The Conspiracy Theorist's Guide to The NCAA- Updated

No, I am not actually on here to start another of my world famous diatribes concerning the NCAA, but we supposedly may be getting Kanter news any day now, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to rehash this issue for the 2,798,203,983,645th time. Mark Emmert and his Declaration Of Independence aside, Ken Howlett from over at A Sea Of Blue and CoachCal.com and I kinda did a little back and forth on this a couple of days ago, and I touted my version of what I want to see from the NCAA, and I really do think that in the case of the NCAA, the best approach should be the simplest one. A lot of what you will read here is brought over from that article, but I really think this issue and solutions offered up to try and make it better are worthwhile causes. Rules and regulations are fine, and I have no problem anymore with any rule the NCAA wants to put in, assuming that three things happen which change the way that the NCAA does business. They are not complicated, do not require any legal dissemination, and are simple common sense. And while I realize that the last part there alone will probably prevent this from happening, here goes.

1) Put the Student-Athlete first in any decisions that you make, both in theory and application. Your membership is the schools, and they are also supposedly your governing body, but we have too many cowboys running the State Department for the NCAA. Stop this practice of allowing the current head of the body turn the NCAA into his or her own personal gestapo. Mr. Emmert, I am looking you directly in the eye on this one. You seem to be a decent guy, and you have some excellent ideas. But you were placed in your position by your peers to OVERSEE the NCAA and it’s day to day operations, not to conquer the world. Good intentions aside, take a deep breath and think about the decisions you are trying to put into working reality. There are young men and women’s lives at stake here.

2) Develop two categories for all violations, by the schools, coaches, and the athletes. The first is for a willful offender. Someone who either by their own hand, or by the hand of a representative willfully tries to either skirt the rules and regs, or just out and out defies them. The penalty for this type of offender is simple. Removal from their position, or declaring them ineligible to participate. One category, one penalty. Make it very clear and very simple. And it does not have to be rocket science to determine if they are a willful offender or not.

The second is for someone who has broken the rules, however, not intentionally. Yes, this one will be a little harder to determine, but it can be done. In this case the penalty should be representative of how much competitive advantage the school gains by the action of either the coach, the school, or the student-athlete.Also included should be whether or not the action occurred while the individual was with that school. Make the penalties fair, but not so limiting that it causes an imbalance in the system. It is one thing to throw an elbow in the heat of a game. It is another to throw a referee.

3) Stop this retroactive investigation and penalty process. Once you clear an athlete, they are cleared. You have to live with it. You want to change the process of clearing a kid? Fine. Change it. But whatever you put in place, stick to it and stop making yourselves look like you have no idea what you are doing in the process. Yes, I understand that you do not care what I think, however, I am not alone, and a lot of the people whom you do care about what they think ( broadcasters, coaches, college presidents, etc.) also think the same thing I do. Those people can make you look bad anytime they want to, it is not worth the bad publicity.

I care not about Cam Newton, Enes Kanter, Reggie Bush, or any other high profile case you have handled lately save one reason. All of these kids are a product of the system YOU put in place. If You tell Cam Newton he is ineligible, he is. If you tell Reggie Bush he is OK to play, then he is. The kids do not make the decisions here, the adults do. And the rest of the thousands of NCAA athletes in schools who never make a mistake, break a rule, or do anything that could even be remotely considered to be an act of bad faith are being affected by your inconsistent application of that rulebook that Pythagoras couldn’t decipher which you hold so dear.

One side note, fighting the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, or any other professional league is not in your best interests. Disagreeing with them is fine, and by no means am I suggesting that you let them run the NCAA. But if you get people with an inside understanding of how these leagues work to help you with your efforts in keeping the dishonest and rulebreaking people out of college athletics you will probably have more success, instead of having to put huge penalties on schools after the fact. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to tell a school up front that a kid has issues, instead of waiting until they play a whole season and then saying , “Whoa, you shouldn’t have done that!”

I realize no one is perfect, but you sit in judgement over something which is near and dear to the hearts, minds, and wallets of millions of people. Take care not to abuse the power.

Despite my many rantings and ravings about your decisions in the past, I really do believe that you are trying to do what you think is right, however, you seem to have lost your way somewhere between what President Roosevelt requested when he wanted this association founded all those years ago, and where we are today. Consider this a nudge back in the right direction.

The NCAA needs to understand that even though it is nothing more than a compilation of the schools it represents, there is a fine line which when crossed, makes for much more than just interesting dinner conversation between a couple of buddies in the local watering hole. The NCAA represents billions of dollars. Literally. Fans, players ( who really don’t see any of that money), coaches, TV Networks, everyone wants the money train to continue, but they also want to see things operate fairly and competently. This is sooooooo about appearances and keeping them up. People may say it is about principles and morals, but that is just so much whitewash. We want our little world to keep spinning. We want to be able to see our schools win and be successful. We need the NCAA to grasp that and work toward it, not against it in the name of competition and fair play. The NCAA cares not about fair play, or the world of college athletics would look much different. No, they care about multi billion dollar contracts and bowl games and tournaments.

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