Suckeyes Tattoo Investigation

[wadscarman]

Suckeye players are being investigated for getting tattoos in exchange for autographs. Suspensions are possible for the bowl game or maybe next season based on how long the investigation takes and if there are any violations found. This could prove a little positive for the Zips next fall.

Link

[bandzip]

Suckeye players are being investigated for getting tattoos in exchange for autographs. Suspensions are possible for the bowl game or maybe next season based on how long the investigation takes and if there are any violations found. This could prove a little positive for the Zips next fall.

Link

If there is some kind of suspension hopefully it takes effect for the first game of next year rather than their bowl game here in a week. A bunch of guys filling in against lowly Akron is a perfect storm for a fun game in Columbus. Heck, if I remember right last time we played them we were winning at the half. Maybe ICoach can turn this thing around and pull off an upset. A guy can dream right?

[skip-zip]

That's right. The score was 3-2 at halftime. But we had to have a play reviewed to get a safety called correctly. The refs must have been embarrassed for them. That was absolutely PRICELESS joining all of the other Zips fans in chants of Z-I-P-S, while watching 90 thousand people dressed in red and silver look stunned with their jaws hanging to the ground.

By the way, did anyone see the article in Cowlumbuses OWN paper on the follow up to their president's recent idiotic comments?

It ends up that Boise State's schedule was actually BETTER than Ohio State's schedule, and TCUs was comparable. How embarrassing!!!! I loved it. Their writer appears to actualy be ripping on his own team. It's hilarious. You have to see it.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Doesn't this thread belong in the Soccer Forum?

[Wally B]

Rumor has it that they all got BCS tramp stamps

[ZachTheZip]

Doesn't this thread belong in the Soccer Forum?

Not unless they got into a bar fight.

I only really care about this if it means that these players get suspended for our game against them next season.

[MDZip]

Five Buckeyes including Terrelle Pryor have been suspended for the first five games of next season (quite frankly seems a little severe for trading a tattoo for an autograph). Too bad we won't be good enough to take advantage of it.

[InTheZone]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but does the NCAA even have the authority to suspend a player for a Bowl game? Bowl games are not NCAA sanctioned events, but rather privately staged "exhibition" games. We often see players suspended for bowl games, but I believe that is done only by the institutions or their conferences, and if it is done for an NCAA violation the NCAA will take this into consideration when handing down their own penalty. But I don't believe the NCAA has the authority to do it themselves. (An interesting side note, players who are being redshirted are allowed to play in bowl games without losing their redshirts, because it is not an NCAA game).

My hope is that the Suckeyes will see their Sugar Bowl game as vastly more important than their "preseason" warm-up games for next season and won't suspend players for the Bowl game, taking their chances with what the NCAA will do in consideration of that.

[InTheZone]

Wow, 5 games is pretty harsh, but my guess is, as I discussed above, the Suckeyes refused to suspend any of their players for the Bowl game, so the NCAA responded in kind.

That's a pretty harsh penalty to pay just because you want to end your losing streak to the SEC. They rolled the dice and lost. I hope they still lose the Bowl game too!

[you am i]

That's right. The score was 3-2 at halftime. But we had to have a play reviewed to get a safety called correctly. The refs must have been embarrassed for them. That was absolutely PRICELESS joining all of the other Zips fans in chants of Z-I-P-S, while watching 90 thousand people dressed in red and silver look stunned with their jaws hanging to the ground.

By the way, did anyone see the article in Cowlumbuses OWN paper on the follow up to their president's recent idiotic comments?

It ends up that Boise State's schedule was actually BETTER than Ohio State's schedule, and TCUs was comparable. How embarrassing!!!! I loved it. Their writer appears to actualy be ripping on his own team. It's hilarious. You have to see it.

Except we had the 2 and OSU had the 3.

Beanie Wells got tackled in the end zone for a safety in the first half for a 2-0 Akron lead, if I remember correctly. It was right in front of me. Its the only time in Beanie's high school or college career that he was tackled for a saftety. At halftime, the Buckeye fans were a little edgy.

Personally, I'd rather face OSU at full strength.

[Dave in Green]

Did everyone read the whole story? There were a lot more violations cited than just tatoos.

