Recent Comments

Dont be naive, if your an 18 year old who wants to get in the NFL, these are the kind of things that matter. Imagine yourself, if High school band kids were recruited and Ohio state recruited you and showed you all the media hype the band gets and the Ipads, band room, Tuba section, cool halftime shows.....lets face it, you wouldnt be a VTband nerd but a Buckeye band nerd. nothing personal just saying..

Bingo! If this goes to court and a minimum mandate is the ruling to all college student athletes then the costs will spiral and college sports are done as we know them. I think we all better be careful what you wish for. An old adage:

"What can make you, can also break you."

Cline should too...especially since everyone thinks LT3 could go as a TE. Cline is actually playing at the position

I didn't say he had no YAC ability. But if you look at the universe of college receivers, it doesn't stand out.

Don't get me wrong, I like Stanford. But I just don't think he will be drafted given his skill set and looking at the situation between now and 2016.

I found some NCAA financial information. Article is here:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2013/05/02/ncaa-financial-s...

Some key points in the article:

The NCAA had nearly $872 million in total revenue in fiscal 2012, according to the financial statement, and nearly $801 million in total expenses. In 2011, it had nearly $846 million in revenue and $778 million in expenses.

Of the 2012 revenue, nearly $709 million came from television and marketing rights fees and nearly $102 million from NCAA championships and National Invitation Tournament events.

The 2012 expenses include:

1. Nearly $504 million that was distributed to Division I member schools and conferences, up from $480 million in 2011.
2. More than $115 million on association-wide programs, down from more than $128 million in 2011. Association-wide program expenses include those for NCAA governance committees, the statement says.
3. More than $38.3 million in management and general spending, up from $35.7 million in 2011. On a percentage basis, that means management and general spending grew by 7.3% while the distribution to Division I increased by 5%.

It seems the rest goes into an endowment. Here is some info on that:

The endowment fund has been designated as a quasi-endowment, which means the money is intended to be retained and invested, but unlike a permanent endowment, its principal can be spent. It was established in 2004 by the NCAA Executive Committee, a group of college presidents that oversees association-wide matters, primarily to protect against an event that could impact what is overwhelmingly the NCAA's greatest revenue source: the Division I men's basketball tournament.

The fund began with $45 million, and the original goal for its growth was $500 million. The goal has been lowered to $380 million, Keith Martin, the NCAA's managing director of finance and operations, told USA TODAY Sports in an interview last year.

The fund has retained any investment earnings and been augmented with a portion of the NCAA's annual operating surpluses. In fiscal 2010, however, the NCAA began putting more of its annual operating surpluses toward supplemental distributions to the membership and less toward the quasi-endowment.

OK, I'm not picking sides as I don't have all the facts. So above are some recent facts on the NCAA financials. It doesn't seem there is a lot of money in the endowment. If annually there was somewhere near $50M left over and you put a portion towards medical and scholarships for all Div 1, Div 2, Div 3, etc, athletes, what would they get? I don't think its much...
Other points we need some info on: Are the salaries for the NCAA organization truly over the top vs what the service they provide? Can someone find that out for us? It is a non-profit, right?

To me if this case goes the way of a minimum mandate to the players not based on a percent of what is left after expenses, then the cost to do what is being done now will go up and we all will have to pay more. seems a death spiral. This could bankrupt and end college sports....

Considering everything that's been going on that's been said, written, tweeted, etc, it's not a huge leap to make. Very few people outside of the ND fanbase are shocked by this. And if I've divulged too much, my apologies. Don't sue me. I'm sure it'll get out there fairly soon anyways.

It will be an industrial revolution,....

Billy Madison explains it well in "the puppy who lost his way"

Have not gotten official word, although he was listed as a redshirt freshman earlier this year. Just recently noticed it has him as a sophomore (other players haven't advanced a year on the roster, either).

A little bit. And I'll return the favor!

It is, which is why I only put pretty much the headline. Left out a good bit of other info in the interest of not stepping on any toes. I'll edit that to clarify.

Ha, thanks. I just took the idea from a buddy of mine who did something similar at CNU and adapted it. He created a spirit group that is now the largest on campus organization there. They even had things where they had a shirt and made a deal with a restaurant that if you wore the shirt there, you could get a meal (2 slices of pizza and a drink) for cheap. I'm sure there are businesses in Blacksburg that would participate in something like this, even if the benefit could only be used once, like $1 ticket to the Lyric once per month. For now, I'll hold on to this idea and put it into the hands of the right people once Babcock has gotten in and started to get things moving.

I miss not wearing pants.........problem solved!