ATHLETIC ASSHOLES

[HairOfTheDog]

RICE SPEAKS OUT

Rice resolved the charges stemming from the February domestic abuse incident with his now-wife, Janay, and entered a pretrial intervention program in May, the NFL said. Under the program, he won't be prosecuted, and the charges will be expunged after a year.

The punishments, both from the NFL and criminal justice system, were widely decried as too light, and it quickly spiraled into debates over domestic violence and victim blaming.

I hope Ray Rice really means what he said in his public statement yesterday (though apologizing to his wife publicly seems for show, IMO) and it's not just cheap talk to combat some of the backlash against him, the NFL, and the criminal justice system.

Here's his public statement from 7/31.


Story: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/31/us/bal...?hpt=us_t4

[Duchess]

I don't know as he has had a pristine reputation until this but I do know that it will probably put a hurtin' on him when it comes to endorsements and they add up to a tremendous amount of money when one is a star athlete.

[Blindgreed1]

I don't know as he has had a pristine reputation until this but I do know that it will probably put a hurtin' on him when it comes to endorsements and they add up to a tremendous amount of money when one is a star athlete.

I don't believe he had much in the way of endorsements anyway, none that I can remember anyway.

[HairOfTheDog]

Rice was ranked in the top 100 endorsement earners in 2013. He raked in $2,000,000.

The only product endorsement listed for him was his partnership with BODYARMOR super drink (never heard of it).

I think if other companies were considering him to represent their products, they'd quite likely back off as a result of the charges against him and the public backlash/controversy -- at least for a couple of seasons.

Source:
http://opendorse.com/top-100-highest-pai...s-of-2013/

[Blindgreed1]

Rice was ranked in the top 100 endorsement earners in 2013. He raked in $2,000,000.

The only product endorsement listed for him was his partnership with BODYARMOR super drink (never heard of it).

I think if other companies were considering him to represent their products, they'd quite likely back off as a result of the charges against him and the public backlash/controversy -- at least for a couple of seasons.

Source:
http://opendorse.com/top-100-highest-pai...s-of-2013/

Top 100. That's why I don't remember. 2M is a LOT of money to you and I, but for pro athletes it won't break the bank to lose it. They'll drop that much on a new workout room.

[Duchess]

I see all kinds of Baltimore Ravens & Ray Rice bullshit for sale where I live. I guess I thought it was associated with his popularity and not because I live in Raven country.

[Cutz]

Ray Ray is one of the top 10 best paid RBs in the league. He makes about 7mil a year. I don't think he's hurting for money. It's not great to lose money, but he's got nobody to blame but himself.

He's popular because he's the best offensive player on the Ravens. Joe Flacco is a scrub being way overpaid and their defense is what won them the Superbowl.

[Midwest Spy]

^ the statement that the defense won them their last SB is bullshit.

Flacco played out of his mind during that Super Bowl run. You might want to go check the tape.

Is he overpaid? Probably. But he was the key cog in their last title.

[Cutz]

^ the statement that the defense won them their last SB is bullshit.
Flacco played out of his mind during that Super Bowl run. You might want to go check the tape.
Is he overpaid? Probably. But he was the key cog in their last title.

Ah, right. The year he was 14^th in passing yards and Ray Rice and Vonta Leach went to the Pro Bowl. The year that Nick Foles had more Y/G (in 6 starts). Yeah he was real clutch.

Granted, he had a good playoff run. He's still a scrub.

[HairOfTheDog]

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL (MLB), A-ROD -- NEW ARRESTS RELATED TO PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS



Snip:
A cousin of Alex Rodriguez who injected the baseball star with steroids and a onetime clinic owner accused of providing the performance-enhancing drugs to several players have been arrested in connection with a drug conspiracy, authorities said Tuesday.

Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Mia Ro said Yuri Sucart was among nine people arrested. Also arrested was former clinic owner Anthony Bosch, who was charged Tuesday with conspiracy to distribute steroids, according to court records. The documents do not specify whether the charges are directly related to the Major League Baseball scandal.

Court documents say that from October 2008 through December 2012, Bosch willfully conspired to distribute the anabolic steroid testosterone.

A Miami New Times report from January 2013, which sparked MLB's investigation, said Rodriguez had bought human growth hormone and other substances from 2009 to 2012 from Bosch's clinic, Biogenesis of America. The newspaper said it had obtained records detailing the purchases by Rodriguez and other ballplayers.

Fourteen players associated with the Coral Gables clinic were disciplined last year by MLB, including a season-long 2014 suspension imposed on Rodriguez.

MLB had sued Bosch and his clinic but withdrew the lawsuit in February. The lawsuit had accused them of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned substances. Although the lawsuit sought unspecified damages, it also provided a way for MLB to subpoena clinic records.

