THE ZIPPER PROPOSAL - Or how to start to fix the NCAA.

[edwzipper]

THE ZIPPER PROPOSAL - Or how to start to fix the NCAA.

I went public with this Intellectual Property on Mad dog radio this Saturday. Many sports programs direct their players not to use social media during the season. This is obviously a class action lawsuit waiting to happen, one which the NCAA can not win.

You can instruct employees not to make negative comments about the company they work for, but we have been told many times how athletes are not employees. If they were they would get some pay (They can't even work part-time like other students) and most importantly the would be covered under WORKERS COMP.

An individual can, if they choose, sign a waiver regarding their first amendment rights. I propose an annual agreement (that an athlete would have the freedom not to sign) that would pay the athlete a specified amount of money for waving their right to free speech.

In fact this would be offered to all or none of the athletes on each team, thus giving money to non-scholarship players too. This would not make them employees and it clears up that silly little 1st Amendment issue.

[Joe K]

THE ZIPPER PROPOSAL - Or how to start to fix the NCAA.

I went public with this Intellectual Property on Mad dog radio this Saturday. Many sports programs direct their players not to use social media during the season. This is obviously a class action lawsuit waiting to happen, one which the NCAA can not win.

You can instruct employees not to make negative comments about the company they work for, but we have been told many times how athletes are not employees. If they were they would get some pay (They can't even work part-time like other students) and most importantly the would be covered under WORKERS COMP.

An individual can, if they choose, sign a waiver regarding their first amendment rights. I propose an annual agreement (that an athlete would have the freedom not to sign) that would pay the athlete a specified amount of money for waving their right to free speech.

In fact this would be offered to all or none of the athletes on each team, thus giving money to non-scholarship players too. This would not make them employees and it clears up that silly little 1st Amendment issue.

Well first of all, the First Amendment is irrelevant to athletes at Notre Dame, Stanford, USC, Duke, or any other private institution, as it only restricts the ability of the government to place restrictions on one's speech. And I'm not so sure that a lawsuit involving athletes from public schools would be the slam-dunk that you think it is. You're right that government speech restrictions aimed at preventing "internal disruption" most often come up in the context of government employees. But I'm not sure if employee status is a requirement. I'd be very surprised if the government can't include a non-disparagement clause in a contract with outside contractors. And more generally, I'm not sure there's any precedent that says that a state school could not restrict the speech rights of students involved in an invite-only extracurricular activity, in return for said members getting to participate in that activity. There are a lot of potential legal challenges to the NCAA, but this seems like one of the weaker ones.

[Brontoburglar]

if social media was an important issue, it'd probably be a part of the lawsuits against the NCAA that are currently in litigation

[tennbengal]

spam is getting more sophisticated.

[sancarlos]

Wait. That's not really Zipper? I was just going to welcome him back.

[tennbengal]

Wait. That's not really Zipper? I was just going to welcome him back.

I was joking.

[sancarlos]

Zip, we need you and Bronto and TB to get back on the job of manning the front page of the Frog.

[Gunpowder]

Is restricting Twitter use the same as banning negative comments? Banning all online comments seems different.

[edwzipper]

There was a one page article in ESPN the magazine 2 months ago regarding this. It is viewed as a clear violation of freedom of speech.

[Gunpowder]

Ok. Fair enough.

So how much do you pay them and do they all get the same amount?

[Joe K]

There was a one page article in ESPN the magazine 2 months ago regarding this. It is viewed as a clear violation of freedom of speech.

It's not though. As I mentioned, the First Amendment is irrelevant to private schools. BYU can kick you out for having sex. Do you really think that being a student-athlete there comes with full First Amendment protections? And I would love to see any legal precedent--apart from ESPN the Magazine--that says that the First Amendment limits Nick Saban's ability to kick someone off his team because he coaches at a state school.

[edwzipper]

I am not a lawyer, but i did go to Hebrew School for a few years. There is not a case with an athlete and social media, but there have been recent precedents set in colleges.

Meanwhile my proposal offers a solution.


Here is how you can give them money and avoid the possibility of a class action suit.

[Johnny Carwash]

This thread threw a monkey wrench into my theory that zipper and Joe K were the same guy.

Or maybe it didn't.

[Joe K]

I am not a lawyer, but i did go to Hebrew School for a few years. There is not a case with an athlete and social media, but there have been recent precedents set in colleges.

Meanwhile my proposal offers a solution.


Here is how you can give them money and avoid the possibility of a class action suit.

I don't think the NCAA is particularly worried about a class action suit about social media. There's a huge difference between saying that a public university can't discipline a student for exercising his free speech rights and saying that a sports team can't do so. The University of Alabama can't expel a student for saying, "Fuck Nick Saban, War Eagle!" But Saban sure as hell can kick a player off his team for saying that.

To me, the best solution to compensate athletes is to eliminate the rule that they cannot profit from their names and likenesses. That way, Leonard Fournette can endorse products and sell autographs, but LSU doesn't have to worry about paying a freshman swimmer who doesn't actually generate any revenue for the university.

[howard]

Zip, we need you and Bronto and TB to get back on the job of manning the front page of the Frog.

I've got the keys to a tumblr page that could fill that function.

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/thesportsfrog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[A_B]

I am not a lawyer, but i did go to Hebrew School for a few years. There is not a case with an athlete and social media, but there have been recent precedents set in colleges.

Meanwhile my proposal offers a solution.


Here is how you can give them money and avoid the possibility of a class action suit.

I don't think the NCAA is particularly worried about a class action suit about social media. There's a huge difference between saying that a public university can't discipline a student for exercising his free speech rights and saying that a sports team can't do so. The University of Alabama can't expel a student for saying, "Fuck Nick Saban, War Eagle!" But Saban sure as hell can kick a player off his team for saying that.

To me, the best solution to compensate athletes is to eliminate the rule that they cannot profit from their names and likenesses. That way, Leonard Fournette can endorse products and sell autographs, but LSU doesn't have to worry about paying a freshman swimmer who doesn't actually generate any revenue for the university.

This is what I would wish.