The NCAA Needs to be Restructured

The NCAA is a mess, it’s outdated, it’s a relic, and it’s a dumpster fire. The NCAA is the only association to have not improved, become safer, or increase respect for its players in over, oh I don’t know how many years. The young athletes who participate in the NCAA are treated like dirt, no one in the professional field is ever treated as bad as these young athletes are. Something needs to be done, and I’m hoping something will this year or next year. I can tell you right now, and not to quote the President, but I don’t think I’d want my son participating in any sport under the NCAA. I don’t need my son to be bullied or bribed by an adult; these men should be role models, not tyrants or men to be feared. Coaches shouldn’t only teach the sport they should be teaching how to act in society when you hold the profession of an athlete and how to use team work to respect others. How is the NCAA weak and corrupt? Let me give you some example, in case what’s happened over the past few weeks wasn’t enough.

This one is just too obvious, and so easy to see. Fixing grades. Altering drug tests. Paying players. Recruiting illegally. It’s all the classics of NCAA rules violations bundled into one, but this time it’s under one roof….Auburn’s. Auburn is accused of it all. Selena Roberts, a former New York Times and Sports Illustrated writer, broke the story on her site, Roopstigo.com. Not to mention a particular Auburn national championship team from two years ago already had the Cam Newton scandal and plenty of other allegations. You, I, that guy, that person, the girl over there, everyone was already thiking that team was dirty. The coach, Gene Chizik, was already fired. At his annual news conference at the Final Four on Thursday, the president of the NCAA defensively snapped at reporters who wanted to know why the NCAA can’t ever uncover its own dirt without the help of sports press. He discredited Roberts. Here’s the sad thing…nothing is going to happen to Auburn. I’m at a complete loss for words here, the sadest part is who is their to punish in this case? The Coach is done, Cam Newton is in the NFL, are you going to punish the Assisstant Coaches team because he played a part, are you going to pull the same stunt you did on Penn. State? Another crime that the NCAA missed and no one will be punished for.

Does anyone remember this story? Miami booster Nevin Shapiro, convicted of securities fraud and money laundering from a Ponzi scheme in 2010 and currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. He allegedly used investor funds to finance donations to the University of Miami’s athletic program, and claims that he gave an estimated $2 million in prohibited benefits to at least 72 current or former football/basketball players and coaches from 2002 to 2010. The Yahoo! Sports report alleges that Shapiro, through his donations, violated at least four major NCAA bylaws. Though this isn’t the problem, it’s the way the NCAA handled Miami afterwards. Calling the investigation into its athletic department “corrupted from the start,” Miami has told the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions that it will agree with any properly corroborated allegations against the Hurricanes if the case is brought to a quick and final end and without any further penalties pushed onto it’s Athletics Department. Four other former Miami coaches filed similar motions. The Hurricanes want the infractions committee to use the power it has under the association’s bylaws to end the case before it goes to a hearing, scheduled to begin in June. The motion is based on Miami’s stating that the investigation was filled with “gross incompetence and mismanagement.” Miami also made several accusations that the NCAA lied to the school. “Prolonging the conclusion of this case would further irreparably harm the University,” reads part of the motion’s conclusion. The motion goes on to say, “The University is not asking for a windfall or quick escape,” reads Miami’s motion to dismiss. “To the contrary, largely because of the NCAA’s misconduct and mismanagement, this matter has languished for twice as long as it should have, to the University’s detriment.” Part of Miami’s motion reads, “Perhaps most distressing and unconscionable, on multiple occasions, members of the enforcement staff intentionally misled the University by withholding key information, failing to inform the University of scheduled interviews and, most egregiously, lying to the University and its outside counsel,” Once again the NCAA president is under fire and caught with his pants down. “The Miami case is obviously a significant blow to the confidence people have in enforcement, and we’ve worked very, very hard to be as open and frank about that case,” Emmert said Thursday. “We’ve dealt with it directly. If we have to change, continue to change, the culture of enforcement, that’s certainly on me and something I’m working hard on.”

