Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Should College Athletes Get Paid?
Check out this story from the Washington Times by Tim Lewke:
Former UCLA basketball standout Ed O'Bannon has filed a class action lawsuit seeking to stop the NCAA from licensing the images and likenesses of former college athletes in DVDs, photographs and other products.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, says the NCAA has improperly benefited from using former Division I football and basketball players' images even after they stopped playing and seeks an injunction to stop the practice.
It also seeks damages and an accounting of the money made by the NCAA from past licensing. In addition, the lawsuit says the NCAA has violated antitrust laws by not allowing athletes to negotiate their own licensing deals.
O'Bannon, a member of UCLA's 1995 national championship team, is the only player named in the suit. But attorneys said the case was filed on behalf of thousands of athletes.
"We're going to assist them in challenging the NCAA's right to license their [image] and likeness," said Megan Jones, an attorney in the D.C. office of Hausfeld LLP, one of the firms representing O'Bannon. "As the growth of technology has increased, so has the means by which the NCAA can license these images. There's been an awakening in the players because they're seeing themselves more and more places. And they're asking, 'How did I get there without anyone talking to me?' "
The NCAA declined to comment because it had not reviewed the lawsuit. In the past, it has denied any infringement of athletes' rights, arguing that paying players would be contrary to the basis of amateur athletics.
O'Bannon agreed to be the lead plaintiff in the case after meeting with Sonny Vaccaro, a former sports marketing executive who has toured the country the last two years to speak out against the NCAA's lack of compensation for players.
"I just really want people to understand that it's all about exploitation," O'Bannon said. "The NCAA has exploited its ex-players and student athletes, and it's about time everyone sees that."
Vaccaro called the NCAA's refusal to compensate former players for the licensing of their images "the ultimate servitude."
"They don't have the right in perpetuity," he said Tuesday. "No one has the right to anything for an indeterminate amount of time."
The lawsuit does not ask for a specific amount in damages. But any award likely would be sizable; the NCAA licenses a wide array of products while also allowing for broadcasts of past games and other events involving players.
This is not the first legal challenge to the NCAA's use of college players' images. In May, former Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller sued the NCAA and video game-maker EA Sports on the grounds that the company had no right to use players' likenesses in its games. EA Sports and the NCAA have claimed innocence, arguing that the games do not use photos or names of players.
Legal analysts said there is a good chance this latest case will survive at least initial legal challenges because of the roster of experienced and high-profile attorneys involved. Hausfeld is seen as one of the top class action litigators in the country. Other attorneys include David Boies, who worked on behalf of former Vice President Al Gore during the recount of the 2000 presidential election.
But experts said handicapping the case could be challenging.
"Whatever benefits there are in promoting the amateur mission of the NCAA for existing college players, I'm not sure that argument is as salient in the context of [retired] guys," said Michael McCann, associate professor at Vermont Law School and a columnist for SI.com. "A guy like Ed O'Bannon, did he give up the right to license his image just by being a college athlete? The NCAA could argue that 'yeah, you do. There's free tuition and all the benefits you get as a college player.' So it will be interesting because there are good arguments on both sides."
I think this is just a former student athlete who is struggling in this economy looking for more dough, how could this even be feasible; I mean honestly not only would you have to pay current Division 1 athletes but you would have to pay former Division 1 athletes as well; I don't believe the NCAA, despite the billions of dollars it makes each year would be capable of paying all that money. In my opinion Division 1 players should have a choice in whether they want to keep their scholarships or have a job, for example if Tim Tebow decides that he wants to work as an analyst for ESPN in the offseason or host a show thats fine, he should be able to do the job and still be a college athlete, but his scholarships should WITHOUT A DOUBT be revoked; that is the only way I see college athletes getting paid otherwise, there is no use because when you sign a scholarship; the school pays for your tuition, books, transportation, and anything else that you would want or desire, why should you be able to have an extra revenue stream when there are so many college students struggling to pay for tuition!
Former UCLA basketball standout Ed O'Bannon has filed a class action lawsuit seeking to stop the NCAA from licensing the images and likenesses of former college athletes in DVDs, photographs and other products.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, says the NCAA has improperly benefited from using former Division I football and basketball players' images even after they stopped playing and seeks an injunction to stop the practice.
