Suspended Ohio State players

...Three Buckeyes players - including two who have already been sitting out for taking cash and free tattoos - accepted too much money for too little work in their summer jobs.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/f ... z1ZozZUsH3

Does anyone else see this as ridiculous? The NCAA is behind this suspension. Apparently, they now set the maximum wage for a student athlete. Interestingly, no such maximum is set for any non student athlete. I sure as hell am not a Buckeye fan, but this is BS. Apparently the NCAA believes they know what is best. It's a lot like a union where the leaders benefit at the expense of the grunts on the line.

Have to agree. If I am on a full academic scholarship I can work as many jobs as my schedule permits, but athletes, often from families who cannot provide any financial support, aren't allowed to work. Seems unfair to me.

I wonder if the top football powerhouses will ever decide to form a new organization that will allow college athletes to be paid and work for their money.

The Olympics dropped their amateur rules and it hasn't hurt the competition.

SS109 wrote: Have to agree. If I am on a full academic scholarship I can work as many jobs as my schedule permits, but athletes, often from families who cannot provide any financial support, aren't allowed to work. Seems unfair to me.

I wonder if the top football powerhouses will ever decide to form a new organization that will allow college athletes to be paid and work for their money.

The Olympics dropped their amateur rules and it hasn't hurt the competition.

For a long time I was opposed to paying student athletes. With more thought, I think that was a wrong conclusion on my part. I got paid as a teaching and research associate. I provided a service from which the University benefited and I got paid for that service. One can look at student athletes in basketball and football the same way. They are providing a service that makes huge sums of money for the University. It only seems right that those who serve be paid appropriately for those services. It's been a very one-sided deal to this point.

I do see room for a future change involving the NCAA. This organization is no group of idiots. They know damn well how much colleges are benefiting from the athletes. They impose their ludicrous rules under the guise of honor, truth, etc. to penalize those who serve them the best. I think they realize that they still have the athletes by the balls as there are no alternatives for the athletes. you talk about exploiting people. This is one of the best examples of exploitation, akin to the days of sweat shops during the days of the industrial revolution. Sooner or later someone with an once of self respect will advocate a change within the structure of the NCAA. Perhpas long before then that push will come from coaches or the public. Likely the coaches since they have a vested interest.

Don't you guys get it? If I'm a boster and I wanna blue chip prospect i'd just hire him to wash my car for 1 million dollars...It would become pro sports, and a few big sachools would get all the players. having said that, the players should be paid. This is the biggest using and abusing of your kids ever- Bigger than the Iraq war even

And the big schools who could buy all the blue chip players would play in their own special conference. And the real scholar athletes who compete and are paid with only athletic scholarships would play in the other conference. I know 20K a year worth of free tuition is nothing to complain about.