The NCAA is a joke

[greyfriar]

If we needed any futher proof that football is king in the eyes of the NCAA, we found it yesterday with the announcement that the NCAA and Texas A & M have agreed to severely punish Johnny Manziel by forcing him to sit out the first half of the opening game. Ricky Ledo had to sit out a year because he did not take a course in four years even though he took the course and passed it during his fifth and final year of high school.

Despite video of evidence of Manziel signing thousands of autographs at a sports memorabilia show, the NCAA felt there was no evidence that he accepted money for doing so. Apparently, the show promoters who had spoken with ESPN reporters clammed up when questioned by the NCAA, probably after being contacted by high powered attorneys representing Manziel. To make matters worse, the decision closes the case, so if further evidence is found that Manziel received compensation there will be no further penalty. If this is the case, then the NCAA is truly a joke. It is not bad enough that they checked their common sense at the door, and concluded that Manziel signed all those autographs for free despite the fact that the promoters charged a fee for each autograph. They then futher illustrate their inability to enforce their own regulations by closing out what could only be described as a cursory investigation at best. After all what is more important defending amateur rules for college athletes or the core course requirements? I guess we have our answer.

[thewalk]

I hate manzeil and think the ncaa blows chunks....however, weren't the rules with RL pretty clear?...also not sure what they're supposed to do about jonny football if nobody comes clean...

[pcdad]

... in five year of hs play and playing for aau teams did RL (or any high profile player in the USA) ever accept any perqs? clothing, shoes, equipment, meals, travel, other various and sundry items? How is it that every college athlete seems to be listening to his own personal device? How does one earn the price of a tablet/ipod, an iphone 5, a Galaxy smartphone?
How do the families of 17 -22 years olds have the means to have access to these accessories? How is accepting these items different from accepting whatever Manzeil accepted for signing autographs? Because presumably it was cash? rather than "items"?... AAU, NCAA football, NCAA basketball all suspect, all tainted.

[greyfriar]

Walk:

I realize, of course, that very little ever changes with the NCAA. I guess my point is that they seemed to apply a beyond a reasonable doubt standard and ignored the circumstantial evidence. Obviously, the NCAA does not have the same investigating tools as law enforecement which is why the member schools agree to be bound by the rules and the courts have generally held that there is no constitutional right to participate in intercollegiate sports in cases which challenge the eligibility rules. In my opinion the NCAA would have been within its rights to use its common sense and find that it is more probable that Manziel received compensation than he did not. They are not required to prove the charge to the level of a criminal conviction. Manziel and probably every other college athlete knows they are not supposed to engage in this kind of activity.
They either did not have the stomach for litigating the issue with Manziel's attorneys or they felt that his participation in college football is more important than enforcing their rules.


The second obvious point is to illustrate the difference in treatment between Manziel and Ledo and the absurdity of the penalty suffered by Ledo for a lot less serious and unintentional infraction. The sanctimonious attitude that the NCAA takes is galling sometimes.

[thewalk]

let's separate the two....

there are qualifications to be eligible...ricky didn't satisfy them...his "punishment" was a free year of college..several around here thought the outcome was pretty fair.

[oaklawnbob]

The free year of college is great. The NCAA's thinking is warped in many people's eyes. We all know that there are many freebies given out to the kids and not reported. The whole system is corrupt. Money make the NCAA function. With all of the TV money floating around it clouds some of the issues.

[drairf]

Always interesting to me that almost every player gets off the team bus with $200 Beats by Dre headphones. No way in hell my parents were buying me $200 headphones when I was in college.

[friar82]

Aug 30, 2013 9:12:03 GMT -5 drairf said:

Always interesting to me that almost every player gets off the team bus with $200 Beats by Dre headphones. No way in hell my parents were buying me $200 headphones when I was in college.

I suspect that my parents might have sprung for the $200 headphones (something to keep me occupied while on the road and relaxed before games) had my tuition, room and board been covered via an athletic scholarship.

[drairf]

Friar82, good point on that one. Though knowing my parents they still would not have bought them for me based on principle.

[craigl79]

Aug 30, 2013 9:18:53 GMT -5 friar82 said:

Aug 30, 2013 9:12:03 GMT -5 drairf said:

Always interesting to me that almost every player gets off the team bus with $200 Beats by Dre headphones. No way in hell my parents were buying me $200 headphones when I was in college.

I suspect that my parents might have sprung for the $200 headphones (something to keep me occupied while on the road and relaxed before games) had my tuition, room and board been covered via an athletic scholarship.

College? they all already have them at the AAU tournaments

[oaklawnbob]

I'm so old I don't even know what "$200 beats" are-really. Or what Dre headphones are. I take it they don't use those little transistor radios any longer.

[dex]

Hilarious

Bobby but replacement parts must be difficult to come by

Two Words

Yard Sales?

[pcdad]

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