Who could forget the Ed Rush inceident as well. I hope the referee at least go his money and vacation. Joking or not, this incident proved to be too much for Ed Rush to remain the Pac-12’s Conference’s coordinator of officials. Rush resigned following comments during internal meetings before the league tournament that appeared to target Arizona’s Sean Miller, including accusations that he placed a bounty on the Wildcats coach. Rush made an ”inappropriate joke” that included offers of $5,000 and a trip to Cancun if they called a technical foul on Miller. Yea some joke, because we’re all laughing about it now. An investigation done by the Pac-12’s head of enforcement, Ron Barker, found that every official interviewed confirmed ”nobody thought they were getting a reward,” If you didn’ think you were going to get one, then why’d you let the one official do it? But Rush couldn’t survive the constant swarm of criticism from fans and media this week once the comments became public in a CBSSports.com report. Once again, the NCAA gives power to someone who abuses it.

I wrote an article about this two days ago, and I don’t want to sound repetative here though I amy for a little bit, so I early apologize here. Mike Rice is a perfect example of what I stated earlier. Coaches are supposed to be role models, teachers, and leaders. I don’t care what the young athletes are saying now, that’s not how you should be treated. Sure I understand the sterness and the yelling but having basketballs thrown at you is a different matter. This is probably the only college coaching these kids have had and they think it’s right, but it’s not.

The NCAA needs to start over and enter the modern era. We need to help all of the young athletes out there. Start a Twitter revolution! #NCAACorruption

NCAA Totalitarianism

A not too long ago in a sport we all know and love an evil dark force now runs rampant across the college scene. The NCAA has established itself as a super power and the rebel college players and ESPN analysts try to fight off the association in hope to bring balance to the power of hoops. Ok sorry for the Star Wars reference there, but I think it’s a good comparison. The athletes, the revenue-generators, the young people deemed too precious to be burdened by the dollars they produce, have absolutely no power and no watchdog institutions looking out for their welfare. It’s comes off to me as extremely unfair to use someone else’s talent to make yourself money, aren’t there several terms for this? I believe in college and in the writing field it’s called plagiarism. Sorry kids no Wikipedia is allowed in here.

That’s not true Ryan! You say. Sorry but, yes it is. I bring this up because of what happened at Rutgers.

Mike Rice got a slap on the wrist for his serial, physically and verbally abusive behavior toward his players. After watching hours of video footage of Rice hitting his players with basketballs, kicking them, shoving them, cursing them with slurs and hearing one of his assistant coaches complain about the abuse, Rutgers did what any self-aware, NCAA-governed institution would do. The good school of Rutgers chose to not renew the contract of the whistle blowing, trouble-making assistant coach, a former NBA point guard I’ll have you know, Eric Murdock and then the upstanding New Jersey University suspended Rice for three games, yea just three, and fined him $50,000. Problem solved.

I mean Murdock didn’t cover up for his players getting free tattoos from a complete stranger or look the other way when a booster gave some poor kid’s family 50 grand and a cushy job. Murdock committed no crime and yet he’s the one who’s severely punished. Absolute power corrupts. There’s no surprise that the all-powerful institutions in pursuit of dollars would tolerate the abuse of young people. Penn State and Jerry Sandusky, anyone….again, anyone? Maybe the Nazi Party didn’t go away, instead they decided to corrupt and hurt our youth by becoming the NCAA.

Rice kicked a player and that’s a misdemeanor that cost him three games. What if one of the Rutgers players, sick and tired of the abuse, decided to transfer to another Division I institution where he might get treated with at least some form of respect, the NCAA would consider that a felony crime worthy of a one-year suspension of play.

It’s the system. The NCAA rule book must be burned and rewritten, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The young athletes should not be treated as equals, but we shouldn’t leave them broke, powerless and without representation. It makes me sad and sick to watch how these players are treated. Equal right to all, the schools need to stop rolling around in their beds of money and the Government needs to step in and say something, like Chris Cristie. Obama you’re next, if you were afraid to let your imaginary son play football wouldn’t be afraid to watch your imaginary son get abused by the system in basketball?