2011.08.18
Thursday: Here’s the real problem with the NCAA
Clarity can be a beautiful thing.
AND YOU KNOW WHAT? I DON’T HAVE AN ANSWER. And the reason I don’t have an answer is that the NCAA doesn’t have an answer.
NOTHING CAUSES MORE TROUBLE THAN A LACK OF CLARITY. It’s true in all phases of life. If you’re a parent, you know what I’m talking about. Tell your kid he’s going to “be in trouble” if he doesn’t “stop acting up,” and what result do you get? A confused kid who still acts up. You add some clarity to that threat — “If you make a single sound in the next 10 minutes, you will spend the next 30 minutes in your room” — you might actually get some results. Sometimes — just like in athletics — the kid’s still going to break your rule. But you give him adequate warning, and you give him adequate punishment, and the next time he’ll know you’re serious.
CONSISTENCY. THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN, TOO. Most of us have been on sports teams where the star player gets treated differently than the rest of the squad. It happens everywhere. And while it might work out nicely for the star, it tears the team apart. The same thing’s true with scandals in athletics. If Ohio State is treated differently than UNC, which is treated differently than Alcorn State, which is treated differently than UVa, you’re inviting a divided constituency. That’s what the NCAA has done.
SO THAT’S HOW YOU FIX IT, NCAA. You not only lay out what the rules are, but also EXPLICITLY lay out the punishments, and you be consistent about it across the board. Coaches and players have to know, if you do X, you get Y. End of story. I’ll let the NCAA bigwigs figure out what those specific punishments should be — they make a lot of money to sit around and do nothing — but as long as they’re uniform, I’m cool with them. And they have a chance to get results. When a scandal breaks, we all ought to be able to pull out a little card, just like coaches do when they’re deciding whether to go for two on the P.A.T. “Ah, hookers involved, eh? Well, that’s five scholarships right there…”
TWEET O’ THE DAY
-Comes from Virginia Tech long snapper Collin Carroll (@collinjcarroll): “Note: If Wes Worsham is ever indicted for orchestrating a Ponzi Scheme… BAIL HIM OUT!”
NAME THAT TUNE
-I’m surprised nobody got yesterday’s: “Everything Zen” by Bush. We’ll go same genre today but easier.
Is something wrong, she said
Of course there is
You’re still alive, she said
Oh, and do I deserve to be
Is that the question?
And if so…if so…who answers…who answers…?
The problem is the NCAA is what NCAA stands for : No Cajones At All
That’s the problem.
Comment by Rick H. — August 18, 2011 @ 8:50 am
Yes, Rick, that’s another way of saying the same thing. Cajones is a great word, though. Bonus points for that.
Comment by Aaron McFarling — August 18, 2011 @ 8:52 am
Aaron, you got it right. Consistency is the NCAA biggest problem right now. They simply don’t have the size, manpower, and resource to “police” all the school on all division level of the academic institutions. That’s why they depend on the school’s office of compliance. When the compliance officer is corrupt, it takes time before the powder keg explodes.
Another issue I see is the influenital power of the BCS. Look no further than last year Sugar Bowl. They were able to convince the NCAA to let the Tattoo 5 play in spite of being ineigible. If the NCAA had backbone, they would have told the CEO to take a hike. They caved. They made themselves fool.
Postseason ban, loss of scholarship, and vacating titles and wins don’t make it work. Hit them hard on their bottom-line. Slap the coach with no-show clause (see Kelvin Sampson and Mike Leach). They need to be the heavy.
Comment by Trevor — August 18, 2011 @ 9:01 am
Pearl Jam – Alive
NCAA – a lot like NASCAR…..Punishments vary from week to week.
Comment by Stu — August 18, 2011 @ 10:11 am
If Georgia Tech can get an ACC title stripped away and 4 years of probation over $300, what equitable punishiment can be given to Miami over hundreds of thousands of dollars?