Rodriguez, who denied using banned substances while playing for the New York Yankees, initially fought the suspension. He finally ended his fight with MLB in February, accepting the suspension and withdrawing a pair of lawsuits against the MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Rodriguez's suspension is the longest penalty in the sport's history related to performance-enhancing drugs. He was the only player involved in the scandal to contest his penalty.

The New Times report said it had obtained notes by Bosch listing player names and the substance they received. Several unidentified employees and clients confirmed to the publication that the clinic distributed the substances, and they said that Bosch bragged of supplying drugs to professional athletes, but they never saw the sports stars in the office.

Full Story: www.790^thezone.com/news/article.aspx?id=7753360

(HOTD Edit: not sure why the link above is dysfunctional -- all the details can also be found in this Miami Herald piece: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/08/05/42...balls.html )
----------------------------------------------------

I don't follow baseball much and know hardly anything about the man, but Alex Rodriguez has always been really off-putting to me (even before I knew about the steroid use).

Anyway, looks like some of his enablers and suppliers may be going down, with or without his smug ass.

[Midwest Spy]

The Yankees want him suspended indefinitely so they can wipe his salary off the books and free up roughly $28M/year to spend on other players.

The other 29 clubs say, 'they knew he was using, they signed him anyway, so they should suffer the consequences."

Interesting to see what Bud Selig will do.

[HairOfTheDog]

I read that Rodriguez filed suit against Selig last year for what he called "a witch hunt", MS.

Rodriguez apparently claims that Selig was trying to manufacture evidence and besmirch Rodriguez's good name and career by way of the investigation into Rodriguez's alleged drug use.

I don't know if that particular suit was dropped or not. If not, I could see it kinda tying Selig's hands if there's any merit to Rodriguez's claims.

(HOTD edit: yeah, Rodriguez did drop the suit against Selig, along with the ones against the MLB and the Players Association)

[Duchess]

The other 29 clubs say, 'they knew he was using, they signed him anyway, so they should suffer the consequences."

I agree with this. Easy for me to say, it's not my money but, nonetheless I agree.

[HairOfTheDog]

NCAA Votes Today -- (Formal) Compensation to College Athletes?

Are the NCAA directors assholes for not formally sharing their wealth and compensating college athletes, or would compensating students essentially create a sorta junior professional league (with a huge recruiting advantage for wealthier universities)?

I don't have enough knowledge of college sports to form an opinion, those are just the questions that came to mind when I read the below story in my news feed this morning; curious as to what sports fans think.

Snip:
Student-athletes in the United States may move a step closer to receiving financial compensation, when a group of university leaders on Thursday are expected to allow the wealthiest collegiate sports programs to leave behind decades-old restrictions and chart a self-governing course.

The embattled National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I Board of Directors is scheduled to vote in Indianapolis, as it faces legal and public pressure to share its billions in revenue with athletes.

The vast majority of student-athletes never go on to play professionally, and critics say the NCAA's current scholarship policy short-changes athletes who risk injury and devote many hours to practice, travel and competition.

For the new structure to pass, it must get a majority of yes votes from the NCAA's 18 directors, which comprise college presidents and chancellors. That would give the top five athletic conferences autonomy to shape their own rules and possibly ease regulations on agents, recruiting and pay.

The NCAA, which does not allow students to earn money for their athletic performance, has been sued by former and current athletes in U.S. court demanding a share of profits that includes tens of billions in guaranteed television money.

This year, it settled cases along with video game maker Electronic Arts for using the likenesses of current and former football and men's basketball players in video games.

The NCAA also faces a unionization push by scholarship football players at Northwestern University who want the right to have a say in benefits and compensation.

Today's vote on restructuring rules is likely to greatly affect football, basketball, men's ice hockey and baseball, according to the NCAA.

One of the first items set to be voted on would institute a "cost of attendance" scholarship and other guarantees that would cover living costs for student-athletes that are not currently offered.

Other items to be considered are insurance policies that would protect future earnings and financial assistance for families traveling to sporting events.

Under the proposed regulations, the student-athletes would have a say on new rules along with the 65 universities that comprise the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference.

If approved, the new structure could only be challenged if at least 75 Division I schools request the board to reconsider.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/06...56156.html

[HairOfTheDog]

NCAA Approves Greater Autonomy for Power 5

The vote was affirmative; I understand better what was at stake, that this was a compromise years in the making to keep the NCAA together, the student lawsuits that helped force change, and the pros/cons to the whole of the Association.

The littler guys can opt to adopt the same new rules as the Power 5, but most are unlikely to be able to afford that option.

