I am the oldest of 4 children. Early on in my life, I was told something that has stuck with me for the last 45 years. My siblings and I fought like a pack of wild hounds when we were kids, but I was charged with something that I will never be able to change for as long as I live. A wonderful man named Warren Kale who taught my Sunday School class told me one day that no matter what I did, no matter where I went, and no matter who I became, my younger brothers and sisters would always look up to me because I was the oldest, and that because of that position I held in the family, I was always going to have to remember that they were always watching.
Today it is no different. We are scattered around the country, but they still look to me if things are needing to be taken care of, or if there are family matters to be attended to. I say this not blowing my own horn, but because it leads me to wonder about what is going on with the players and coaches around the NCAA, and the SEC in particular. We have “incidents” going on around here like it’s Mardi Gras and the Rex Crewe has kicked off the celebration.
Most of this stuff is juvenile and not worthy of mention, but some things have escalated lately. I want to issue a disclaimer here that there are probably a lot more “incidents” than I am going to talk about here, but I am not going to try to cover them all, because frankly. there are just too many.
I am first going to talk about the ongoing problems with the University of Tennessee and their legal problems. Recently, new UT head football coach Derek Dooley was forced to suspend some members of the football team and dismiss Darren Myles from the team over a bar brawl. Let me point out that I am not passing judgement on Tennessee, because they are not alone in this. Mark Richt had to suspend 2 players at Georgia less than a month ago for alcohol related charges. Florida has had players suspended over the years, as have other SEC schools, and outside the SEC is no picnic either, but I want to keep this in house.
And the coaches and administrators are no better. Georgia just had to replace an AD after he couldn’t talk his way out of a DUI, or the ladies underwear found in his automobile either. Alabama football coach Mike Price didn’t even get to take his team onto a field before he was fired for a trip to a topless bar in Pensacola, Florida. With all of this nonsense going on, how are the players supposed to have role models for their behavior when the coaches can’t do any better. Add to this laundry list of bad behavior the coaches’ willingness to skirt around maximum recruiting numbers ( not an illegal activity, but at least a questionable one,thank you Les Miles, Houston Nutt, and Co.), and you have a breeding ground for bad publicity, bad rumors and bad news. Players get tossed, coaches get tossed, AD’s get tossed and nothing, I do mean NOTHING ever changes.
I want to give out some Kudos here to Derek Dooley at UT for not only recognizing that his team has a serious image problem, but more importantly for recognizing what damages these young men, these coaches, and these administrators are doing to their lives, and the lives of teammates, coaches, and families. He has instituted programs to help recognize the behaviors that lead to these problems, and he has no problems with sending a young man home if it is necessary to resolve a problem. But can his actions actually fix the problem? That in and of itself is too large a question for one answer. And Dooley knows it, and he is not alone. The fans know it too, but they have been patient for a very long time when it comes to these behaviors and the schools’ treatments of the players and coaches involved.
Understand that I am a fan first, and a blogger second in all issues. We have had incidents here at UK as well in our history and I make no excuses for those. It sickens me to know that these young men do not have a better understanding of the position they hold for young fans especially. It also sickens me that even though the coaches and administrators who SHOULD know do not seem to do any better, the SEC has done nothing to stem the tide. They issued a warning to the coaches to watch their behavior towards each other and how they appear in the media with the “Lane Kiffin” effect. Kiffin liked to call out other coaches while he himself was committing violation on top of violation. He then decides to bolt for the West Coast and USC, another bastion of good behavior in college sports. That should be a match made in heaven.
As a fan, I am tired of the SEC being referred to as the Scandalous Events Conference. It seems as though everyone is just waiting to see what nefarious activity we disclose next. Basketball is no better, but I will save that for my Wednesday afternoon post, because there is enough material here for 50 pages just on the football side.As a blogger, I almost get excited waiting for the next jewel that gets dropped in my lap, and you know that someone out there is just about to make some giant faux pas or have themselves arrested somewhere they should not have been.
This is the greatest conference in all the land, and you are not telling me there is no way to get all of these people to understand how serious this problem is. Here is a real simple solution. You get arrested for anything, you are out. You get in a fight in a bar, justified or not, you are out. You get a DUI, you are out. And don’t tell me that absolute penalties don’t work either. College athletes have no business in a bar, before, during or after the season. They have no business drinking and driving. They have no business being in places and with people that would be questionable even if they were not college athletes representing their schools.
Proverbs says that “Pride goeth before the fall.” Well, the fall must be right around the corner, because the pride has gone out the window. The players have no pride, and the coaches don’t seem to have it either, or at least not enough of it to make it a priority. I am going to sound real old school here, and I can live with that, if it gets the point through to someone who will stand up and start making some noise about all of this. Mike Slive, you are in the position to get it done, and have a track record of being successful at the things you try to do. Make this behavior and ethics problem your priority for the future. Get guys like Dooley to help you design an Ethics Code for the coaches and players in this conference. Make it another part of the legacy you are leaving behind in the SEC. I want the SEC to stand for something more than a collection of police reports and arrest records. And I want the people in the SEC to want it too.
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