With the developing story that Alabama players may have knowingly signed pieces of memorabilia for commercial use coupled with previous similar allegations at Ohio State and Georgia, another program already in the crosshairs of the NCAA is taking steps to make sure their players aren’t receiving any financial compensation for memorabilia sold.
In a very interesting piece by the Oregonian, Bill Clever, UO’s associate athletic director for compliance, goes through the process of tracking items of memorabilia previously used (and some reportedly signed) by Oregon players to ensure that no one on the team was in violation of NCAA bylaws.
It’s not an easy task. There are a lot of items for sale -- the Oregonian claims 270 items with signatures were up for bid at one point over the internet on sites such as eBay -- and numerous hands through which the items could have passed.
Even socks worn in the BCS National Championship Game were up for bid*.
(*Note*: whoever buys used socks is either mentally disturbed or needs to seriously get another hobby)
The article also documents the "$100 danger zone”, or the procedure by which players can be suspended from, and reinstated to, the team for knowingly participating in selling items of memorabilia. It’s a very fascinating read and well worth a few minutes because it gives context and perspective on what is a very difficult job.
And it doesn’t just identify struggles at Oregon. This is what compliance directors all over have to deal with on a daily basis, and it’s all the more reason the NCAA needs to get it’s act together, and as SEC commissioner Mike Slive put it, streamline their rules for the modern day.
“Lots of times when you tell the kids, ‘NCAA says you can’t do this,’ you hear the groans and stuff like that,” Jeff Hawkins, Oregon’s director of football operations, says in the piece. “Yeah, I know. But this is the rule.”