Meyer ESPN Article With A Quote From a Buckeye Fan

Submitted by CincyBlue on September 26th, 2018 at 4:56 PM

ESPN Front Page article on nothing has changed at OSU

Classic OSU fan on a question on Zach Smith:

"You want everyone to forget about Zach Smith?" an eavesdropping fan interjected from two rows back. "Beat Tulane today. Beat Penn State next week. By the time we stomp Michigan's asses, people will be asking, 'Zach who?'"

UMDWolve

September 26th, 2018 at 5:29 PM ^

I never claimed college players receiving money was unethical.  Paying a handful of players via bag men under the table is unethical.  Paying all your student athletes for every sport the same or a very similar amount of money is ethical.  Picking and choosing which sports get to have paid student athletes is also unethical.

So that leaves us with the situation we have today.  Most schools would just stop fielding teams if required by the NCAA to pay every student athlete.

UMDWolve

September 26th, 2018 at 5:44 PM ^

We're talking about student athletes here, where the student part comes first.  Paying for a revenue generating sport like football / basketball and letting other teams go unpaid is not going to fly.

The Fan in Fargo

September 26th, 2018 at 7:07 PM ^

Well it should. The rowing team doesn't deserve the same pay as a football team like Michigan's. What bursts my bubble is all of these little jackasses are getting this cash under the table like in cbus and whatever dumb town the tide play in but they don't have to pay taxes on it. That's the kicker. Bunch of shit.

wildbackdunesman

September 26th, 2018 at 7:48 PM ^

I had buddies that made really nice money doing internships and I had to pay money to do student teaching.  UofM doesn't compensate all of their students who take on jobs for the university the same either.

I am sure you worked hard as a non-revenue athlete.  However, factually speaking football brings in hundreds of millions of dollars a year for the school, is advertising for the school, fills up the restaurants and hotels on gameday, and even drives application for admission numbers a bit.

The football team simply adds more economic value to the university than the cross country team.  This is indisputable.

That doesn't mean that cross country athletes don't work hard, don't deserve scholarships, don't contribute anything, etc...  However, given this reality, why shouldn't the football team be compensated more than the cross country team?

A janitor might work just as hard for a company as its top engineer.  Does one add more economic value to the company and deserve more compensation therefore?

DetroitBlue

September 26th, 2018 at 8:57 PM ^

there’s no question that athletes competing in non-revenue sports bust their asses, but that’s not the issue. a small group of athletes (football/basketball and, at some schools, hockey) make money for their school and are already essentially ‘paying for’ scholarships for everyone else. it’s bullshit to claim that they don’t deserve to be paid when the only reason we can even offer non-revenue scholarships is because we pack michigan stadium every home game

BroadneckBlue21

September 26th, 2018 at 9:36 PM ^

Let’s all cuss to demonstrate our points are best. It isn’t bullshit because the football players get a completely free fucking education and not all non-revenue athletes do. And you myopic folks are talking about one fucking school to make the argument. How the fuck is a school like Troy gonna compete with a Nebraska when they’re forced to come up with money to pay students? And for as much as UM brings in, they also have a bloated budget for expensive coaches and expensive facilities all to keep getting the top athletes. And those top athletes go to the school to have a better chance at the pros. And they get free housing and free food and free clothes. You ruin college football and all of college sports because you pretend that it is all some capitalistic dollar in the short term.

And fuck you to those who think non revenue generating athletes don’t matter in the argument. Michigan has elite runners, so shitting on them because you think it makes your argument is ridiculous. Those Olympic athletes who ran at UM or who run at an Oregon—they make their school’s money, and those alumni add prestige and donors. Oregon can thank its XC and track team for becoming the Nike mecca. 

A school as a business needs alumni donors. Very few players in football make up its donor list when seen as part of the entire college athlete donor list, and some of those former non-revenue student athletes are future university representatives with university degrees and large salaries. And the university will ask them for money and get it. Shit, look no further than mother fucking Stephen Ross. The football program would be nothing without donors—especially him. Coaches get paid—so. His job is to get those kids degrees and NFL jobs. 

wildbackdunesman

September 26th, 2018 at 10:07 PM ^

You can talk about Michigan football's "bloated budget," but any honest and informed discussion will admit that Michigan football turns a massive net profit that funds the non-revenue sports.  That is a fact.

The non-revenue sports bring in less money than they cost.

You can worry about what Troy or Western Michigan will do if schools are allowed to compensate their football players, but the reality is that you should already be worried about those schools.  Those schools take tuition money to prop up their athletic departments already.  LINK 

Schools like Western Michigan take ~$1,000 in tuition money per every student every year to feed a sports program that simply shouldn't be D-1.  A prospective teacher will spend 5 years as a student at WMU and could rack up $5,500 in extra student loan debt PLUS INTEREST simply to prop up their sports program....and now you want to restrict players who bring in millions and millions for schools in the major conferences - because it isn't fair to the schools that syphon tuition money to prop up their charade of a D-1 sports program.  Nonsense.

UMxWolverines

September 26th, 2018 at 10:51 PM ^

Sorry dude, but what you're saying is no different than real world careers, say a farmer vs a doctor. Both work extremely hard, but at the end of the day the doctor will have more take home money. 

Football allows for the rest of the athletic department to exist besides basketball and hockey. 

