Top Five Stories of 2013: NCAA Football's Demise

[josephid]

Can EA just spend some time in giving us the chance to create what ever we want. The players, teams, stadiums and so on. Just give us the base game play and we build.

Call it football GM or ? As for online problems with head to head play and licenses, who cares, I don't play on line. The money they put into a better create platform, they could use for other games.

[xcgjyfxtrhqing]

It would have been nice to get a new gen version before they shut it down.

[xcgjyfxtrhqing]

It would have been nice to get a new gen version before they shut it down.

[Goodydog]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mick-S

with any luck O’Bannon`s money will bring him nothing but misery.

No. The bottom line is that no person/company/industry ...EA/NCAA...should be able to make money off of people, individually/collectively (player or team) without compensating those people involved. Yes, it sucks for you because your game is cancelled for now, but you must attempt to avoid being "self-centered."

Also, just because a person is too young/ignorant/immature to realize that he/she is being exploited, and/or even agrees to exploitation, that doesn't make it right or acceptable. The end still doesn't justify the means.

Also, it is ironic that some wish to condemn O'Bannon and call him "greedy" while those same accusers are defending EA and the NCAA?!?!?!?!? The word "misinformed" doesn't even begin to describe the absurdity of the situation...bizarre.

[supermanemblem]

@goodydog. Have you ever heard of unpaid internships? I had one in college and I wasn't running around making coffee or copies. I was producing real work and got paid nothing. People like you miss the entire point of being a college athlete. They are "paid" by way of an opportunity for a free education, housing, food, healthcare and travel. Do you know how a business works? Employees and contractors do not receive compensation equal to what they produced. If they did then the owners, who put up their own money to fund the business get the banana in the tailpipe. Kobe got $30 mil from the Lakers this year. How much money do you think they make off of him? I'll give you a hint. It way more than $30 mil. If college athletes are put off by the amount of money they are generating, they can always get a job and find the hard way that they will never make what the big boss makes.

[Goodydog]

Quote: Originally Posted by supermanemblem

@goodydog. Have you ever heard of unpaid internships? I had one in college and I wasn't running around making coffee or copies. I was producing real work and got paid nothing. People like you miss the entire point of being a college athlete. They are "paid" by way of an opportunity for a free education, housing, food, healthcare and travel. Do you know how a business works? Employees and contractors do not receive compensation equal to what they produced. If they did then the owners, who put up their own money to fund the business get the banana in the tailpipe. Kobe got $30 mil from the Lakers this year. How much money do you think they make off of him? I'll give you a hint. It way more than $30 mil. If college athletes are put off by the amount of money they are generating, they can always get a job and find the hard way that they will never make what the big boss makes.

@Super...
I was honestly addressing O'Bannon's case specifically, however, I will offer my opinion on "college athletics" in general. First, there is a difference (imo) between a college athlete (a true student who is achieving an education/degree) and an athlete who is working for a college under the guise of being a college student. If an institution bends/stretches/shreds this concept (for victories = money), well, what should anyone expect from the kids/students?

I would not equate the revenue generated from your internship to the dollars generated by the interns of the NCAA/NFL internship program. I'm sure that you were a brilliant intern, but I'm sure your tenure at the firm where you worked (and the millions like you) pale in comparison. Also, it is unlikely that you were saddled with the same draconian work restrictions as current college athletes are; what I'm saying is that NCAA interns don't have the same freedom or flexibility to go and work elsewhere without serious penalty. My point is that college athletics have a different set of circumstances with different consequences, so much so that the NCAA is on the verge of altering its policy/definition of appropriate compensation for "college athletes."

You stated that people "like me" miss the point, and to some degree I probably have; but if I've missed the point, it is because the NCAA along with colleges and universities that are in pursuit of big dollars keep moving it.

[dso122783]

First, I love NCAA football. I play it every year, all year. I think whats going on here reminds of an episode of south park. I can't say the word but it was written just after the Michael Richards standup incident. Token told Stan that he "just doesn't understand" why the word is offensive. At the end Stan tells Token "I finally got it. I don't get it". Token says that now Stan understands. Make sense?
I really don't see the big fus with these college athletes and the sense of entitlement. To me its a privilege. You cant complain about a thing that you chose to do. That's like me saying "Man, I hate not getting paid enough at work" Everyone says that. Very few people think they are overpaid. But very few people quit because of pay, they just complain. And almost nobody hires a lawyer over it. That's because there is a simple answer for them. Quit and do something else. But they don't quit. I don't think Im underpaid, but if I did feel that I was, I would look for something else. In the meantime I would be glad I have a job to complain about. I think college football players should be glad that they are so talented and have so many opportunities that so many others don't. Imagine nobody in your family ever going to college. You come from a poverty stricken home. You have no networks or connections in the real world.You go to sleep almost every night to the sounds of sirens and gunshots. However you find out you are a beast on the gridiron. Now, I would use that to my advantage and be thankful I have that skill that could get me an education. A life. Its called opportunity. And I would not feel slighted for not getting paid because my number is in NCAA. But that's just me.
Back to my South Park reference. Maybe we, as gamers, just don't understand. We say we do. Heck, I just made a rant about it. But maybe we just don't get it.

[ftball11]

The problem is not just the former athletes and their $40 million settlement, the problem is gamers as well. Don’t forget, EA settled a class-action suit with gamers for $27 million. EA is going to payout $67 million and to add icing on the cake, now the NCAA is suing them. Due to the liability, I guarantee you no company will ever produce a college sports game and the NCAA will never license to a video-game maker again.