Their first five opponents next season are Akron, Toledo, Miami (Fla.), Colorado and Michigan State. Their chances of winning all five games without Pryor are not so good, so this is kind of a "mini death penalty" on their hopes for a national championship next season.

[MDZip]

Just saw a press conference where the OSU AD blamed it all on the lack of pocket money for athletes and suggested that a fund was needed in case an athlete needed to pay for gas or take his girl out for a nice dinner. What crap, these folks have their college education paid for on completely non-academic reasons but somehow it would help if they had a little pocket change for something like desperately needed tattoos? He also only used the word "he" so apparently it should only apply to those in revenue producing sports? Really get tired of the coddled college athlete image, its one of the reasons I love the Zips soccer team.

[bobbyake]

Pryor, the release states, must repay $2,500 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring, a 2009 Fiesta Bowl sportsmanship award and his 2008 Gold Pants, a gift from the university. He will be suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season, or nearly half of his final year of collegiate eligibility.

Amazing how these awards mean so little to him.

[GP1]

Pryor, the release states, must repay $2,500 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring, a 2009 Fiesta Bowl sportsmanship award and his 2008 Gold Pants, a gift from the university. He will be suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season, or nearly half of his final year of collegiate eligibility.

Amazing how these awards mean so little to him.

Maybe he needs the money.

[GP1]

Just saw a press conference where the OSU AD blamed it all on the lack of pocket money for athletes and suggested that a fund was needed in case an athlete needed to pay for gas or take his girl out for a nice dinner. What crap, these folks have their college education paid for on completely non-academic reasons but somehow it would help if they had a little pocket change for something like desperately needed tattoos? He also only used the word "he" so apparently it should only apply to those in revenue producing sports? Really get tired of the coddled college athlete image, its one of the reasons I love the Zips soccer team.

What if he has no access to any money? Have you ever not had a dime to your name and no chance to go out and make any? I'm not saying that is the case with him, but there are guys playing college football around the country who grew up in shacks and have zero money. Universities are making millions off of these players and they don't have enough money to take a girl out on a date. There is something wrong with that in my mind.

[GP1]

Wow, 5 games is pretty harsh, but my guess is, as I discussed above, the Suckeyes refused to suspend any of their players for the Bowl game, so the NCAA responded in kind.

Good point! USC had the same trouble. If you self report and punish yourself, the NCAA does not come down like this. USC told the NCAA to go pound salt and the NCAA pounded them. We see the same thing here.

[MDZip]

Just saw a press conference where the OSU AD blamed it all on the lack of pocket money for athletes and suggested that a fund was needed in case an athlete needed to pay for gas or take his girl out for a nice dinner. What crap, these folks have their college education paid for on completely non-academic reasons but somehow it would help if they had a little pocket change for something like desperately needed tattoos? He also only used the word "he" so apparently it should only apply to those in revenue producing sports? Really get tired of the coddled college athlete image, its one of the reasons I love the Zips soccer team.

What if he has no access to any money? Have you ever not had a dime to your name and no chance to go out and make any? I'm not saying that is the case with him, but there are guys playing college football around the country who grew up in shacks and have zero money. Universities are making millions off of these players and they don't have enough money to take a girl out on a date. There is something wrong with that in my mind.

Sure, and it was usually because I just had to pay my tuition costs. That's my point, these athletes have most of their expenses paid and yet still can't come up with some pocket change when they need it. They are eligible for student loans too if that is what they need. You're right, universities make a lot of money off them but they do get benefits in return (sometimes over $100,000 worth of scholarship money. Not exactly peanuts). I just don't like seeing revenue sports get treated differently than non-revenue sports, should we eradicate all of the other sports? Those folks might need money too. And why are any of them treated differently than the rest of the of the student population? They could probably use some pocket change too.

[InTheZone]

Here's the thing: The schools do provide the players with some "pocket money", and it's hidden in the scholarship checks. The scholarship checks for guys living off campus are meant to include all "living expenses" (rent and food), but Universities purposefully overestimate how much living expenses are. The University basically pays you the amount that it would've spent if you stayed in the dorms and had a meal plan. Well, those dorms and meal plans are very overpriced, as I'm sure many of you know. Staying in the dorm is the equivalent of paying about 600 a month in rent, and the meal plan comes out to around 25 dollars a day, or more. We used to take those checks and rent houses in the hood that is the Southside of Exchange, and pay about 200 a month in rent when divided amongst all the roommates, turning a nice profit. And even eating well, we made a nice profit from the food allowance as well.