It also seeks damages and an accounting of the money made by the NCAA from past licensing. In addition, the lawsuit says the NCAA has violated antitrust laws by not allowing athletes to negotiate their own licensing deals.
O'Bannon, a member of UCLA's 1995 national championship team, is the only player named in the suit. But attorneys said the case was filed on behalf of thousands of athletes.
"We're going to assist them in challenging the NCAA's right to license their [image] and likeness," said Megan Jones, an attorney in the D.C. office of Hausfeld LLP, one of the firms representing O'Bannon. "As the growth of technology has increased, so has the means by which the NCAA can license these images. There's been an awakening in the players because they're seeing themselves more and more places. And they're asking, 'How did I get there without anyone talking to me?' "
The NCAA declined to comment because it had not reviewed the lawsuit. In the past, it has denied any infringement of athletes' rights, arguing that paying players would be contrary to the basis of amateur athletics.
O'Bannon agreed to be the lead plaintiff in the case after meeting with Sonny Vaccaro, a former sports marketing executive who has toured the country the last two years to speak out against the NCAA's lack of compensation for players.
"I just really want people to understand that it's all about exploitation," O'Bannon said. "The NCAA has exploited its ex-players and student athletes, and it's about time everyone sees that."
Vaccaro called the NCAA's refusal to compensate former players for the licensing of their images "the ultimate servitude."
"They don't have the right in perpetuity," he said Tuesday. "No one has the right to anything for an indeterminate amount of time."
The lawsuit does not ask for a specific amount in damages. But any award likely would be sizable; the NCAA licenses a wide array of products while also allowing for broadcasts of past games and other events involving players.
This is not the first legal challenge to the NCAA's use of college players' images. In May, former Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller sued the NCAA and video game-maker EA Sports on the grounds that the company had no right to use players' likenesses in its games. EA Sports and the NCAA have claimed innocence, arguing that the games do not use photos or names of players.
Legal analysts said there is a good chance this latest case will survive at least initial legal challenges because of the roster of experienced and high-profile attorneys involved. Hausfeld is seen as one of the top class action litigators in the country. Other attorneys include David Boies, who worked on behalf of former Vice President Al Gore during the recount of the 2000 presidential election.
But experts said handicapping the case could be challenging.
"Whatever benefits there are in promoting the amateur mission of the NCAA for existing college players, I'm not sure that argument is as salient in the context of [retired] guys," said Michael McCann, associate professor at Vermont Law School and a columnist for SI.com. "A guy like Ed O'Bannon, did he give up the right to license his image just by being a college athlete? The NCAA could argue that 'yeah, you do. There's free tuition and all the benefits you get as a college player.' So it will be interesting because there are good arguments on both sides."
I think this is just a former student athlete who is struggling in this economy looking for more dough, how could this even be feasible; I mean honestly not only would you have to pay current Division 1 athletes but you would have to pay former Division 1 athletes as well; I don't believe the NCAA, despite the billions of dollars it makes each year would be capable of paying all that money. In my opinion Division 1 players should have a choice in whether they want to keep their scholarships or have a job, for example if Tim Tebow decides that he wants to work as an analyst for ESPN in the offseason or host a show thats fine, he should be able to do the job and still be a college athlete, but his scholarships should WITHOUT A DOUBT be revoked; that is the only way I see college athletes getting paid otherwise, there is no use because when you sign a scholarship; the school pays for your tuition, books, transportation, and anything else that you would want or desire, why should you be able to have an extra revenue stream when there are so many college students struggling to pay for tuition!
LEBRON JAMES DUNK SAGA
-Earlier today when I logged onto my computer I went on TMZ and was excited to find out that the video of LeBron James getting dunked on would be released to the public, first it would air on TMZ TV and then a full video would be released at 6:45PM on TMZ.com
-Harvey Levin; the mastermind behind TMZ then appeared on the Dan Patrick Show and said that he would not reveal how he got the video but only said that it cost anywhere between $10,000-50,000
-But suddenly for reasons I don't understand TMZ decided to release the video early at 3:02PM ET; I had just logged off of my computer an hour earlier so I wasn't aware of this, then I began watching SportsNation on ESPN2 and they said they had the LeBron video and I was like WTF? didn't TMZ say they had it? But then I saw the TMZ logo on the video and the rest I guess is history lol.
-I went to Twitter to check if there was any buzz on the video and discovered there was another version of the video with higher quality from a website called ebaumnation.com, it was released exactly 10 minutes after TMZ released its version, the question is why did TMZ release the video early?
