Captain Caveman

Does anyone have any insight on why teams run 7 on 7 drills? What does it prepare you for that 11 on 11 doesn't do?

Spend that $6 mil on someone else who will help the team? Yes, please, thank you.

He didn't get paid the $2 million bonus because he never showed up for his physical. If he shows up now, I don't know if he can still claim that bonus, so it may still just be 6 mil this year.

So you propose we pay him 6 million dollars this year to ride the pine?

Money is no object, and their fans pay a lot more to watch a losing team. Redskins have a waitlist for season tickets, with an average price of: 79.13 Bills average ticket price: 51.24 $28 * 75,000 * 9 home games Works out to about an extra 18 million per year. With no results to show.

The problem is, the kid is being taken advantage of. The expectation is that by laying out a little money (under the table and against the rules) the agent will make lots of money later off of this kid. In this case, it's kind of funny that the agent got his comeuppance. Come to think of it, so did Reggie Bush, who may have to give up his Heisman and will not be welcomed back to USC anytime soon.

Yeah, which is why Ivy League schools don't offer athletic scholarships at all. I'm not arguing that USC is in the right. I just don't want to see College Football further ruined over money (when we have kids going to the schools that will pay the most, or holding out, etc....) The kids are receiving an opportunity for a top flight education. If they don't take advantage, !@#$ 'em. Most kids who work during College do so to afford living expenses. Since these are generally covered from a stipend by the College, there's not much need for these kids to work (although they technically can hold jobs, as long as they're not related to the student's athletic ability.) The kids who will make the NFL will get payment enough when they leave school.

That car got messed up. Good thing no one was riding in the back seat.

Dude. He's in !@#$ing jail.

Yes, but it's hard to play from a prison cell.

Yeah, but in reality I'm just going to get a lot of calls and complaints that it doesn't work. I've spent more time trying to keep my parents' computers usable than I'd care to remember. Old people and technology don't mix.

It's true that the schools make money off college football, but this is reinvested back into scholarships and other educational opportunities for many other students. It's not like the University President is banking this money.

Schools are allowed to pay a certain amount for living expenses, etc..., but it is not generally enough for an off campus house (maybe if it's split many ways), or to pay for a car. So I don't think it's a bad example. Some athletes may have these things provided by parents, etc..., but that's in line with the rules. Still, let's say you throw that out. Imagine you're an 18 year old kid, and you know your parents are having a hard time financially. Maybe they live in an area that's unsafe. Would it bother you? Would you maybe lose some sleep over it? I've been poor. I now have money. In my experience it makes just about all aspects of life much easier. BTW, I'm not arguing against athletes benefiting more from the product of College Football, I'm just saying that in my opinion he did gain an unfair advantage based on the current rules.

I also had rewind last year, and watched very few games, since they weren't available until midnight on Sunday night. I'm thinking of going with a slingbox this year, but will have to set up my parents up with a wireless internet connection first.

I disagree. He had advantages off the field which made his life much easier, and could have positively impacted his performance on the field. Have you ever had to worry about how you're going to make your next car payment, or pay your rent or mortgage? It can impact your day to day life, and how you function. Reggie didn't have to worry about that stuff. Having money makes everything easier.

I don't have any sympathy for a guy who is getting paid $100 million dollars and doesn't show up for work because he doesn't want to answer to the media. His answer could easily be: I'm doing what the coaching staff is asking me to do. And he is going to be asked a lot more pointed questions if he continues to be a no show. I also think it's premature to say that the coaching staff is at fault. In any line of work, if your boss asks you to do something, you try it. If you've made a good faith attempt, and if you have a good boss, they'll figure something else out if it's not working. But c'mon, at least give it a shot.

I think he was referring to this:

As opposed to the Roman Catholic church today?

I wonder if the NFL still sees the TV money in the case of a strike? This would be very interesting, and would also quite possible kill my interest in football. Who am I kidding, I'd be back, especially since the Bills won't be in the playoffs anyway.

I don't know why you feel the need to belittle or insult people with opposing viewpoints, but it sucks. I think I've been pretty respectful so far. I disagree strongly that scholarship reductions punishes USC but not the kids. You're talking about taking away a free education for multiple students, I think there should be a greater value on that than playing in a bowl game. I didn't say that every (or any) "football player is an a**hole or a spoiled idiot." I said that USC broke the rules and is being punished. And if you think the kids are being punished more than the school, I disagree. The school will lose millions of dollars. I don't think NFL teams will penalize them for not playing in bowls. Maybe we disagree there. My viewpoint is that the school ignored rule violations to make money. Sure, you can punish some of the individuals (e.g. coaches) who are still in college athletics, but it doesn't prevent the school from going out and hiring new rule-breakers who will continue to break and bend rules when it's to their advantage. We disagree. I'm moving on.

Even if players are only watching ESPN, there has been plenty reported on this. http://search.espn.go.com/usc-investigation/past-years/22

I didn't mention anything about what college coaches tell kids. These are college bound student athletes, right? If they don't have the wherewithal to do a tiny bit of investigating on their own, then I don't have a lot of sympathy for them. I'm not talking about what a coach tells you who obviously has ulterior motives, I'm talking about reports that have been in newspapers, and on other "news" outlets (e.g. espn, etc...) for years.

If I come across as bitter it's not because I have any failed dreams of college glory. I never played football (I was a hockey man.) I do get pissed at Universities that constantly break NCAA rules without punishment. In this case, I think the punishment pretty much fits the crime. I still haven't seen you propose anything realistic or fair. So what's your solution? Impose no punishment? Say, hey guys you screwed up, and made millions off it (to some extent off of other schools) but no big deal? You won a national championship with a player who should have been ineligible, don't worry about it? The NCAA is out to punish the University, not the players. Unfortunately the players also get punished. Finally, you make it sound like these players have to sit on their ass for two years. They still get to play football. They still get a free college education. They still get to audition for NFL scouts. They miss two bowl games. Get over it.

To everybody who is complaining that Carroll gets away without punishment, what exactly would you do? What can they do? I think he's a dirtbag, and I wish there was some way to make him feel some of this, but I don't see how it's possible, other than a possible lawsuit by USC to recover some of his salary (very unlikely to succeed.) His punishment will come when he's labeled as an NFL failure. With that said, USC knew Carroll was a dirtbag, they knew people were breaking the rules, and they looked the other way (or possibly covered things up.) They did this because the football team generates a buttload of money. They deserve to be punished, and taking away their postseason opportunities does exactly this. For the players who are there now, it sucks, but maybe they should have read the newspapers before committing to USC. This investigation and allegations have been around for years. The players don't get to play in a bowl game, and that sucks. But USC deserves to lose the large amount of money and prestige that would be gained by playing bowl games for the next two years. There's a lesson to be learned, which is don't hire dirtbags. Good luck with Lane Kiffin.

In College Athletics, the school (Dean) and athletic director are responsible for the compliance of all of the athletic programs. So a coach leaving really doesn't change anything.