Шампунь

In the midst of the College Football Bowl season, let us pause between the Beef O’Brady classic and the Viagra/Tampon Bowl to consider the plight of the young men providing us with an excuse to sit around the living room and drink beer and eat chips and salsa.

If UT had not been eligible for a bowl this year some of the athletes you cheer on Saturday would have been homeless. The semester ended and dorms were to be closed, and football players unable to afford to go home during the Christmas holidays would have been on the street. Any other student can go home with a friend. Take in an athlete? That’s an NCAA violation. Since the Vols have a bowl game, they were provided housing so they could practice.

You can buy video games featuring your favorite college athletes, complete with their numbers. The game company makes money, colleges make money. The athletes don’t get a cut. My friend Gordon Ball has filed a lawsuit, one of many from around the country, this one on behalf of Bobby Maze. Maze was a point guard for UT’s basketball team. No one wants to deprive you of using Bobby’s likeness in your video game, but don’t you think he ought to see some money from it? But UT, like every other NCAA school, makes its athletes sign a form giving up their rights in return for the opportunity to play college ball.