I always had plenty of money leftover to take girls out and drink my face off on Saturday night. The only guys that ran into problems were the morons who immediately took their scholarship checks upon receiving them and headed up to Chapel Hill mall to buy the latest Jordan's and Playstation games (that'd be Playstation ONE for you youngsters). Granted, these were normally the guys that came from underprivledged backgrounds, but it wasn't because they didn't have any outside monetary support, it was because they had never had anything and didn't know how to handle money. I grew up middle class, but my parents didn't give me a dime during college. I still lived prettty well. If universities would get a tighter reign on how scholarship money is distributed and spent instead of handing a bunch of 19-22 year olds (freshman normally have to stay in the dorms) who have never hand anything a nice big check and letting them be respnsible for budgeting it, I don't think we'd see as many guys out there trying to make money in illegal ways.

[GP1]

Just saw a press conference where the OSU AD blamed it all on the lack of pocket money for athletes and suggested that a fund was needed in case an athlete needed to pay for gas or take his girl out for a nice dinner. What crap, these folks have their college education paid for on completely non-academic reasons but somehow it would help if they had a little pocket change for something like desperately needed tattoos? He also only used the word "he" so apparently it should only apply to those in revenue producing sports? Really get tired of the coddled college athlete image, its one of the reasons I love the Zips soccer team.

What if he has no access to any money? Have you ever not had a dime to your name and no chance to go out and make any? I'm not saying that is the case with him, but there are guys playing college football around the country who grew up in shacks and have zero money. Universities are making millions off of these players and they don't have enough money to take a girl out on a date. There is something wrong with that in my mind.

Sure, and it was usually because I just had to pay my tuition costs. That's my point, these athletes have most of their expenses paid and yet still can't come up with some pocket change when they need it. They are eligible for student loans too if that is what they need. You're right, universities make a lot of money off them but they do get benefits in return (sometimes over $100,000 worth of scholarship money. Not exactly peanuts). I just don't like seeing revenue sports get treated differently than non-revenue sports, should we eradicate all of the other sports? Those folks might need money too. And why are any of them treated differently than the rest of the of the student population? They could probably use some pocket change too.

I'm not sure why an athlete should go into debt while in college if he can make a legal income while in college. A player should be free to go out and EARN money while in school. For example, if earning money for an ex-jock includes going to autograph signing sessions, then a college athlete should be able to earn a living in the same way. There is no money exchanged between the University and player at that point. The player is doing nothing illegal. The player is offering a legal service another person is willing to pay for. That is free enterprise and a player should be able to take part in the free enterprise system in this country.

As long as a player is earning a legal living and in compliance with NCAA academic standards, there is no reason to not allow it.

[GP1]

I don't think we'd see as many guys out there trying to make money in illegal ways.

BINGO!!!!! This is really the problem with what TPryor did. He earned income....Did he report the income to the IRS? The problem with players taking large sums of money under the table or selling things is it is unreported income and ILLEGAL not to report it. Let's get the money in the open where we don't make criminals out of college athletes.

[MDZip]

Just saw a press conference where the OSU AD blamed it all on the lack of pocket money for athletes and suggested that a fund was needed in case an athlete needed to pay for gas or take his girl out for a nice dinner. What crap, these folks have their college education paid for on completely non-academic reasons but somehow it would help if they had a little pocket change for something like desperately needed tattoos? He also only used the word "he" so apparently it should only apply to those in revenue producing sports? Really get tired of the coddled college athlete image, its one of the reasons I love the Zips soccer team.

What if he has no access to any money? Have you ever not had a dime to your name and no chance to go out and make any? I'm not saying that is the case with him, but there are guys playing college football around the country who grew up in shacks and have zero money. Universities are making millions off of these players and they don't have enough money to take a girl out on a date. There is something wrong with that in my mind.

