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(written 2013)

July 17, 2013, the NCAA noted it will let its contract with video game maker EA Sports, expire in the June 2014. One may question why.

If you haven't heard, a lawsuit has been drawn up by ex-UCLA Basketball Player, Ed O'Bannon on the use of player likeness against the NCAA and EA Sports.

This is the latest chapter of the ever-pressing growth of injustice for profit that's finally beginning to sprout from its roots, cracking the white cemented pavement by modern slaveownerz who set up a system that has reaped benefits in probably the gazillionz since the Afrikan athlete has been "granted" access to play collegiate and professional sports.

Along with O'Bannon, on July 18, 2013, six senior football playerz (Arizona Wildcats Jake Fisher & Jake Smith, Moses Alipate & Victor Keise of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Chase Garnham of the Vanderbilt Commodores, and Clemson Tigers' Darius Robinson) were included in complaint. Four of the six senior's suffered season-ending injuries during their college careerz and with the latest attention football has neurologically as well as the body itself, it doesn't look so good for the NCAA and EA Sports. Other profile plaintiffs are NBA Hall of Famers Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson.

Current and ex-Athletes suing NCAA and EA Sports could be worth billionz, simultaneously opening the door of discussion of the need for athletes to be financially compensated by universities to play. This will also put on blast companies like Nike who sell jerseyz and sneakers made popular by playerz which created probably the richest form of free labor, 2nd to slavery of Afrikanz who were smuggled around the globe via the Maangamizi.

An example of this slavemaster mentality was confirmed by former NCAA president Myles Brand in 2008 when he said publicly: "(t)he right to license or sell one's name, image and likeness is a property with economic value…" to the tune of $871.6 million the NCAA made in 2011-12 while EA Sports raked in $4.143 billion in 2012 -- that's over $5 billion between the two, all shared mainly amongst whites.

This is alarming when we know the NCAA released in 2010 an ethnic disparity study showing American-Afrikan Division I male athletes being the dominant demographic in football (45.8%) and basketball (60.8%) yet we make up just 13% of the U.S. population.

What's worse is the accelerated "in and out" system where student-athletes are considered more to be "athlete-students" as they are highly recruited not for their scholastic merit but that of their athletic prowess. Highly skilled athletes are brought to the biggest programz (ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Big East, etc), help the programz stay at the top—which is rewarded by media coverage and TV dealz (Notre Dame football has kept a lucrative TV deal with NBC since 1991 and recently extended to 2025 earning several million dollarz each game)—with the athlete leaving by their sophomore year; only, like an auto manufacturer, there's an assortment of new Freshmen coming the following year. Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari is probably the highest profile coach who may best be known as the "master" of this 'one-and-done philosophy. Notice I'm not speaking about the graduation rate, because frankly, in todayz world, there aren't enough jobz to hire graduates!

Now don't get me wrong, I have no issue with playerz leaving early to go pro to earn a living. They obviously do it because they are not paid at the collegiate level—but somebody is making money off them! Ex-NBA star, Chris Webber shed light about this when he spoke of how broke he was as a student-athlete while his Michigan jersey sold in the campus store for $75. Today, you can still buy his jersey online for over $100 and he no longer playz! With no royalty system in place, think of how this has enabled overseerz to continue to profit long after a player retires!

Dr. Boyce Watkins noted about the 'Fab Five' of the early 1990s:

"When these five young men stepped onto the court for the University of Michigan, they instantly became cash cows for their university. Sales of University of Michigan merchandise went from $1.5 million prey year to over $10 million per year shortly after their first season. Jalen Rose, one of the members of the Fab Five, mentioned seeing that Nike had released a sneaker named after the group, and they regularly found their academic schedules being interrupted with trips around the world to promote a brand that was making everyone rich except for their own families."

The basis of this case as noted by O'Bannan is that playerz deserve a share of proceedz for the use of their likenesses. Otherz go to the core of this issue—money! Many are unaware of the physically sacrifice an athlete endures with many not making it to the professional—or "Payday"—level due to physical and even neurological injuries. The public doesn't see how difficult it is for many ex-athlete's to think clearly, much less walk without a limp or a third or fourth surgery on a hip or knee. The life of an athlete mimic's that of a race horse, the only difference is athletes are not euthanized and eaten after they no longer can perform.

Can this be seen as a form of reparationz? Perhaps. Maybe not. But if a verdict is brought against everyone connected to the NCAA and EA Sports, ti will be a severe blow to white wealth! Maybe that Afrikan professional (and even collegiate) program could be achieved in our life time.

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APRIL 8, 2014 UPDATE:
The University of Connecticut (UConn) won the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The story that was barely talked about was star player, Shabazz Napier who recently told reporterz he sometymz goes to bed "starving" because he can't afford food.

From this interview,

"State Rep. Matthew Lesser and other state lawmakerz are considering legislation that would allow athletes at the University of Connecticut to unionize, Lesser said. Unlike at Northwestern, a private institution governed by the National Labor Relations Board, Connecticut law governs whether employees at a public institution can unionize. "He says he's going to bed hungry at a time when millions of dollars are being made off of him.

It's obscene," Lesser said. "This isn't a Connecticut problem. This is an NCAA problem, and I want to make sure we're putting pressure on them to treat athletes well."

In a recent interview with reporters, Napier called the Northwestern union ruling "kind of great" and said that while he appreciates his basketball scholarship, it doesn't cover all of his expenses. "I don't feel student-athletes should get hundreds of thousands of dollars, but like I said, there are hungry nights that I go to bed and I'm starving," he said."

The NCAA and professional leagues want to talk about how the "One and done" (in college for one year then can go pro), should be moved to two yearz athlete's should stay in college. What they don't want to talk about is why playerz want to go pro—and it's the same reason the NCAA, colleges and universities want them to stay—the money!

Whereas student-athletes (a term coined by Walter Byers, the first executive director of the NCAA who retired in 1988 after 37 yeraz, created this term in the 1950s when the widow of Ray Dennision, filed a claim for workmen's compensation death benefits after her husband died from a head injury playing football in Colorado for the Fort Lewis A&M Aggies. To counter the criticism of not paying college athletes they began providing grants-in-aid to describe an athletic scholarship), goal is to make the pro's for monetary reasonz that in most cases benefits the wellness of their families, so is the NCAA, colleges and universities reasonz for wanting them to stay—for we know their wealth has been taken care of since the inception of collegiate sports!

These are moreso businesses than educational institutionz that rely heavily on the endorsements and booster pledges given based mainly on the success of their athletic programz.

Shabazz said it best, "...[S]ometimes, like I said, there's hungry nights and I'm not able to eat and I still got to play up to my capabilities. … When you see your jersey getting sold — it may not have your last name on it — but when you see your jersey getting sold and things like that, you feel like you want something in return."

It's time to pay the Piper Enslaved!!

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ADDITIONAL READZ:
• Athletics vs. Slavery pt. 1
• Athletics vs. Slavery pt. 1.75: Athletes Can Spark Da Revolution! But Will They?
• Afrikanz in the Olympics?!
• TORCH-ure: Why Do We Honor the Olympics?!!?
• NCAA dropping EA Sports tie amid ongoing Ed O'Bannon lawsuit
• NCAA Exploits Black Male Athletes
• John Calipari defends one-and-done philosophy at Kentucky
• Texas coach Mack Brown wants college football players to be paid

> BOOKS:
• Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete by William C. Rhoden
• Raceball: How the Major Leagues Colonized the Black and Latin Game by Rob Ruck
• Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It by John Entine

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