The end of "amature"------Lester Munson: Why Ed O'Bannon ruling could haunt NCAA

Lester Munson: Why Ed O'Bannon ruling could haunt NCAA - ESPN:
"The ruling is not just a loss in one of many cases. It is a significant ruling that could haunt the NCAA in other litigation. Lawyers for other players challenging other NCAA rules will argue that Wilken's rulings apply to all situations. In what has become known as the "Kessler case," for example, attorney Jeffrey Kessler and his player-clients will assert that the big antitrust issues have now been decided. It is an argument that is likely to be successful.

Q: Is the ruling a triumph for the players?
A: It is a triumph in the sense that players will now for the first time be able to collect money for what they do. But it is far from the triumph the players and their lawyers envisioned when they began this quest five years ago. The payment authorized by Judge Wilken in the formal injunction is capped at $5,000 per athlete per year of competition. Her ruling says the NCAA is restrained from prohibiting an athlete from getting deferred compension of $5,000 or less (currently, an athlete gets nothing). In a typical NCAA career of five years, a player could collect only $25,000. "