Last night I traveled to a temple of NCAA football to kneel, genuflect, and pay my respects. Tiger Stadium at LSU did not disappoint, a towering stone structure that seats 92,000 screaming Bayou Bengal fans. Incidentally, the stadium started as a dormitory so governor Huey Long could justify the expense to the state legislature. Nested next to the basketball arena in an oak-filled landscape, Tiger Stadium towers above the surroundings, drawing the eyes for at least two miles around.
It seems the further and further we plunge into BCS change, however, the more we turn our eyes away from the pinnacles of the NCAA and more to the shady, hypocritical underbelly. Akiem Hicks, the most recent third round pick of the New Orleans Saints and former LSU player, sums up this hypocrisy nicely through his experiences of the last four year. Hicks transferred to LSU in 2009 from a junior college in California, only to be kicked out for a minor recruiting violation. As the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported, “Hicks was mired in a minor recruiting violation and never got to play at LSU. The school discovered potential violations associated with impermissible telephone calls to Hicks in the recruitment process, impermissible transportation before and after his arrival at LSU, impermissible housing and reduced-rent at an apartment complex in Baton Rouge in the three months before his enrollment at LSU, and the purchase of one meal by a football office student worker.”
Yes…one meal. One free meal by a student worker classifies as a violation of NCAA rules. Heaven forbid the man eats while in college or needs help paying his housing, something most college kids experience during undergraduate careers. I will not give a further response to monitoring rides and phone calls only to say that punishing telephone calls wastes resources and refuses to address how most collegians live their lives. They pick up their phones and accept free rides, regardless of the source. Also, doesn’t anyone think it odd a player gets punished for calls that were made to him not from him?
Impermissible benefits always serve to rankle NCAA officials and it wouldn’t take a law degree to know boosters giving players cars for free undermines lots of what college sports preach and practice. But, to hold these players to a different standard than any other college student is neither fair nor just. First, the efforts of these players bring in so much money, a free meal every once in a while should not offend anybody’s sensibilities. Second, the NCAA puts so much emphasis on these athletes as “student-athletes” but you might not know it with rules like this. Not only do these kids have little time for school to begin with, but the NCAA has only recently put any emphasis on graduation rate, choosing instead to focus on phone calls, rides, and meals. If they want to make it clear to the public that college players are students first, athletes second (media members must refer to college athletes as student-athletes and not players in NCAA news conferences, by the way), then the NCAA must continue its path of postseason penalties for low graduation and throw out about half of its benefits rulebook. Spend those phone call resources in a better way by having them root out real benefits, not trying to mark a standard mode of communication as any kind of “benefit.” If a phone call classifies as a benefit, Bernie Madoff would certainly have made more money.
And yet, the NCAA will move to appease its bowl masters, some of the worst folks legitimately involved in college sports. Former Fiesta Bowl CEO Junker faces prison time for allegedly bribing BCS officials in 2009, all while making $800,000 in salary and turning an $11.6 million profit. How many free meals do you think he’s eaten over the last ten years at NCAA functions and banquets? Conference commissioners and coaches, while less hateful, fall into the same boat. Giving players less attention evens out only by giving coaches more attention, to the tune of $5.6 million for Nick Saban to coach Alabama football. While I believe strongly in compensation for exceptional talent, college players have exceptional talent and deserve more financially if coaches and commissioners bring home so much cash. At the very least get off their backs about phone calls and text messages.
Tradition means the world in college football, but before too long the NCAA must open its eyes to how issues in its big money sport will percolate down through all other NCAA sports. They can fine the Fiesta Bowl $1 million or they can suspend the bowl for three years, sending the message that while profit makes sense, the focus should be on the student-athletes upon whose backs that profit is made. Learning so much about the major bowls makes national semifinals in college stadiums even more appealing, especially since the money from those games would go directly to the host university. While all institutions have their flaws, their use of the money for future investments in education outstrips the divvying of profits amongst bowl executives, fat cats in their own rights already.
