http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/12/23/ohio-state-suspensions-ncaa/
What a complete joke of an institution. They are way out of touch or just blind to the realities of today's college athletics. If they want to make an issue out of this then why aren't they suspending the players for the bowl game? Mostly likely because the NCAA acted in its own self interest as they would most likely lose significant revenue from advertisers. We are denying these individuals to earn the money they rightfully deserve based upon a unique set of skills. Do we prohibit a student for profiting from the publishing of a book? Do we prohibit a chemistry major (on scholarship) from selling a formula he developed?
I know I will most likely get torn to shreds for this statement, so please have at it and convince me I am wrong.
Dudes need their tats.
Selling awards and jersies and getting some free tatoos seems fairly harmless to me except the tatoos, they hurt when applied.
I wonder if the player was able to sell his fur lined jock strap, would that be a rule violation also?
Since these guys are there on scholarship, I do not know if that includes their books also, so would they be inviolation if they sold their books?
How the hell does a player know on some of this stuff, and how in hell can coaches keep track of it. It's not like they received money from the school/boosters to play.
And then the NCAA can buy that cam Newton did not know his father, the honest pastor, was shopping Cam's skills?
NCAA is becoming more and more a joke. Got to have the rules and regs though, just like our Federal government.
Pandora's box, NCAA is going to be screwed either way so they have to take the harsher stand. That's just the reality of it.
So if they sold something and a booster just happened to buy it and happened to pay 20k for it that would be ok?
This, on top of the Cam Newton debacle, have made me HATE the NCAA. Honestly it is just ridiculous.... They punish USC/Reggie Bush but don't punish Newton??! And how does suspending someone for games they likely won't even be playing in hurt them, or even prove a point? What's to stop future players from doing the same thing since they know the NCAA won't do anything to seriously jeopardize their football careers? If they want to make the point stick, suspend them for the bowl game. Just man up already. Either you bring down the hammer on everyone, or you let everything slide.
EDIT: Good article on the seemingly impenetrable "I didn't know" defense http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=5951832
I saw in ESPN the magazine that the Beef O'Brady Bowl gave all the players Xboxes, amongst other things. What if they already have an Xbox? Can they eBay it?