school for free. Don't hate on them or be jealous because they made the choice you didn't. ALSO, remember they have to go out and practice daily, and train for hours on end to get their free rides - those of you that took yours probably most certainly did not (at least in undergrad) work hard at all...

100 - "Paying college atheletes would really ruin college sports." What, paying the kids who destroy their bodies and most often end up doing manual labor would shatter your "they do it for the love of sport" fantasy? What a load. They do it for the money now, Cinderella, it's just that the current rules make sure that the real money comes much later, if ever, and is paid by someone else.

I can't believe all these "they get paid with free school" people. What happened to all the Sean Hannity "free market" automatons??

Elie,
I find your comment disgusting. So you know better than TP himself where he should have gone to college? I have no allegiance to either OSU or UM, but to wish a young man blows out his knee because he choose a school that was the best personal fit for him is pathetic. You are no better than all the other trolling commentators on this site.

Your commentary is wearing on me. You make the most unsubstantiated propositions from the facts and your other analysis is the most insightful shit I have ever read. I think you need to start taking a harder look at yourself in the mirror, buddy.

88 - missing the point. No other scholarships preclude you from earning money by exploiting the talents that earned said scholarship. For example, a general academic scholarship doesn't prevent you from say writing a novel or developing a IPhone App or something of that ilk. A musician on scholarship isn't prevented from signing talent contracts.

Now I am not for full scale salaries, but a stipend, perhaps something like 1K per month, is appropriate.

If you are a D1 football player, you won't be able to hold another "sincere" job. This isn't conjecture, it's a fact of life.

Typical Schedule:
Morning - Tables, treatment/thearpy and classes.
Noon - Tables, treatment/thearpy and film and classes.
Late Afternoon - practice and strength and conditioning and more film.
Evening - Tables and mandatory study.

Oh yeah, you better mandatory study that playbook too.

Athletes do receive perks, no doubt, but there are also tons of sacrifices -- this shit isn't little league or pop warner. There is a reason why a lot of you guys talk from the sidelines, you didn't care to put the effort in to compete.

Also, to the Bloom wasn't a collegiate skier guy, read Elie's comments. Man, no wonder you kids fucked up the LSAT -- reading really is fundamental.

108 here, pardon my haste - *un-insightful* thankfully, I am not a professional blogger, so please excuse the grammatical oversight.

104,
What the hell is wrong with supporting a coke habit?

hey elie, you dumb fuck, if you're going to talk shit about OSU in fantasy-land, at least spell Terrelle Pryor's name right.

i mean, fuck, how hard is it to RESEARCH something that you plan to use in a post?? www.osu.edu

if a mouse can find a piece of cheese at the end of maze, why can't you use the internet to find accurate information?

89 -- you're a fucking idiot. The U of M was a university 20+ years before Florida even became a state. You'll always be second best.

Also, if you go/went there for law school, i'm sorry. Maybe you'll do better in your next life...

Maybe I should sue latham for misrepresentation of my likeness. FUCK YOU DAVE GORDON.

Smilin' Jack Ross said, "THESE are the facts of the case, and they are undisputed."

Ellie your a jackass

115, you're a jackass.

How the fuck do they let these assholes who don't have a basic grasp of the English language into law school?

the old cracka PE be a straight up predator, damn I'm gonna have to bust his skull

Partner Emertius... brilliant. Had me fooled. Keep it up!

had my dumbass foo'ed too, but I'm still gonna bust some skulls up in hur

Elie, just because you don't like the vag doesn't give you an excuse to forget the quid pro quo here.

Pussy.

Minnesota is the REAL U of M.

Naw, jes playin'

Michigan: U of M
Miami: UM or tha U

Yeah 104, like the other players at ASU are so pure. Tell us the story about the (now) former ASU player who raped a woman in the dorms. Ass.

With a name like Terrelle, no wonder he plays like a girl....

First of all: TEXAS!

Second, this is stupid. Even in the unlikely even this will go anywhere, EA can just go back to doing random rosters and we can buy or make our "real" rosters ourselves.

This should be a slam dunk win for the students. All they have to do is call the programer up to the witness stand, ask them if they were attempting to recreate actual players. Programmer will say that is exactly what we were trying to do. (They must hire tons of experts who take an opinion whether one linebacker is a 78 speed and the other is a 62 speed or whatever. The point is they can't deny they are trying to be accurate.) Then the court has to decide if this is sufficiently a likeness of the students and if they have a right to that description of their attributes. I would think they do. Case closed, pay the kids.
And don't tell me about the scholarship. First off, we are really talking about what it would have cost them to get a similar education. So we are probably talking about instate tuition at a public university. That is usually less than $10,000 a year, right? Throw in $10,000 for room and board and you've got the value of the scholarship. I bet football players practice 40 hours a week at the D1 level, so we aren't talking much of a return on that time to get to $20,000.

113

YOU ARE A IDIOT

THE CANES WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS

CHECK THE FACTS BEFORE YOUR OPEN YOUR MOUTH

THE U

The tuition is for playing football. Having your likeness on a screen is an ENTIRELY different issue, and compensation from that is coming to those players, guaranteed.

23: What are you actually saying? That professionals in a union who don't have to follow NCAA guidelines were able to sell the right to use their likeness in a video game? Wow, you're clearly a brilliant legal mind.