Sure, and it was usually because I just had to pay my tuition costs. That's my point, these athletes have most of their expenses paid and yet still can't come up with some pocket change when they need it. They are eligible for student loans too if that is what they need. You're right, universities make a lot of money off them but they do get benefits in return (sometimes over $100,000 worth of scholarship money. Not exactly peanuts). I just don't like seeing revenue sports get treated differently than non-revenue sports, should we eradicate all of the other sports? Those folks might need money too. And why are any of them treated differently than the rest of the of the student population? They could probably use some pocket change too.

I'm not sure why an athlete should go into debt while in college if he can make a legal income while in college. A player should be free to go out and EARN money while in school. For example, if earning money for an ex-jock includes going to autograph signing sessions, then a college athlete should be able to earn a living in the same way. There is no money exchanged between the University and player at that point. The player is doing nothing illegal. The player is offering a legal service another person is willing to pay for. That is free enterprise and a player should be able to take part in the free enterprise system in this country.

As long as a player is earning a legal living and in compliance with NCAA academic standards, there is no reason to not allow it.

Now there we might finally agree. Any student should be free to do that. If I'm a business major (and an athlete) and I invent Facebook, no reason I shouldn't profit from it while I'm in school. And if I'm well known enough people would pay for my autograph, good for me. Its the benefits that are set aside just because someone is a college athlete that irk me (like what the OSU athletic director was saying is needed). It just gets tough separating what the athlete can earn vs. say a dealership giving them a car in exchange for an "autograph".

[InTheZone]

I don't think we'd see as many guys out there trying to make money in illegal ways.

BINGO!!!!! This is really the problem with what TPryor did. He earned income....Did he report the income to the IRS? The problem with players taking large sums of money under the table or selling things is it is unreported income and ILLEGAL not to report it. Let's get the money in the open where we don't make criminals out of college athletes.

I more meant "illegal" not in its literal sense, but rather in violation of NCAA rules, but you do raise an interesting point about the unreported income aspect of all of this.

[Zip_ME87]

Just saw a press conference where the OSU AD blamed it all on the lack of pocket money for athletes and suggested that a fund was needed in case an athlete needed to pay for gas or take his girl out for a nice dinner. What crap, these folks have their college education paid for on completely non-academic reasons but somehow it would help if they had a little pocket change for something like desperately needed tattoos? He also only used the word "he" so apparently it should only apply to those in revenue producing sports? Really get tired of the coddled college athlete image, its one of the reasons I love the Zips soccer team.

What if he has no access to any money? Have you ever not had a dime to your name and no chance to go out and make any? I'm not saying that is the case with him, but there are guys playing college football around the country who grew up in shacks and have zero money. Universities are making millions off of these players and they don't have enough money to take a girl out on a date. There is something wrong with that in my mind.

Yeah, let's start paying players and ensuring that the BCS has even more control over College sports. How are the universities whose Athletic Departments already struggle supposed to get the funding to compete with the BCS in paying players? I'm sorry, but given the cost of tuition these days, a scholarship is ample compensation for playing. Are any of the suspended players non-scholarship players?

[ZachTheZip]

With this development, what are the odds that Pryor and a few otehrs simply declare for the NFL Draft instead of only getting half a year next season? Sitting out five games could hurt their draft stock.

[GP1]

I don't think we'd see as many guys out there trying to make money in illegal ways.

BINGO!!!!! This is really the problem with what TPryor did. He earned income....Did he report the income to the IRS? The problem with players taking large sums of money under the table or selling things is it is unreported income and ILLEGAL not to report it. Let's get the money in the open where we don't make criminals out of college athletes.

I more meant "illegal" not in its literal sense, but rather in violation of NCAA rules, but you do raise an interesting point about the unreported income aspect of all of this.

Of course my point is interesting. Just like the Dos Equis Man, the Great GP1 is the most interesting man at every party I've never been to.

Seriously though...People talk about the NCAA like it is the government. It's just an association of universities. I have no idea what student-athlete handbooks say these days or what is presented at compliance lectures, but I'd be willing to bet the NCAA does not address potential legal issues with accepting money under the table.

I have heard that Cam Newton's dad is under investigation by the FBI. He should be under investigation by the IRS. The guy took $200,000 and didn't report the income. I'm not a tax accountant, but my guess is not reporting $200,000 is a pretty serious infraction.