Dangerous, Dirty, and Unfun

In the same week that this happens, we learn from the Chronicle of Higher Education that the NCAA wants to pass a rule to make it easier for corporate sponsors to use college athletes’ images in advertising.

Existing rules generally bar companies from using an athlete’s name, image, or “likeness” in advertisements, promotions, or other ventures. The proposed measure would allow corporate sponsors to feature game clips of current athletes in their TV ads, for instance, as long as the ads include the name of the athlete’s institution. It would also allow companies to publicize sales events at which college athletes would be present.

Don’t worry if you clicked through and didn’t notice the bit about college athletes being compensated. That bit doesn’t exist.

Now, I understand that the relationship between athletes, their schools, the NCAA, and the NCAA’s corporate sponsors is more nuanced than “athletes should/should not be paid.” It’s too long a discussion to have here, so let’s not get too far into it. (Although it’s always important to remember the story of Jeremy Bloom, the guy who lost his football eligibility because he accepted endorsement money as a skier.)

The fact is, the college athletes are “compensated” in the form of scholarships, room, and board. Outside of that, they don’t make any money from the licensing deals their schools arrange, they don’t make any money from the corporate sponsorships negotiated by their schools, they don’t make any money from the bowl games and the tournament appearances they lead their teams to. In addition to that, they’re forbidden from taking money from third-party boosters (witness Cam Newton’s plight above), they can’t make money from their fame in the form of selling memorabilia (witness the plight of Terrelle Pryor and his teammates), and they can’t make money from their skills in other sports (witness Jeremy Bloom.)

And they certainly can’t make any money from media uses of their likeness. But there IS money to be made there, so you know someone is going to try to make it. Witness this new NCAA proposal.

Happy Saturday, precious readers. It’s a beautiful day here in the Hub of the Universe, which is tough, because there’s also a lot of college football on the teevee. Whether you decide to stay in, or go outside and play, you should still watch this great Lou Holtz pep talk. Trust me, it’ll make your day!

# Has anyone seen the trailer for this movie You Again? Does wanting to see it make me a stupid idiot? Kristen Bell in glasses! And I liked Sigourney Weaver in Holes. It’s a good concept! I’m seeing it, I don’t care what you people say.

# I could write a post a week about a song that I hear in a commercial that I wind up loving. The problem is, sometimes Youtube and Google do a good job of helping me figure out what a song in a given commercial is, and sometimes they don’t. (Serious question: shouldn’t there be a Youtube and and IMDB that like, specifically caters to commercials? So we can see who the actors are and what the songs are? And find them whenever we want without jumping through hoops? Do such sites already exist? If they do and you know about them, precious readers, don’t keep the information to yourself!) Anyway, this time, everything fell into place! I’m talking about the Virgin Mobile commercial that’s been on (they call it “The Crazy Life”).

Firstly, I’ll talk to my web advisers and figure out if there’s anything I can do about those HD Youtube embeds leaking out of the frame. Secondly, the guy at the lectern in the church? None other than Rob Halford, of Judas Priest. How cool! Thirdly, that’s the Hives covering “Early Morning Wake Up Call,” by an Australian New Wave outfit called Flash and the Pan. I can’t get it outta my head! Here’s the original.

# It’s 30–10 at the end of the first half, and the 18th-ranked UNC Tar Heels are playing like half of their starters haven’t even dressed. Oh wait.

# Incidentally, the music playing over some of the interstitial footage during the halftime show of this LSU–UNC game reminded me of something that I’ve wanted to talk about for quite some time. It’s been around for a while, and y’all are more hip than I am, but have you see the video for MGMT’s “Kids”? Isn’t it the most horrible thing you’ve ever seen? For real! I’m also very weirded out by that quote at the beginning. Not the quote itself; I’ve been saying it for years. (As has everyone that ever read The Watchmen.) It’s that the quote is so clearly and obviously from Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil, that it makes me wonder why the guys from MGMT would attribute it to Mark Twain. Because that has to have been something done on purpose, right?

# Hank Hill is a pretty alright dude.

# Also, before I forget, let me remind you that sharks have a week dedicated to Mark Herzlich. If Mark Herzlich were in the movie 300, it wouldn’t be called 300. It would be called 1. Who would win in a fight between Mark Herzlich and Galactus? That’s a trick question: Mark Herzlich IS the Devourer of Worlds.

# Here’s a real life bit of conversation:
nick: i hate superman as a hero, as a character, as anything
he’s simultaneously the strongest superhero and the most useless if someone has a pebble in their pocket
me: well, kryptonite is a deus ex machina that would make euripides blush
nick: lol
that’s a funny line
me: i was gonna say the same thing
i’m putting it in my blog

Regular readers of Dangerous, Dirty, and Unfun know that their favorite blogger occasionally moonlights as a professional writing guy. Because I know you folks are always jonesing for more content, here are some selections written by yours truly from the latest issue of Boston College Magazine. This story is about the George Plimpton–esque afternoon I spent making fundraising calls to BC alumni. If you know me, you know how hard a time I have even asking for like, extra oyster crackers at a restaurant, so you can imagine how much I was pulling my collar in those three hours.

And here’s a story about Boston College’s last football game at Notre Dame for the foreseeable future, and a general overview of the rivalry between the last two Catholic schools playing big time college football. Despite the loss, it was a pretty heartwarming experience. I wound up talking to at least half a dozen pairs of fathers and sons, all of them just thrilled to be on that train from Chicago to South Bend, because they knew they might never get another chance.

And if you happen to be interested in my whole BCM oeuvre, you can find it here.