DGM06

September 27th, 2018 at 12:13 AM ^

This debate again? Welp, to reiterate what I said a few days ago, the only thing that would need to change is the NCAA rule prohibiting compensation. Literally nothing else. No title IX requirements, no figuring out how to pay everyone. If the bagmen want to pay the cross country team, go for it! But if they choose to only pay the football and basketball players, that’s their decision and there’s nothing unfair about it. 

RIP Hamilton's…

September 26th, 2018 at 5:50 PM ^

Getting annoyed with this Mgoblog/Brian take.

In my opinion the only way a vast majority of these college athletes can train so hard their entire life is that they love the game. Obviously there are some outliers who are so physically talented that they don't have to work as hard, but I think for the vast majority a true passion for the sport is needed to truly excel.

No way they think of themselves as entertainers.

MGoStrength

September 26th, 2018 at 6:36 PM ^

I disagree. It is unethical to pay players in the current model because it's unethical to cheat because it's not an even playing field. However I do agree the rules need to change to include some sort of compensation.

grumbler

September 26th, 2018 at 8:21 PM ^

Agreed.  Schools should give them compensation in the form of scholarships and, in some cases, even pay for their room and board.  That would be ethical and in line with amateur athletics.  I players want a salary, they should play for the leagues that pay salaries.  They sign on with colleges knowing exactly what they are signing up for.

M Ascending

September 27th, 2018 at 9:04 AM ^

They are getting well compensated -- a full ride scholarship with a chance to earn a college degree; training in their chosen field, with a chance to obtain a professional contract.  When I played club lacrosse for Michigan in the early '70s, we worked damn hard and won consecutive Midwest Club Lacrosse Championships.  I would have been thrilled with a scholarship.

Heywood_Jablome

September 26th, 2018 at 8:45 PM ^

Funny, I don't remember many UM fans calling for Taylor Lewan to be kicked off the team for threatening a rape victim? Or Brendan Gibbons to be kicked off the team for actually raping.  Or Hoke to be fired for playing Gibbons after he was kicked out of school for sexual assault.

Glass houses and all.

MGoStrength

September 26th, 2018 at 6:39 PM ^

Fortunes will eventually shift. They always do. The buckeyes have been on a pretty good run and do have some built I'm advantages like local talent, no other power 5 program in their state, a loyal fanbase, etc. But, many schools have similar talent and name recognition like UF, FSU, UT, USC, PSU fell on hard times. It will eventually happen to OSU too. 

NittanyFan

September 26th, 2018 at 8:43 PM ^

Shelley's definitely come off as unlikable herself over the last 2 months.

Yesterday, Shelley took to Social Media because she was upset that somebody on eBay is out there hawking $10 "Urban Liar" t-shirts that are colored in blue and white.  Obviously, someone trying to make a quick buck off PSU fans before Saturday's game.

Which - now I wouldn't buy nor wear one of those t-shirts.  But her husband IS a liar.  That's just a fact.  The "Urban Liar" thing is only a thing because of the actions of her husband.

MGoStrength

September 26th, 2018 at 5:13 PM ^

The OSU fan base clearly thinks Meyer and OSU did no wrong other than not firing ZS sooner and that the media is on a witch hunt. The UM fan base thinks Meyer shuld have done more. What do other non-rivals think about it? And, does OSU or Meyer ever face any real penalties? There was some question over the legality of deleting texts, but not sure what would have to happen to have charges brought.

MGoStrength

September 26th, 2018 at 6:43 PM ^

Oh no, they don't think he did wrong. Read any thread on 11 Warriors about it and you'll find a party line that thinks the media narrative is based on incorrect information. It is all lead by some lawyer from OH. They believe Urban fell on the sword for the university and they want president Drake out.  Here's a few direct quotes from Twitter convos:

Meyer just went too far trying to help his mentors grandson.Urban's values and commitment to building better young men has been over whelming since he got here at OSU.The community knows he's more than a coach

 

those deleted texts already got an explanation that has been accepted. IT Department confirmed that his text messages were set to delete after 1 year...

 

You clearly are following the media’s narrative and unable to read it for yourself because your “facts” are just someone’s opinion. And I wouldn’t expect anything less from s mi fan.

 

the dude got railroaded...he made some mistakes...but in keeping Smith on...but last time I checked it wasn't Urban throwing haymakers. Urban should not have tried to play counselor, and just fired him, instead of trying to rehabilitate him. That is what got him suspended.

 

buckeyejonross

September 26th, 2018 at 7:06 PM ^

I think there's a lot of shades of grey involved in all of this. People, for the most part, especially on this blog and 11W, have only seen things in black and white. 

Have a Michigan fan explain it, and Urban Meyer watched Zach Smith hit his wife and explicitly obstructed police from bringing him to justice. Have an OSU fan explain it, and Meyer is being railroaded by a rogue journalist desperate for relevance/employment after ESPN laid him off. 

It's roughly a million times more nuanced than that. 

MGoStrength

September 26th, 2018 at 7:20 PM ^

It is definitely more nuanced.  I'd be curious to hear how you feel about UM fans and their level of receptiveness to your opinion here.  Anytime I post on 11W I often get a "troll", "SCUM", etc. sort of response and find it challenging to get them to hear another perspective.