For the NCAA to make progress, drop the cronyism of major bowl games in football, and all other sports will follow. Purge the rule book of waste and impractical rules that will continually be broken. Such a complex system breeds non-compliance since high school and college kids must pore through tons of pages to learn when free food makes sense and when it doesn’t. Meanwhile, coaches who know the rules receive sanctions but players like Akiem Hicks must transfer to Canadian college for any shot in the NFL. By now, he must wish he hadn’t eaten those two tacos, sandwich, three Skittles, or whatever consisted his free meal. The landscape of college athletics looks on the verge of change and, if the NCAA wants to be part of the problem, they must begin to treat student-athletes like students, athletes, and, most importantly, people.
Bit #1: Floyd Mayweather needs to fight
I said it. I’m tired of all the posturing, accusations, and general whining of boxing champ Floyd Mayweather. In a recent interview with ESPN, Mayweather immediately called out Manny Pacquiao for using steroids, attributing his knowledge to “basic common sense.” Mayweather went on to say he wouldn’t fight Manny for health reasons and did not believe in forfeiting his health for money.
I applaud Mayweather for wanting to keep his health intact, but he should remember he’s a boxer. Boxing remains one of the most violent sports out there and I would bet Mayweather has received a concussion or two in his day. Mayweather currently holds an undefeated record, and perhaps I’m a cynic but it seems like that’s the real impediment to this fight happening. When he fights Miguel Cotto later in the week, Mayweather likely will run through Cotto, again setting up talk about fighting the main rival. As of now, Mayweather and Pacquiao continue to fight the same three guys (Cotto, Marquez, Mosley) without actually fighting each other. So Floyd can talk all he likes about health, but if this guy truly wanted to be a championship boxer, he’d fight the best fighter out there.
Bit #2: Two games left…
Manchester City has not won the English Premiership for over 40 years. But, if they win their next two games, City will exorcise their demons and win the EPL. A game against Manchester United this past week made that possible and, boy, was it exciting. While Glasgow will always take the cake for intense cross-town soccer rivalries (Celtic vs. Rangers), the civil war of Manchester certainly gave them a run this past week. Watching the stadium separated into light blue and dark red as well as the two coaches getting in each other’s faces brought to life how intense the rest of the world cares about their soccer. Americans obviously have their rivalries too, but the kind of cross-town hatred inspired by a game like that might only be found in three US cities (NYC, Chicago, LA), further delineating the different sports culture across the pond.
Bit #3: Linking Amare Stoudemire to Gus Frerotte
In the heat of the moment, athletes can do great things (for example, see Durant, Kevin against the Mavericks on Sunday night). Often, however, I’ve tried to reinforce the idea that despite perception athletes remains as human as you and me. Consequently, they make dumb decisions at the worst times.
After losing Game 2 to the Miami Heat on Monday, Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire punched the glass surrounding a fire extinguisher, lacerating his hand and requiring minor surgery. While ESPN acted as if the sky had fallen, the truth is Stoudemire put himself and his team at risk through stupidity. Everyone can be angry, but couldn’t he have flipped a water cooler or something? Punched his locker? After the initial excitement, sports media calmed down and finally realized Stoudemire knows he made a costly mistake for his team. Let’s not rub more salt in the wound, since there’s plenty of glass already in there.
(Brief aside: Gus Frerotte also did something similar once, though in the throes of joy. Befitting his miniscule mental ability, Gus thought it proper to slam his head into the wall after a touchdown. The result: a sprained neck. We should have known that would spell doom at QB for the next 15 years…)
Bit #4: Who is Tiger’s publicist?
I know, I spend lots of time bashing Tiger Woods. But, I must wonder who’s calling his media availability right now. Rather than speak to the media after the pro-am of the Wells Fargo Championship, Woods decided he’d answer fan questions online. Sounds cool right?
But, fans ask their questions, which are scrubbed by the Woods outfit, and then he answers. So they aren’t really great questions. While I’m glad to hear he thinks the Claret Jug looks the coolest of all sports trophies, I’d rather hear about how he’s playing right now and what, if any, adjustments he’s made to his swing. I’m not trying to insinuate the media asks tons of smarter questions, but at least Tiger has to address those head on, rather than summarily discard the questions he doesn’t like. When you receive the most attention in your sport, there is an unwritten obligation to speak to the media. Michael Jordan understood that no matter how tired he felt, he needed to show his face to the world and lead his team’s public image. For Woods, that’s doubly more important with golf revolving around him every year from a media standpoint.
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