-Did they get word that ebaumnation.com was going to release a better version earlier than they would like? Did they want to embarass LeBron James early? Who knows?
UPDATE: As soon as I got the link and made sure that this was actually high quality video of LeBron getting dunked on, I tweeted it to SportsNation and a couple of blogger friends of mine; 10 minutes after I tweeted it to them; I was watching SportsNation on ESPN (They are on ESPN subbing for ATH and PTI this week) and saw the version of the video that I had just sent to them IDK if they got my tweet or not but that was pretty cool to me lol
NOW THE WINNERS AND LOSERS OF THIS WHOLE SAGA LETS START WITH:
WINNERS:
Ebaumnation.com- This little known website which appears to be a male social networking website was able to scoop the scooper in TMZ (Which in the past has scooped many entertainment stories most recently the deaths of Walter Cronkite and Michael Jackson) and not only have video that TMZ claimed was exclusive but have better quality video
Twitter: Word that their was a better version of the LeBron getting dunked on video would not have gotten out without the amazing work of art and technology that is Twitter
Ryan Miller from Syracuse.com: Ryan Miller is an up and coming journalist from Syracuse, NY who's trying to become the next Dan Patrick or Stuart Scott (I am 2 lol) and he was able to get face time on Fox News, CNN, ESPN SportsCenter, MSNBC, ABC News etc.
LOSERS:
TMZ: Not only were they scooped by a website that no one has ever heard of but they had nothing new to offer, the quality of the video was terrible and they PAID $10,000-50,000 FOR A VIDEO WHERE U CAN BARELY SEE THE DUNK, Worst of all you can't even embed the video on your blog, Facebook, MySpace, ESPN.com etc. while you can embed the video from Ebaumnation.com which has better quality, so if this story stays alive by tomorrow bloggers and social networking users are most likely to post the Ebaumnation.com video of the dunk. UPDATE 6:30PM: ESPN SportsCenter is'nt even using TMZ's video
LEBRON JAMES AND NIKE: I know LeBron is supposed to be hyped up as the King and the next big thing in the NBA and he's basically flawless and perfect but LeBron did'nt even get dunked on that badly; and everyone has gotten dunked on before; LEBRON UR NOT PERFECT JUST REALIZE IT LOL! Also this is not the first time an amateur has beaten LeBron in something; don't forget LeBron lost a game to horse last summer at a promotion done by Club Cadet
So, LeBron and Nike stop being such pussys about this, as Miley Cyrus says....
And we all know LeBron is all about making money (He goes to Silicon Valley once a year to meet with billionaires like Rupert Murdoch, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Summer Redstone etc.) Nike and LeBron could have made a commercial out of this, here's Kenny 'The Jet' Smith's idea:
My new commercial idea ! Show every play lebron gets shook, stolen from, blocked and finally dunked on! Then tag it NO ONES PERFECT!
2:07 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
If you've never been dunked on you've never played against real competition! What's the big deal?
1:59 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
-www.twitter.com/thejetonTNT
And the worst thing about it is it's not like LeBron got posterized or totally demolished; it was'nt the greatest dunk I've ever seen (but it was pretty good LOL) Jordan Crawford, even if he makes the NBA or not and decides to go to Europe or an alternative league, whatever the case is he will always be known as the guy who dunked on LeBron lol (UNLESS SOMEONE ELSE DOES, WHERE CAN I GET AN APPLICATION FOR NEXT YEAR'S CAMP)
P.S. This show TMZ TV is a hot mess it's my 1st time watching it I always hear that it's one of the highest rated syndicated TV shows but the same stuff online is what's on TV it's a stupid show but if SportsCenter was'nt on at the same time I would probably watch it LOL
UPDATE 7PM: Here is ebaumnation.com's version:
And here is TMZ's version:
All courtesy of YouTube users who recorded both versions and posted them on YouTube, by tomorrow both videos especially the ebaumnation.com version will have thousands if not millions of hits
-Harvey Levin; the mastermind behind TMZ then appeared on the Dan Patrick Show and said that he would not reveal how he got the video but only said that it cost anywhere between $10,000-50,000
-But suddenly for reasons I don't understand TMZ decided to release the video early at 3:02PM ET; I had just logged off of my computer an hour earlier so I wasn't aware of this, then I began watching SportsNation on ESPN2 and they said they had the LeBron video and I was like WTF? didn't TMZ say they had it? But then I saw the TMZ logo on the video and the rest I guess is history lol.