Really disappointed the braintrust of commenters haven't already pointed out that as part of the NCAA compliance process prior to each season, each athlete has the option of signing a waiver for the release of the rights of their likeness to both their school and the NCAA. Shocking that the BIGLAW trolls of this blog never sat through one of those meetings...

wah wah the jocks got a "free" education. they gave me wedgies in high school too wah wah

KNIBB HIGH FOOTBALL RULES!

Elie (at 78) - you should be embarrassed that we have a system that would be great for Pryor's skills. It's garbage football fit for OSU and other schools that can suck my balls. Any game where the QB goes 7 for 9 for 67 yards and rushes for 130 yards isn't a game worth watching (except if Michael Vick is the QB). Luckily, when UM gives up on this Rich Rod experiment, we'll hire a Michigan Man to coach Michigan and go back to playing real football.

I was a college athlete, and I was in a couple of NCAA football video games. Honestly, at that point, I was just in awe of actually seeing myself on the game. I didn't think for one second about getting money for it. I think that most college athletes feel this same way (obviously not all athletes). Hmm . . . I wonder if I can get money for them profiting off of my likeness. Anyone know what the statute of limitations is on this?

122 - 104 here. This story isn't about that guy now, is it? Ass.

Interesting commentary to this point......as a former college athlete who went on to play professionally at my chosen sport and has appeared in a couple of different EA games, I wanted to register a few thoughts.....
First, I always love the notion of the "free ride". While yes, I did not pay for the majority of my undergraduate education ( read room, books, tuition, and meal plan), I was held accountable for every other expense. While on the surface this seems unfair, understand that while the majority of my classmates were out working at gainful and finacially rewarding employment opportunities, I could be found either at "voluntary" workouts, practice, study hall, or some other team mandated function, regardless of the time of year (including summer). One must remember, in an effort to maintain its amatuerism stance and opportunities for impropriety, the NCAA governs how much a scholarship student athlete can make while under said scholarship. This amount varies, but in every case makes a minimum wage salary look like a King's ransom.

Second, for those denizens here who constantly droll on about how student athletes are given every opportunity to avoid obtaining a quality education. With all the tools that their athletic endaveaors provide for financially, espically at the highest level, they are given every tool necessary to succeed despite the constraints their given sport places on them. there are those who chose to fail, and fail epically. For that challenge, I say continue to raise the entrance bar for higer education. It is a privlege and not a right.

Third, for these student athletes not recieving compensation for their performance on the field, that school of thought is archaic at best. When examining the elite levels of college athletics and the funding (both endowment and generated revenue streams), these athletes are beyond grossly undercompensated. Last year, schools like Ohio State and Texas had athletic budgets in excess of $60 million. Most of these programs rival the income level of a mid-law firm. That said, compare the educational derivation of a 1st through 4th year at a mid-law firm with that of an elite athlete in a major college program. While I will concede that the barrier to entry is much more mentally taxing for the 1st year (read Bar Exam), that conversely comparable to the level of athletic performance that the athlete must demonstrate in order to garner the scholarship to the elite program. Both must spend countless hours in preperation of mind and body, while passing over numerous hurdles in order to gain entry into an arena where only the best of the best are afforded an opportunity to continue to a higher level. Once in, I would wager that both encounter viably comparable struggles over the next four years. Increasing complexity of workloads, managing time constraints, balancing a healthy level of work life commitments, while continuing to gain an education for their chosen vocation. Mind you all the while, as previously postulated, both are being compensated at comparable levels. The associate starting out at around $130 and garnering that salary every year while the athlete gets similar compensation in the form of a paid education.

Now examine the position of each at the end of the four year period. The associate comes out having survived the grind of the first four years of the assoicate track at most mid law firms. Something resembling a small book of business at best, along with close to $500,000 in acrrued income. They have hopefully completed a comparable amount of billiable work and are surfacing as a non ungible work unit. They may actually even begin to have something resembling a social life and some vast forgotten thing called free time. Mind you that have been handsomely compensated all the while grinding through to arrive at this juncture.

The athlete meanwhile, if not forced to endure a red-shirt year, has endured the following. In season, which for my chosen sport began in August and ended sometime in Mid January depending on how bowl season fell out. That involved days that began at 5 to work out for two hours before breakfast, then off to a full load of classes until lunch, training table, then afternoon classes. Practice from 3-6, then an hour of mandatory workouts after. From there there was 1-3 hours of film study depending on position. Then finally at about 10, I could hit the library for a few hours to get the nights studying in. Bed by 1 if lucky, and awake to start all over again. Out of season, it was the same schedule, substitiuting film study for more intense workout sessions.

And yes, there was the occasional party after a game, or a long week of practice in the spring. But that's right, I forgot, 1st -4th years never go out to celebrate after closing a deal though right?

I could drive on and on about the comparisons between the two. I have to agree with the earlier post, whether you are talking about the elite level of athletics or the associate vs. partner compensation, there are multiple derivatives that suggest both are grossly overworked for the compensation level recieved.

Until the NCAA loses the "amatuerism" cross it is bearing, there will be continued explotation of athletes in comparison to the revenues that they generate for their respective schools. The same case can be made for the current model of the billable hour. Until that dinosaur is retired to the tar pits, associates will continue to be exploited in economically comparable fashion.

95/108, I think you aren't giving enough weight to what non-tuition perks athletes get. They get a housing stipend. Their meals are paid for on campus. Their textbooks are paid for. Very, very few academic scholarships come anywhere close to that.

And athletes can design an iphone app and make money if they want. They can use their academic skills to make profit. They just can't use their athletic skills or reputation.

133 - Great post.