Comment by Bobby Clark — August 18, 2011 @ 10:17 am
Laying out the punishments for each offense is a good start….you break the rules this is the penalty, no exceptions and no excuses. How many months of sub committee meetings will take place just to decide what the canes punishment will be, let alone to decide if they’re really guilty? Hate it for the ACC though, should have left the thugs out back in 2003 and took WVU instead. Hindsite is always perfect though….
Is the tune Pearl Jam – I’m still Alive?
Comment by Huntersdad — August 18, 2011 @ 10:20 am
Stu and Huntersdad nailed it. “Alive” by Pearl Jam. Good NASCAR comparison, Stu. It really is a lot like that.
Comment by Aaron McFarling — August 18, 2011 @ 10:28 am
Aaron, I was reading back to August 9th and saw the quip about Clemson fans being “notoriously stingy or just plain broke”. abdnva hit the nail on the head with this Tiger!
Comment by Bobby Clark — August 18, 2011 @ 10:30 am
First broke dude I’ve ever met who can play golf like you!
Comment by Aaron McFarling — August 18, 2011 @ 10:32 am
I’m playing today for the 3rd time since LAST AUGUST. A par 3 event at Draper Valley. Only getting to play because somebody else is paying!
Comment by Bobby Clark — August 18, 2011 @ 10:36 am
Hey Aaron, ask Jim Weaver sometime if VT is ever going to add women’s golf. They are one of only 2 ACC schools (unbelievably, GT is the other) that doesn’t have a team. Clemson is finally adding it starting in 2013.
I know that enough private funds could be raised for travel, clothing, etc. It just doesn’t make sense for them NOT to have it. Heck, they have a course and a half to play/practice on. Most tournaments are in NC/SC/GA with the occasional Puerto Rico or Japan (like UVA). I know that I could recruit a team that would make the Top 6 in the ACC within 3 years and Top 25 within 4…or fire my ass!
Sorry, got me terribly off subject, but I know it could be done.
I do know that if UNC and/or Miami get post season bans, then the extra shared funds for the conference will be less and would make it much more difficult, if not impossible, to add programs.
Comment by Bobby Clark — August 18, 2011 @ 10:50 am
Would Hollandsworth have considered VT if they had a program?
Comment by Aaron McFarling — August 18, 2011 @ 10:54 am
Sure! Heck, she was JMU bound until I called Maryland. I had to convince her folks that she was ACC material, but when I called Wake, UNC, NC State, they were already full up for their recruiting class. Wake and UNC had snubbed her because she wasn’t “ranked” in AJGA competitions. Jess didn’t play in those national events. NC State had stopped calling her because they had “heard” she was going to Furman.
Anyway, it was hard to get that country girl some respect. 3 All-ACC’s later, I think she finally has their attention.
Comment by Bobby Clark — August 18, 2011 @ 11:06 am
Trevor, where I would disagree with you is about the NCAA not having the size to provide the “police” efforts needed. It might not have it, but it doesn’t have much of an excuse as to why it doesn’t have the size, manpower, etc, to deal with things.
The organization sits on a half BILLION dollars of cash and investments. Yeah, that’s $500,000,000. Thems a lot of zeros. (I’d link to the Form 990, essentially its tax return, but you need a Guidestar membership to see it – but it is a free membership)
All that is necessary is that it dole out less to the member institutions of that mammoth TV money it has coming in and do a little bit to beef up its staff. It can definitely afford to be a wee bit bigger, staff wise, to provide the enforcement it needs to.
Bottom line, the NCAA is a great place to work. You do nothing, because the NCAA doesn’t want to do anything.
