OSU's Posey's Mom Blames NCAA for Players' Money Plights

In Ohio, OSU is the ONLY program that anyone gives a d*mn about. Kelly wasn't at UC long enough for that program to gain any traction. Even alumns of other Ohio schools generally cheer for OSU first and their alma mater second.

Meanwhile in Michigan, there are two BCS schools (yes, MSU counts...stop snickering) and both have a large following. The Freep isn't really cutting their own throat with their Jihad against UM, they are merely aligning themselves with MSU fans. If any major newspaper in Ohio did that to OSU, they would probably go out of business in short order from cancelled subscriptions.

I worked full-time through college to pay for everything I wanted to do....I'm just saying they dont have the option to do that.  I imagine its hard to save to travel for Spring break and travel over the Summer on what these kids get.  I agree they probably and should get enough to pay for a college appt, books, food and cheep beer at happy hour at a bar with vomit under the tables--but I didnt have any desire to do that and maybe they dont either.  Im just saying they dont have a real option unless mom and dad or a booster can pave the way.

Im not saying they dont have a sweet deal...I would have loved to have not had to pay my tuition and work all the time.  But, I also did not have the athletic ability to help my school rake in millions every weekend.  Im not bitter about it...its just the way things worked out.  Faulting them for wanting more doesnt make sense....does anyone not want to be 'paid' more than they are?

have this response down, but man, I want to fill in. When I went to U of M, football players complained to me how little money they got, and when I heard how much it was I was shocked. These guys have all the money they need. Rent, food, clothes. They get cash baby. They were also hooked up with nice paying construction jobs over the summer when I went there. I remember being dumbfounded when hearing them complain and thinking, as i walked to classes i was paying for: wow, I wish I had that much money. Oh, and, it's refreshing to hear an OSU mom complain they don't have money for tats. That's nice.

It will take time and distance.  When their local fame wanes, they will have to look at the world in another way.

Who really gives a shit if it says OT or not next to the post? Did it have any impact on anyone actually clicking into it or reading it??I don't understand why someone always feels the need to be that guy and call out the poster that they did something horribly wrong??

I hesitated to say anything; I appreciate the lack of hard feeling.

You make good points though I think the issue is pretty grey and will remain so for a long time.

I have no problem with anyone complaining about the NCAA. Its shortcomings are numerous and obvious.

While Posey's mom's anger may seem misdirected, why does it necessarily have to be some sense of entitlement, as others are calling it here? I think it's likely she understands the inherent value her son brings to a booming industry and recognizes the very meager return he gets for his contribution relative to almost any other industry in a free market economy. She may not articulate it that way, but it's pretty obvious for most people to see. Your position that the top .01% are the only ones to which that argument applies even acknowledges it, so I think you may even agree at least a few of these kids are getting screwed.

I'd wager to guess that for the work you were performing at $7/hr. while at UM you were getting a market wage. You probably would have liked a few more bucks, but your wage was likely commensurate with your daily contribution to your employer's operations. If not, then you could have looked for employment elsewhere and gotten the wage you deserved. Further, at a $7/hr job, you were probably replaceable--i.e., it was likely an entry level position, and hundreds if not thousands of other students probably could have performed the same function without much difference in performance. These are things that can't be said for the 85 guys on the football team. Their scholarships are indeed payment, but that money certainly does not represent a market wage. They are vastly underpaid relative the value to bring to the university and conference, and not just the guys like Posey and Pryor. The other 84 or 85 guys may or may not ever be good enough to play at a professional level, either in the NFL, Arena league or CFL. But to me, that's not the point. They're not trying out like an intern at some law firm (who, by the way, at top firms get a fat check) or at some investment bank like Goldman Sachs, to use your analogy. Those companies rely on their established producers to make the billions. The interns are doing very little in the way of contributing to the bottom line. I would guess in most cases, they're a short-term drain on profitability, even though they’re a wise long-term investment because they represent the firm's producers of the future. All 85 guys on scholarship are the producers for a team like OSU or Michigan or Texas. Even if they don’t start, they’re the guys on the practice field making it possible for the Terelle Pryor types to improve their game. And even while their contributions may vary from #1 to #85, even guy #85 is highly skilled and his talents are rare in the general population. He’s effectively not replaceable. This should make his worth extremely high and thus his income as well, but because NCAA doesn’t operate under same the rules of a free market economy in the U.S., he gets an artificial wage. That wage may seem fair to the rest of us who had to pay for college and would have loved free room and board, but that’s easy for us to say because the great majority are not rare athletes with highly marketable and desirable and irreplaceable skills.  

Now what to do about it? I have no answers. Probably no way to have players share equitably, but that doesn't make the status quo fair in my opinion.