You know I am usually not into conspiracy theories, but did anyone else notice that the USA Today Poll just came out yesterday and it is eerily similar to the Old School Sports pre season poll. I am not accusing USA of waiting until mine came out so they could copy it, but is it really just a coincidence? You can be the judge! Just compare and then draw your own conclusion. My poll is internationally known and draws a considerable amount of attention from sports scribes around the globe.
All of this is purely conjecture at this point. Maybe I am going through a period of where I think I am more important then I think, but I do not think so. Let me know what you think!
One last point if you think I am really serious, let me have some of what you are drinking.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
NCAA Should Make More Changes
I had to laugh at the hypocrisy of the NCAA. When they held a press conference to announce their decision on Penn State, they started with a brief message of how important the education of our young people are and the high ideals that the NCAA upholds to achieve this. What a bunch of crock. What B.S. I agree with the ruling and the severe penalties handed out at State College. Pa. My problem is how the NCAA tries to position itself as the moral high ground in the university setting.
The NCAA is about making money. Money for itself. Money for schools and conferences. Money for the hierarchy of the institutes of learning. Money for sponsors and money for the communities that surround the colleges. I have no problem with people making money, just be honest about your goals and quit trying to surround it with the cloak of integrity.
An athlete-student does get an opportunity to have an education. They do not have an opportunity, to share in the billions of dollars that is raked in each year, to support our addiction to collegiate sports. Let that same young person trade a jersey for a tattoo and they are in violation of rules and are suspended or even expelled from the school. Let that young person accept a few dollars to return home and attend a funeral of a friend or relative and watch the NCAA descend on the prey. Time after time we hear a coach and school being investigated for NCAA violations that amount to the equivalent of picking loose change up from the pavement, Then watch as the reputation of the athlete-student, coach and school, are destroyed before there is one hearing. Watch the schools spend millions of dollars to defend themselves from a minor rules infraction. For what end? Money!
The NCAA did the right thing at Penn State, because here was actually a problem, worth going after. The failure to protect children from a predator is a worthy cause. The failure to protect young people from the greed of others should also be a worthy direction. Start and provide a stipend of some amount to the athletes that make so much money for the universities they play for. Then the NCAA could actually focus attention on helping these people go from athlete-students to student-athletes. Imagine the difference if these kids actually end their college careers with a degree!
The NCAA is about making money. Money for itself. Money for schools and conferences. Money for the hierarchy of the institutes of learning. Money for sponsors and money for the communities that surround the colleges. I have no problem with people making money, just be honest about your goals and quit trying to surround it with the cloak of integrity.
An athlete-student does get an opportunity to have an education. They do not have an opportunity, to share in the billions of dollars that is raked in each year, to support our addiction to collegiate sports. Let that same young person trade a jersey for a tattoo and they are in violation of rules and are suspended or even expelled from the school. Let that young person accept a few dollars to return home and attend a funeral of a friend or relative and watch the NCAA descend on the prey. Time after time we hear a coach and school being investigated for NCAA violations that amount to the equivalent of picking loose change up from the pavement, Then watch as the reputation of the athlete-student, coach and school, are destroyed before there is one hearing. Watch the schools spend millions of dollars to defend themselves from a minor rules infraction. For what end? Money!
The NCAA did the right thing at Penn State, because here was actually a problem, worth going after. The failure to protect children from a predator is a worthy cause. The failure to protect young people from the greed of others should also be a worthy direction. Start and provide a stipend of some amount to the athletes that make so much money for the universities they play for. Then the NCAA could actually focus attention on helping these people go from athlete-students to student-athletes. Imagine the difference if these kids actually end their college careers with a degree!
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