New playoff system means additional money for college football

The newly approved playoff format for college football teams will bring in huge dollar amounts, including over a half-billion dollars per year in television rights alone. The question still remains as to whether or not to compensate college football players. The current Bowl Championship Series in contract with ESPN, and the Rose Bowl’s separate contractual agreement with ABC, together pay the major college football schools around $155 million per year. This money is distributed unevenly with the bigger conferences getting more money for their members; conferences like Big Ten and the Big 12 for example.

Some college football coaches including Texas coach Mack Brown, question whether some of the extra money produced by the new playoff system should be given to the players. After the new semifinal format was approved, Brown tweeted his opinion that “with the amount of money the playoff will generate, I hope we can revisit the student-athlete stipend.” Brown believes that the players are the ones who make the event possible.

Furthermore, the fight over raising student compensation already has begun. While NCAA President Mark Emmert strongly urges against paying football players as if they were professionals, on the other hand, South Carolina’s coach Steve Spurrier has been attempting to do just that for the past two years.

Last year, legislation was approved that would have permitted schools to offer a $2,000 stipend, in addition to a players scholarship. This stipend would have gone towards what the NCAA calls the full cost-of-attendance. However, this idea was put off to the side when over 100 schools asked for an override vote. The schools criticizing the new stipend were concerned with two major issues. First, they were concerned with whether all schools would be able to afford the new stipend, especially in the poor economic conditions. And second, concern was raised as to whether the schools which could afford to pay the extra $2,000 as a stipend would gain an advantage in recruiting.

Despite these concerns, Emmert continues to support the legislation and wants it passed. Additionally, Emmert is in favor of the approval of a new postseason format to take place of the current BCS. “I commend the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee on its leadership to move to a playoff model,” he said. “I remain confident that as the details of the new format are determined in the coming weeks, presidents will continue to keep student-athlete well-being, both in the classroom and on the field, front of mind.”

Concerned with whether schools will be permitted to continue to offer the set number of scholarships to incoming football players, Arizona coach Rich Rodriquez believes that it would be crazy to cut back on scholarships at this point. Teams are being asked to play as many as many as 15 games in a season currently and the therefore Rodriquez thinks that there is no way that universities can be asked to reduce the 85-schloarship limit currently in place. “Any talk about that going forward has to cease,” he said. “You’re going to need more players to get through a season healthy.”

One coach that sees the extra funds in a positive light is Washington State’s coach Mike Leach. Leach has no problem awarding players with larger scholarships and believes that the additional money could go towards doing so. As a result, Leach believes that this would in turn allow for additional opportunities for boys to attend a college university. “Give everybody five more scholarships, five more opportunities for guys to go to school,” he said.

On the other hand, Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt believes it is too soon to be concern with what to do with the extra money.“I think there’s still a lot of work to be vetting out, and how the revenue is going to be distributed is the first step in that,” he said. “We haven’t gotten that far along in the process but I expect over the course of the next academic year we will do that in meetings.”

Safety and health are two of the most popular reasons that people believe the extra money that will be generated from the new system should be spent on the players. Some former and current athletes have even been attempting to have some of the new funds to be spent on player safety and health.

Safety is the priority of the National College Players Association. This group is an advocacy group comprised of over 17,000 current and former Division I student-athletes. They do not believe that actually compensating the players by paying them with the extra funds is as important as spending the money on keeping the players safe. Former UCLA football player Ramogi Huma and president of the National College Players Association believes that the universities should not be permitted to add extra games to a team’s season without adding extra safety protections to decrease head trauma risks that go along with contact sports.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/ncaa/06/27/college-football-playoff-paying-players.ap/index.html

NCAA: From Hypocrisy To Revulsion To Outrage

In the last couple of weeks, we have seen a number of things that should take any college sports fan from hypocrisy to revulsion to outrage.

