You know how screwy college athletics are now? Student-athletes have access to school-provided perks the typical student never sees, but the typical student can receive third-party compensation for things a student-athlete can’t.
If there’s some logical explanation for that, I’m all ears.
Get The Picture 
15 years ago, their academic support building had 2 wings, one of which was condemned.
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Ha, $50 million for a football facility isn’t a cannon shot. Our 2nd locker room, at the stadium ran $63 million!
USC, so cute.
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Yeah, it is a contradiction. Remember the NCAA’s argument in court that allowing players to make money off of commercial uses by others of their names, images and likenesses would negatively affect players’ integration into the student body as a whole? These amenities are designed to separate players from the student body as a whole during their leisure time.
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The exploitation is palpable.
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LOL!
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Does the university own intellectual property rights to whatever gets produced on university equipment?
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I believe that South Carolina is a research university so probably so.
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Bless their hearts. They are trying so hard to be semi-relevant and to enter into the 21st century. But that facility, aside from newness, isn’t much different that what many big programs already have in place. To top it off, it’s in the wasteland of Williams Brice Stadium and the state fairgrounds….miles from campus and bordering questionable neighborhoods. The lack of cohesion on that campus and amongst the athletic facilities is jarring. It’s a uniquely awful place and this new addition doesn’t do anything to help that image.
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“Dabo has a waterslide? Hold my beer and watch THIS…..”
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I find knoxville to be nearly as bad as columbia.
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I’ll take it a step further. Obviously this is a recruiting ploy. Let’s be honest, these young athletes are apart of the hip hop era and many of them claim to be “artists” themselves. Some are in the studio putting together mix tapes that will only reach the top of the charts in the comfort of their own vehicle. Athletes and musicians have an unusual yearn to switch places. This has been going on for years. Will it work? Sure it will for some who think they have the “skills” to be a successful rapper or singer. But realistically you are here to be an athlete and trying to master both hasn’t been done at a high level very often if at all. (Shaq maybe?) It’s no problem chasing dreams though. They’ll definitely pick up a couple more signatures. It’s still South Carolina so there’s that.
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It will be successful as thus…when they bring in recruits to meet and hang out with the team, they will go into that studio and have a blast. It’s something kids all love to do today and it will be an opportunity for recruits to laugh it up, make some silly songs with the players..take the CD home with them, play it for their friends, etc.
Just more escalation of the Facilities War. How much would a movie studio cost?
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Shaq wasn’t a good rapper.
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Well, he did have that one kinda catchy tune.
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Think of the student athletes as having marginal tax rate of 100% that kicks in starting at $0. You might look at the perks as a way to circumvent the tax or maybe as an attempt to apologize. Or both.
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The SCU facilities upgrades reminds me of when developers build fairly nice new homes/condos in the middle of less desirable neighborhoods, with no real appeal other than the lower cost compared to new units in better neighborhoods. Sure enough, in due time the developer starts lowering the price like mad in effort to sell all the inventory, as well heeled, educated buyers continue to stay away
In other words, while I can understand SCU needing to try and keep up in the arms race, I seriously doubt the new facilities will move the needle much, if at all, with upper tier 4 and 5 star recruits (well heeled buyers). Of course delusion runs deep over there, so they are already convincing themselves that they now are on par with the UGAs and Clemson’s of the world.
In fact, though their new IPF is less than half the cost of UGAs and is considerably smaller, the writers on their 247 site have proclaimed it equal to or better than ours, much to the delight of their success starved fans.
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^^^^100%
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I am not certain, it won’t move the needle, Spurrier’s (who wasn’t a top recruiter) building projects helped him retain Top in state recruits like Clowney and Lattimore something USCe didn’t traditionally do. USCe can get back to best of the mid pack in the East. I’m just not sure they have the coach to do it.
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True. I remember when UGa thought their new practice facility would make them the next Alabama. How did that work out?
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Sides! You’re back!
It must be the offseason. 😉
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Its nice to be missed. Your mobile site doesn’t work with the pop up ads so its tough to comment when I think of something funny….
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Sorry about the ads. WP swears they’re working on it.
You might try downloading the WP app. My understanding is that you won’t get the PITA pop-ups that way.
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I know its not your fault and it has been addressed by other commenters. This is the only website I can’t read on a mobile device but I am not tech savy enough to figure out the problem. I’ll try the app and see how it goes.
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Let us know when you think of something funny.
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The jokes are for me to laugh, not you.
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Good thing.
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It’s like he hate stalks this blog, waiting for SCU to come up in conversation.
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Well we were a lot closer to beating Alabama than South Carolina was to beating us.
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That’s because we didn’t play the backup QB….
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Ouch…. nice burn.
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I hope Bentley gets to lay down some tracks before signing his XFL contract.
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100% laughing my ass off at this one
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It seems fair and logical to me. Especially if one remembers how we got here.
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They didn’t include the Trophy Case in the video.. what gives?
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They’re having to build a separate facility to house them all. That 1969 ACC championship trophy is huge.
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FlyGuy2Stackz, Wix, Riqque, Blanko, and Billy Bennett can show ’em how to work the equipment.
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The facility includes “interactive displays showing the history of the program,”
LOL.
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Apparently the 1969, 8-3 ACC championship season highlights will be played in loop. All 6 minutes worth. Oh and that one tackle by Clowney against the Michigan RB in the 2011 Outback Bowl. That’s another 12 seconds to be added to the loop.
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I happened to sit in the rain at the 1969 Peach Bowl in Grant Field to watch Sackerlina play WVU. That was a fine team on display that night. 😉
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So now they will have guys there who suck at rap and football.
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I don’t know why we are casting aspersions at USC for beating us to the punch. Our business school offers a music business certificate. Given the history of the Athens music scene and proximity to Atlanta’s hip hop community, we should have been all over this years ago.
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Didn’t we put a DJ booth/studio or something similar in Butts-Mehre a few years back?
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That’s what I thought as well?
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Hey, semi-seriousness, semi-snarky post here…since we always hear the stories of the poor student athlete who cant afford to get a burger or wash their clothes…..
Could you put a laundromat in one of these buildings?
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That recording studio is no joke. There are going to be some serious mixes of, Sandstorm coming out of there. Opposing ears will bleed!
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