-I went to Twitter to check if there was any buzz on the video and discovered there was another version of the video with higher quality from a website called ebaumnation.com, it was released exactly 10 minutes after TMZ released its version, the question is why did TMZ release the video early?
-Did they get word that ebaumnation.com was going to release a better version earlier than they would like? Did they want to embarass LeBron James early? Who knows?
UPDATE: As soon as I got the link and made sure that this was actually high quality video of LeBron getting dunked on, I tweeted it to SportsNation and a couple of blogger friends of mine; 10 minutes after I tweeted it to them; I was watching SportsNation on ESPN (They are on ESPN subbing for ATH and PTI this week) and saw the version of the video that I had just sent to them IDK if they got my tweet or not but that was pretty cool to me lol
NOW THE WINNERS AND LOSERS OF THIS WHOLE SAGA LETS START WITH:
WINNERS:
Ebaumnation.com- This little known website which appears to be a male social networking website was able to scoop the scooper in TMZ (Which in the past has scooped many entertainment stories most recently the deaths of Walter Cronkite and Michael Jackson) and not only have video that TMZ claimed was exclusive but have better quality video
Twitter: Word that their was a better version of the LeBron getting dunked on video would not have gotten out without the amazing work of art and technology that is Twitter
Ryan Miller from Syracuse.com: Ryan Miller is an up and coming journalist from Syracuse, NY who's trying to become the next Dan Patrick or Stuart Scott (I am 2 lol) and he was able to get face time on Fox News, CNN, ESPN SportsCenter, MSNBC, ABC News etc.
LOSERS:
TMZ: Not only were they scooped by a website that no one has ever heard of but they had nothing new to offer, the quality of the video was terrible and they PAID $10,000-50,000 FOR A VIDEO WHERE U CAN BARELY SEE THE DUNK, Worst of all you can't even embed the video on your blog, Facebook, MySpace, ESPN.com etc. while you can embed the video from Ebaumnation.com which has better quality, so if this story stays alive by tomorrow bloggers and social networking users are most likely to post the Ebaumnation.com video of the dunk. UPDATE 6:30PM: ESPN SportsCenter is'nt even using TMZ's video
LEBRON JAMES AND NIKE: I know LeBron is supposed to be hyped up as the King and the next big thing in the NBA and he's basically flawless and perfect but LeBron did'nt even get dunked on that badly; and everyone has gotten dunked on before; LEBRON UR NOT PERFECT JUST REALIZE IT LOL! Also this is not the first time an amateur has beaten LeBron in something; don't forget LeBron lost a game to horse last summer at a promotion done by Club Cadet
So, LeBron and Nike stop being such pussys about this, as Miley Cyrus says....
And we all know LeBron is all about making money (He goes to Silicon Valley once a year to meet with billionaires like Rupert Murdoch, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Summer Redstone etc.) Nike and LeBron could have made a commercial out of this, here's Kenny 'The Jet' Smith's idea:
My new commercial idea ! Show every play lebron gets shook, stolen from, blocked and finally dunked on! Then tag it NO ONES PERFECT!
2:07 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
If you've never been dunked on you've never played against real competition! What's the big deal?
1:59 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
-www.twitter.com/thejetonTNT
And the worst thing about it is it's not like LeBron got posterized or totally demolished; it was'nt the greatest dunk I've ever seen (but it was pretty good LOL) Jordan Crawford, even if he makes the NBA or not and decides to go to Europe or an alternative league, whatever the case is he will always be known as the guy who dunked on LeBron lol (UNLESS SOMEONE ELSE DOES, WHERE CAN I GET AN APPLICATION FOR NEXT YEAR'S CAMP)
P.S. This show TMZ TV is a hot mess it's my 1st time watching it I always hear that it's one of the highest rated syndicated TV shows but the same stuff online is what's on TV it's a stupid show but if SportsCenter was'nt on at the same time I would probably watch it LOL
UPDATE 7PM: Here is ebaumnation.com's version:
And here is TMZ's version:
All courtesy of YouTube users who recorded both versions and posted them on YouTube, by tomorrow both videos especially the ebaumnation.com version will have thousands if not millions of hits
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