The changes kick in at 2015 and are expected by many to greatly increase the disparity between college football teams (and other sports within the NCAA).

Good synopses:
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/...onferences
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/sports....html?_r=0

[Cutz]

The changes kick in at 2015 and are expected by many to greatly increase the disparity between college football teams (and other sports within the NCAA).
Good synopses:
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/...onferences
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/sports....html?_r=0

So, I take it that vote means basically the top 5 Div are going to run themselves more because they make so much money. It's relevant but not exactly linear to colleges paying players... from how I read it.

Idunno, I don't really get too excited about college football, but paying players is one issue that gets my dander up. The general arguments for paying players are that the NCAA makes millions/billions off them, exploits their work, they can't afford to eat, can't maintain scholastic requirements, and just want to be paid to play ball.

Fuck that. The NFL has a rule that you can't be drafted until 4 years out of HS. I'm sure there's some elbow rubbing with the NCAA that partly inspired that rule, but it's still their rule. You could make a league to compete with the NCAA if you wanted, for kids that want to make money and can't cut it in college. But it wouldn't be as popular as college football because college football is built on college rivalries.

Now, it's true that it's a lot of responsibilities. You can 'pay' a lot of money for a degree in basketweaving, you can let football hurt your studies, or you can let your studies hurt your football. I get that, and it's tough. Again, you're becoming an adult, time management is part of your responsibility. Obviously kids have been balancing it well enough for generations. If you can't do both, put your eggs in one basket. Be good enough at football that even if you only play for 2 years and fail out of school, you'll get a shot in an NFL camp, or take the easiest major ever. If you want the degree... half ass football and thank your stars that you tricked Stanford into giving you money to focus on your business degree.

That said, the NCAA shouldn't be profiting. It's colleges and TV networks putting this extra curricular activity on the field. TV networks should make their money, colleges should make the majority of the rest. Let them funnel the extra cash into scholarships and mealplans so that maybe every player on the team can get a full ride. If you have a full ride with food to eat, what do you have to complain about? You're not making money? I had to pay money to go to college, if it really means that little to you, GTFO my country. Go play canadian football.

[HairOfTheDog]

I hear ya, Cutz.

To me, it's like making college sports a profession rather than an elective part of an educational curriculum.

Based on the little reading I've done on the subject, these new NCAA rules are pretty controversial. The student/players are for them, of course. And, the large majority of the Power 5 are now for them -- they can afford the major associated costs and compensating the college players will allow them to avoid lawsuits and to avoid potentially losing star athletes.

But, I don't think professors and the less wealthy universities are jumping for joy over the new rules.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, I stand corrected about professors generally not being happy about NCAA pay-for-play.

I watched a video yesterday with a couple of professors objecting.

But, reading this morning's news, it looks more like most faculty do support compensating athletes and think it's a good thing that will give student athletes a better chance to pursue academics and sports simultaneously.

[Cutz]

The 5 divisions will have the power to recruit the best athlete (students) in the country if they can pay players. They'll make even more profit from it, and they just want their money.

Unfortunately, it'll give precedence to treating the athletes as employees, not students. There'll be no legal argument for why they can't unionize and demand salary without education. At that point, you'll have a separate league that isn't affiliated with studies. Then the players will want to break away from the colleges, and then the colleges will cry about how they started college sports and students need their education, blah blah blah.

It's all bullshit. It's the same way the Olympics stopped requiring participants be amateur athletes. Great, so we get to see Olympic Hockey with the same aholes that play in the NHL, except now they're broken up half for Canada and half for the rest of the world.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yep, that's the way I see it too, Cutz.

School sports -- I don't give a shit if it's 3^rd grade handball, 9^th grade racquetball (California women's and mixed doubles state champ here, hold the applause), or college football -- school sports programs are elective parts of the STUDENT experience.

When you pay or otherwise compensate students for athletic participation, they become employees or professionals -- not students who choose to make athletics part of their curriculum.

On the other hand, since the big schools are making a fuckload of money off of these "amateurs" and the athletes are forced to focus almost all of their time (whilst risking long-term injuries) towards making the cut if they want to stay on the very profitable team, I can see why the student athletes are pushing for compensation.

My opinion is that the schools lack appropriate prioritization. Academics should come first. I'm probably biased, though. I've been both a student and teacher of junior college, undergrad college, and graduate university studies. I think even for those who excel in sports, nothing takes the place of maximizing your education and knowledge -- that's what "school" is all about. And, if you injure yourself into permanent sidelining or are simply not physically apt enough to make the top echelon sports-wise, ain't nobody can take your brain power away from you.

Interested in watching how this all turns out... It's big sports news.