4 PM Headlines: Rules, Schmules

Irony is a wonderful thing, and the NCAA operates comfortably there apparently. CBSSports.com is reporting that the NCAA is making headway into the “tax code complicated” method rules violations. In particular of determining which actions are violations, how big is a violation, who is responsible, etc. So the NCAA Board of Directors has contrived a Four Level violation review process to expedite all rules violations, across all sports.

The violation structure now has four tiers, from Level 1 — a severe breach of conduct — to Level 4, described in the NCAA synopsis as all incidental issues. In the past, these isolated incidents usually involving technical rules violations were defined as “minor infractions.”

The new structure becomes effective Aug. 1, 2013. Conduct breaches that occur before Oct. 30, 2012, and can be processed before Aug. 1, 2013, are subject to the current process and penalties.

Perhaps the greatest impact will be to the Head Coaches, and their ability to leave any subordinates holding the bag when a violation is found.

A major change that won’t spare head coaches and administrators is the bygone idea of “presumption of knowledge.” The NCAA is instituting a new standard — presumed responsibility — that applies to all staff, from the equipment manager to athletic directors and presidents.

“We expect head coaches to provide practices and training and written materials that instruct their assistant coaches how to act,” Oregon State president Ed Ray said. “If they’ve done that it can become mitigating evidence that they shouldn’t be held accountable for what the assistant coach did. But head coaches have to have these things in place or the presumption will be that he or she didn’t care enough to set standards. In that case, if the assistant goes rogue, then it’s partly the head coach’s fault and they need to be held accountable.”

According to Ed Ray, their primary complaint is that processing major cases took too long.

“A primary complaint we heard from the membership was that processing major cases took too long, not only from the investigative stage but also once it was agreed that there was a major infraction ??? it took too long to get on the Committee on Infractions hearing docket,” Ray said.

What I find hilarious is that they think the primary complaint was that cases took too long to process. Really? Not that they paint different schools with different brushes? Not that they can hang Calipari out to dry at Memphis for playing someone they cleared TWICE and do NOTHING to anyone at UNC for 10+ years of fake classes or Duke and how Lance Thomas could drop 30K on some jewelry?!?! This is irony folks. They’re fixing a problem that has less to do with quality and more to do with quantity (time).

Translation: They are reducing the time it takes to make an arbitrary decision that isn’t always defensible by anyone north of birth.

And in the same way that ESPN is a seemingly 24 hour recruiting show for John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats, so too is the NBA. Mike Prada compiled a “Watchability Scale 4.0” to help determine who is worth watching. Be not surprised that many former Cats are mentioned. It’s a pretty fun read so please don’t lose out.

A few excerpts:

WOW factor: 3. This is based solely on the idea that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist could be breathtaking.

Intrigue: 5. You do have to admit that DeMarcus Cousins is fun to watch, just to see who he blows up at next. Also, there is the whole relocation thing, though that’ll probably get old for those who aren’t from Sacramento.

WOW factor: 4. John Wall is still really exciting, but they’ve sacrificed highlights for solid play, so this ranking will go down.

Drama: 3. The Pistons will play in some close games like anyone does, but they’ll also be blown out a lot because they’re a bad team.

Aesthetic Beauty: 3.5. This promises to improve with the addition of Drummond and continued development fromBrandon Knight, but last year they had an offense that relied on Greg Monroe’s efficientbut mechanical post game andRodney Stuckey putting his head down to draw fouls. This isn’t the prettiest team in the world to watch, that’s for sure.

Hilarity scale: 0. This is the space where I’m supposed to add in Rajon Rondo’s attempts to fake behind-the-back passes but, since nobody gets confused anymore, I won’t.