I’ve decided to task the NCAA and the selective punishment they seem to enforce on selected schools of choice. If you notice, there are schools that have escaped investigation and punishment forever. For instance, I don’t remember Notre Dame ever making the headlines because of NCAA violations.
Notre Dame has the golden dome, the golden helmets and they are the golden boys. Notre Dame is the Dallas Cowboys of the college ranks. If you have a few minutes, think about this and I bet you can come up with a laundry list of schools that have never been punished for infractions.
You would have to be a dunce to believe that there are only about half of the schools under NCAA guidance that have done a little under the table something to help the program be successful.
I am sure we all know a stud athlete from the neighborhood who suddenly seems to dress better and suddenly has no need for bus tokens once he reaches college. Since scholarship athletes are not able to hold jobs under NCAA rules, and there is no paycheck for a jock that is majoring in advanced basket weaving, I am thinking he might find a little cash under his pillow from time to time.
I don’t begrudge the guys making a little cash on the side. My problem is with the NCAA governing body. If there are infractions at SMU, you don’t hear about it. The NCAA ain’t going down to the Bible Belt messing around. However if there is something a little fishy going on at Miami University, a sanctions committee shows up and spends a couple of years investigating and visiting South Beach and having a cracked crab dinner on the expense account.
Take the case of Reggie Bush, for example. A committee has been investigating his tenure at USC for five years. Reggie has been a professional for this, his sixth season, and the committee has spent enough time in sunny California so they have reached a verdict. The verdict stinks, but the NCAA is god in the college ranks.
I have heard the pros and cons of the BCS rankings, and from where I sit, there are a lot more cons than pros. A recent argument concerned the plight of Alabama.
Alabama was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in power ranking. Steve Spurrier led South Carolina onto the gridiron and conducted an old fashioned butt whipping on Alabama. This past weekend, Ohio State had the No. 1 spot wrestled from their grasp.
Now there is speculation that maybe it won’t be so bad if a team with one loss can compete for the National Championship. However, there will be undefeated teams in other conferences who won’t get a shot at the title.
The excuse seems to be strength of schedule. I ain’t buying the strength of schedule argument, because I believe if you whip everybody who shows up you are a champion in your own right and deserve a shot.
While the BCS tries to figure out that one, the NCAA has a problem that needs solving. There is a lot of investigating of athlete’s behavior, but some of the sins of selective schools seem to go unnoticed.
Recently San Diego State was the victim of crime. The only thing missing here was a gun. A BYU running back was stuffed, and the ball popped out. The ruling on the field was no fumble. When the replay came down, the ruling was upheld.
Later it was revealed that the replay officials in the booth were a BYU employee and alumnus. Boy, you talk about a home field advantage.
These are the things that deserve the attention of the NCAA, but when the NCAA exercises its brinkmanship, it’s just another nightmare.
