Great Yahoo column on the O'Bannon suit

Personally... I don't like this. Wish Ed would just stick to selling cars now.

Regardless of whether or not they are obligated to, UCLA should give their former athletes a cut of their profit.

This is a very very important case, IMO. Not so much for UCLA, but for college athletics in general. It is unfortunate that these "student-athletes" see absolutely no compensation for something THEY accomplished, something THEY achieved. Meanwhile, the NCAA and various universities continues to reap the benefits. At the very least, the athletes should be required to give consent before their likeness is used.

I think Ed is making a very important point.

If he used marketing materials for selling cars in which he used any aspect of the NCAA, you know he would be sued and the organization would seek damages.

Since he never signed a document that gave his permission to use his likeness on a product and that organization profited from the sale of that product, he indeed should be compensated.

He certainly would not be entitled to payment for telecast of the games when they were played or reported upon.

But if those games are repackaged with the intent of profiting from the initial telecasts, then Ed and Charlie and the other Bruins and Arkansas athletes should be

Living in a company town like LA (entertainment) you should know that the players (actors) are compensated for the use of their likeness and work.

Go Ed!!

Love you Ed but I cannot believe all you've made of your free UCLA education, not to mention an NCAA Basketball championship, is a car salesman in Vegas. I mean really? Yikes!!! Makes me sad for you.

I don't know why some people are still under the impression that elite athletes are in college for academic educations. Yes, the school has some wonderful programs but the one that will hopefully be most beneficial is the one is their chosen sport.

Nobody's going to ask a law student to know anything about medicine. Nobody should expect an athlete looking to major in football or basketball to to view their classroom work as much more that the rest of us look/looked at g.e. courses.

So Ed put all his eggs in one basket (no pun intended) and stuck with basketball. Unfortunately he flamed out in the Association. It happens more often than not.

Difference here is that these athletes KNOW what they are signing up to beforehand. This is how it works. Get a free education - ok fine, skip that... but free publicity/marketing while in school, make it to the pros (hopefully), and make bank (hopefully). Only reason Ed is making a stink now is cuz he has no money. I can understand that... I don't have any either, but this is like Brad Pitt making suing US magazine because they took a picture of him buy a hamburger at McDonalds.

I don't know why people are looking down on Ed for being a car salesman. He has no problem with it, why should you?

As a graduate of the UCLA School of Public Health and the UCLA School of Medicine, and now a practicing Board-Certified ophthalmologist, I see no difference between car-salesman Ed O'Bannon and a LASIK surgeon hawking the surgery on the radio and/or TV...also, I think it's wrong to assume Ed filed the lawsuit because he has no money (according to Larry).

It is NOT about O'bannon! It is about all collegiate athletes. This lawsuit against the NCAA wasn't brought upon by O'bannon. Doesn't anybody remember Sonny Vacarro suggested to the powers that be, that Ed should be the poster boy for this lawsuit? He is just a pawn in the grand scheme of things and there isn't a better representative than Ed.

And there's nothing wrong w/ being a car salesman. He's making an honest living and easily making into the six figures (roommate is in car sales and him and most of his colleagues make well over 100K), although probably much less after all the Toyota issues recently.

Stop dumping on the guy when you have no clue.

Although he may have started off as a car salesman, according to a story in the New York Daily News, Ed is now a promotions manager for Findlay Toyota in Las Vegas, having been promoted four times in four years:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2009/02/07/2009-02-07_where_are_they_now_former_ucla_star_and_-2.html

A later article (August 2009) describes him as the sales and marketing manager for Findlay.

http://rebelnation.lvrj.com/2009/08/13/lon-kruger-to-meet-with-fans-on-saturday-at-findlay-toyota/

Finally, it seems that he has also taken the position of head basketball coach at Henderson International (a small prep school), while retaining his job at Findlay.

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/48421992.html

Another article says he made about $7 million during his short pro career (NBA & overseas), some of which his wife made sure was stashed away, and it was she who made him get a job because she was tired of having him mope around the house. So it doesn't sound like he is quite as desperate for money as most of you think. I think Ed will prove to be successful in whatever endeavor he chooses.

In my opinion, Ed was a class act at UCLA and apparently has conducted his post-basketball career in a like-wise manner. The NCAA, on the other hand, has no problem with unscrupulous coaches like John Calipari making millions of dollars at schools which have no interest in academic requirements.

dONT THROW STONES UNLESS YOUR MAKING 6 FIGURES...UNBELIEVEABLE THE HATRED ON THIS POST...THE NCAA ARE FAT CATS THAT HAVE BEEN GETTING AWAY WITH THIS FOR YEARS. THEY PENALIZE POOR KIDS FOR HAVING A JOB OR SOMETHING ELSE STUPID. DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH MONEY THEY MAKE..ITS A SLAVE TRADE..THEY CAN EASILY PROVIDE ATHLETES WITH A MONTHLY STIPEND. UNLIKE MOST OF YOU, THESE KIDS CAN ASK MOM OR DAD FOR 100 BUCKS TO BLOW IT AT A BAR. MANY OF THESE KIDS ARE POOR OR HAVE CHILDREN ON THEIR OWN. YES THE ARE GETTING A FREE EDUCATION BUT '' BREATHING AND LIVING LIFE COST MONEY EVERYDAY'' LETS BE REALISTIC PEOPLE...WAY TO GO ED..IT SEEMS CLEAR CUT TO ME...TAKE DOWN THE CROOKED NCAA

But let's get that same NCAA regime to punish the 'ToeJams'

like Nipsey Russell says in Wildcats, "Riiiiiiigggghhhhttt....."