Change in Mood(y’s)

Inside Higher Ed and other news media are reporting that the credit rating agency Moody’s is downgrading the outlook for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) because of a lawsuit filed by Ed O’Bannon, a former UCLA basketball player (photo).

From the absolutely 100% reliable Wikipedia:

Edward Charles O’Bannon, Jr. (born August 14, 1972 in Los Angeles, California) is a retired American basketball player, who was a power forward for the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team on their 1995 NCAA championship team, where he was known as “Ed-O”. He was selected by the New Jersey Nets with the ninth overall pick in the 1995 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft, but played only two seasons in the NBA before playing another eight years professionally in six different countries…

O’Bannon was named as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on behalf of its Division I football and men’s basketball players over the organization’s use for commercial purposes of the images of its former student athletes. Specifically, the suit argued that upon graduation, a former student athlete should become entitled to financial compensation for future commercial uses of his or her image by the NCAA…

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_O%27Bannon

The Inside Higher Ed story is at http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/06/26/moodys-downgrades-ncaa-credit-outlook

Meanwhile, UCLA is in a good mood concerning the affairs of the NCAA:

UCLA Takes NCAA Title:The Bruins beat Mississippi State 8-0 to become the national champions.
Source: http://centurycity.patch.com/groups/sports/p/ucla-takes-ncaa-title

But I’m sure the folks at NCAA are in a bad mood today – probably not the mood below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPXwkWVEIIw?feature=player_detailpage]