(08-28-2013 03:29 PM)RedEyeCougar Wrote: NCAA is corrupt. They have no value.
That is absolutely true and undeniable. However, that also begs the question, "Who exactly
are the NCAA and who should be held accountable for such an obviously broken system?"
Seriously, we need to answer that seemingly basic question to have a legitimate discussion on this matter.
To me Mark Emmert is but a drop in an ocean of thievery and deception. I think those who blame Emmert and his small office staff for all of the corruption that is now pervasive in college athletics are completely missing the point. To me that mentality is a bit like people who blame President Obama for each time the price goes up on a gallon of milk.
I mean, come on and get real!
It is ludicrous to blame the NCAA for all of its corruption and then turn around and absolve from any blame the member institutions that comprise and fund the NCAA.
That leads me to this whole Division 4 concept - which really is the dumbest name ever invented. I am all for a complete reform of college athletics and I'm not even necessarily against a schism of some sort between the bigger schools and the smaller schools. Personally, I think the American and Mountain West, along with Notre Dame, Brigham Young and the military academies each belong in that group with the Power 5 leagues as well, but that is a debate for a different day.
I am even okay with a living wage stipend of some sort that is reflective of being a student-athlete in 2013. However that money must, by US law (Title IX - 1972), go to all student-athletes not just the ones who play the most profile sports.
The idea I like most is a system whereby players collect a living wage stipend throughout their collegiate careers as long as they are eligible. Then, I would have some sort of incentive attached that paid them a big bonus if, and only if, they graduate from their respective institution of higher learning. I think that would get COLLEGE athletics back on track in its core mission (or what should be its core mission).
There are only a precious few spots available in pro football and pro basketball in a given year and an extremely small percentage of even the best athletes make the pros. A much smaller percentage of that group lasts in the pros for long enough to set themselves up for life.
It would be - and has been - absolutely criminal for alleged institutions of higher learning to continually ignore that fact while selling about 99.9 percent of these kids on a pipe dream and not giving them to tools to succeed that they are going to need down the road.
With that in mind, what I am absolutely NOT for is a deregulation of the sport which would allow the cheating to become more open and transparent (read: rampant). That would be no less exploitative of the student-athletes than the current system and would be akin to a prostitution ring taking its operation from the streets to a hotel and then claiming legitimacy.
No, it is not.
Instead I am for a more clearly defined, less archaic set of rules that clearly differentiates college football and basketball from pro football and basketball.
If kids want to have some walking around money, give it to them. If coaches want to bury potential recruits with a barrage of social messaging platforms, let them do it to their heart's content. However, and this is a biggie - and a deal breaker for me - if you are given all of those freedoms and the process has been streamlined just like you asked for, with great freedom comes great responsibility.
Tie academic performance to the stipend. Make schools literally put their money where their mouths are. Also, if you have all of those things and you still insist on cheating - and an independent body (with subpoena power) finds that you have cheated - the penalties need to be MUCH more well defined and much more transparent than they are now.
Things like coaching suspensions, major fines to the universities involved, no TV, no bowls, AD suspensions, etc. Also, sign an agreement with the NFL whereby a player or coach suspended for cheating is also forced to sit at the next level for some specified period of time. Finally, be consistent in your punishment. What's a two year TV ban for Temple is also a two year TV ban for Auburn, no ifs, ands or buts.
Enough of this dilly dallying. Let's get serious about things. Let's give these thieves all of the freedoms they say they need. However, if we give them everything they have been begging for and they still cheat - and rest assured, they will - throw the damn book at them. Let's tie conference payout and other things to ethics both inside and outside the classroom.
If things go the other way (as I suspect they might) and this just becomes AAA football, then count me out as a fan. If it's just pro football anyway, I'd rather watch the big boy version of the sport that is played on Sundays.
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breaking news- Manzel Suspended