Comment by Rick H. — August 18, 2011 @ 11:07 am
Aaron, having worked in law enforcement I see the parallel in what you are saying about the NCAA and the criminal justice system. Studies have shown that it is not the severity of punishment that deters crime but the certainty of quick, consistent punishment. The reality is that most law breakers have been breaking laws for a good part of their lives and that behavior has already been reinforced by simply getting away with it. When ambiguous punishment is doled out well after the fact (in the NCAA’s case it seems like years…)the punishment often has little impact on the offender. But that begs the chicken/egg question. Is the ambiguity and the delayed punishment of the system the cause of or just a minor contributor to the crime? I side with the latter. There is far more going on here than inconsistent punishment. College athletics is a huge business with lots of money and perks changing hands and we should not be surprised or offended when some of that ends up in the players hands. Quicker and more consistent punishment will indeed help but the system needs revamping before much improvement will be seen. In my opinion a good place to start would be with the bowls. Any system which rewards a team for how many seats it can sell instead of the quality of the team on the field already borders on the fraudulent. A good read:
http://sports.yahoo.com/investigations/news;_ylt=Ar7gnBes0Vkk1tBnM29uFgk5nYcB?slug=dw-wetzel_miami_scandal_scene_081711
Comment by scott whitaker — August 18, 2011 @ 11:20 am
“The first thing they`ll do is cut your cajones off” Gus to Pea-eye in “Lonesome Dove”. Last time I heard that word used. Another bad thing about Booster-gate is that probably 90% of the guilty parties are long gone. That leaves it to the players, new coaches, recruits ect who did nothing wrong to serve out the penalities. No way around that, I guess.
Comment by Ralph — August 18, 2011 @ 11:26 am
I read an excellent column by Pat Forde. He called Miami a repeat repeat-offender. He also said this case argues against paying college athletes.
Bobby, your comment about loss of revenues for the conference is probably why the NCAA is hesistant about slapping the death penalty on schools. What everyone seem to agree is this the time for the NCAA to show it mean business and come down so hard Thor would shudder. The issue, then, is what type of penatly will be imposed on the U?
Comment by Trevor — August 18, 2011 @ 11:26 am
Great piece on the NCAA. My biggest thing is that the motives need to be clear, and by motivies, I mean the flow of money. Within the NCAA and athletic departments, who is making how much? A lot of the lack of clarity on punishments is done intentionally–they want to leave themselves the room to issue the punishment (or lack thereof) that will satisty people just enough, and still allow them (NCAA/AD officials) to make as much money as possible. There aren’t enough rich guys willing to deal with the hassle, but we need to get more leadership roles in all aspects of life filled by people who have enough money not to be corrupted. Just wait. The punishment issued will punish Miami some, but it won’t impact Mark Emmert negatively. To expect him to look out for college sports over himself, even though that’s his job, is foolish.
Comment by Jonathan — August 18, 2011 @ 11:43 am
Great perspectives, guys. You all have really brought your A-game the past two weeks or so.
Comment by Aaron McFarling — August 18, 2011 @ 12:30 pm
If the U infractions do not bring the death penaly, then WHAT DOES???
Comment by Rappy — August 18, 2011 @ 12:38 pm
Rick, no agrument from me about the money. They make money from television contracts. March Madness is a money making racket for them. What I am agruing about they claim they don’t have the manpower to police the instutions. If they make that much money, why aren’t they aggressively pursuing rule breakers?
It is only now they are coming swinging their longswords, but as usual, they are too slow to hand the punishment. By the time they have decided what to do, the guilty parties have move on (to the NFL or NBA), the incoming classes suffer.
Another issue that I suspect is happening, some folks wants the support of the NFL and the NBA in cracking down on agents, etc. Why? That tells me that the NCAA has lost control of it’s house.
It is like the scene where Senator Palpaltine tells Queen Amilda (shoot, can’t remember how to spell her name) that the Chancellor wasn’t the true power broker, but the Beaucracuts.
Comment by Trevor — August 18, 2011 @ 12:42 pm
It is also kinda like Zack Morris’ get-rich-quick scheme getting caught by Mr. Belding. Does it stop Zack? Nope. He gets the pretty head cheerleader and all of his friends think he’s the coolest guy in the whole school by the end of the day.
That’s the NCAA for you.
Comment by Trevor — August 18, 2011 @ 1:43 pm