We learned from USA Today that Mark Emmert is making 40% more than his predecessor, Miles Brand.  Good for Mark. We all love America, apple pie, the flag, and of course, our beloved college sports teams.  We also learned that the NCAA national championship game will be auctioned off to the highest bidding city, which, of course, will generate an estimated additional $155 million in revenue. Finally, we have seen the new EA Sports commercials that allow you to place former Heisman trophy winners on any team in the new game.  Even more money for the NCAA.  You think EA is paying those Heisman trophy winners?  You think they would pay current players or set the money in trust for those players if the NCAA would let them?  You bet they would!

It is a given that the NCAA is synonymous with the term hypocrisy.  It is repulsive that Emmert gets to play king and live large on the backs of college athletes that can't get royalties from the use of their images sold off to the highest bidders by Emmert and his buddies behind the farce called "student athlete", a term of art manufactured by the NCAA.  I wonder if Mr. Bigshot Emmert would have the same opinion if he traded places with Tyrone Prothro for a day, but that is a discussion that has taken place for years.

No, today it is about OUTRAGE, NCAA style.

Ok, here is how it goes.  There is a guy at Penn State.  Got two last names--Graham Spanier.  He likes being a big shot.  He likes to play the Penn State card.  You know the one---we are different.  We do things the right way.  We are not like the SEC.  Same stuff we have been hearing for 150 years.

He is the ultimate NCAA  hall monitor.  He chaired the Board of Directors of the NCAA, chaired the BCS oversight committee and was on the high-level NCAA management council.  He is that nameless, faceless  bureaucrat that we despise and who writes the rules while flying on a private jet somewhere unaware of what is happening on the ground below. As Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports describes him, he is the model of self-interest, distorted ethics and misplaced authority.

He railed against reforms that were designed to assist athletes.  His most recent push was for stricter admissions standards that coaching and advocacy groups say will hurt kids from poor performing high schools.

He hammered Curtis Ennis, running back for Penn State.  He declared him ineligible, banned him from Penn State and was publicly shamed by Mr. Two Last Names.  For what?  A new suit he got from an agent.   "He fooled around with the integrity of the university" and "I won't stand for that" Spanier was quoted at the time.  Want us to apply that same standard to you after what has come to light, Mr. Two Last Names?

Don't get me wrong, I am not condoning what Ennis did, but lets compare it to Mr. Two Last Names, who was running a Ted Haggard illusion!

In December of 1997, Spanier learned that Sandusky had been accused of molesting a young boy while showering with him in the Penn State locker room.  Spanier didn't report it because that would not be the "humane" thing to do!  He covered it up.  He wanted to protect his name, the Penn State name, and his Marie Antoinette lifestyle.  We know how it ended for her.  I bet there are some mothers in Happy Valley who think it would end that way for you, Mr. Two Last Names!

Stryker Offers $33 Million to U.S. Department of Justice for Fraudulent Marketing of Knee Systems and Pain Pump Devices

Stryker Corp, headquartered in Kalamazoo, MI, offered the United States Department of Justice $33 million in May 2012 to resolve 2010 allegations regarding a knee device. The company recognizes that this offer is preliminary and it is indefinite as to whether a "resolution will be reached".

A filing signed by interim CEO Chris Hartman stated, "We recently entered into discussion with the DOJ regarding the potential settlement of this matter, and on May 31, 2012, we offered $33 million to the DOJ." The company claimed that the $33 million represented "our best estimate of the minimum of the range of probable loss to resolve this matter."

In 2010 Stryker received  two subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the marketing of its OtisKnee and PainPump devices. These subpoenas, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, regarded regulatory matters related to the sales and marketing of the devices that had not been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

OtisMed, a software technology firm, was acquired by Stryker Corp in 2009 for $103 million. As a subsidiary of Stryker Corp, OtisMed focuses on customizable instrumentation that has the potential to complement the many benefits that surgeons and patients realize from Stryker's Triathlon Knee System, as well as other Stryker implants. Simply, the OtisKnee provided surgeons with software that facilitated a 'custom cut' on a patients knee which sought to produce higher success rates of a Total Knee Arthroplasty. This custom cut allowed surgeons to custom fit Stryker total knee devices onto patients knees.