RIP College Athletics

[JJKrispy82]

Life-long Syracuse (and in recent years, also Duke) fan chiming in.

This sham of a ruling by the NCAA for UNC makes the timing of the latest Adidas scandal extremely suspect.

I know it is a stretch, but it really feels like the timing of the Adidas scandal going down was perfectly orchestrated to try to deflect attention from this outrageous ruling exonerating UNC.

With everyone focused on the Adidas scandal, this may not even see major new outlet headlines......if it was the only major NCAA story at the time, it would at least scrape the front pages and might have stirred up some momentum about how toothless the NCAA was.

As it stands, the story can now be safely buried and "forgotten" about, at least from the general media & public perspective.

As much as we think this will be the death of the NCAA, and that UNC will be forever tarnished in the public eye, here's what will really happen:

The NCAA will remain.

College sports will steadily become more corrupt, less emphasized on students & academics, and more of a "Pro-light" league.

UNC will never lose its image in the public eye --- 20 years (and maybe 3 more championships) from now, no one will remember this scandal well. Most won't even mention it within 5 years. What fraud? Didn't you read the NCAA ruling?

Schools without the influence of UNC will continue to get hammered for minor to moderate self-reported items OR schools will stop self-reporting and college sports will become a cesspool of corruption.

Today was not the beginning of the end for the NCAA. Today marks the end of college athletics as we know it, regardless of whether the NCAA remains or not (spoiler: they will remain).

The college athletics that we have all known and loved is gone. Destroyed. Murdered by UNC and the NCAA. The Walking Dead that will arise from this disgusting corpse of a ruling will be a hollow shell of its former self. Oozing with corruption to the core, lacking any of the genuine quality & soul that it had when it was alive and well.

Hollow. Dead. Soulless. RIP College Sports.

 

[Col. Bleep]

Life-long Syracuse (and in recent years, also Duke) fan chiming in.


College sports will steadily become more corrupt, less emphasized on students & academics, and more of a "Pro-light" league.

Don't think this has anything to do with the "Adidas case."
But...the NCAA has proven itself a joke.

Worse...this case provides a blueprint of how to "help" athletes stay eligible.
Just create "special" courses and course work make sure they're available to any student.
Don't worry...the athletes will know were to go.
In other words, devalue education until it isn't even a fig leaf any more.
And drop the word "student" from the term "student-athlete."

 

[themorey]

Wow. I can't say I'm surprised because this is not a surprising outcome. The NCAA is a sham and it completely transparent today. The "blue-bloods" will not be punished.

 

[jncuse]

College sports will steadily become more corrupt, less emphasized on students & academics, and more of a "Pro-light" league.

college sports will become a cesspool of corruption.

Today marks the end of college athletics as we know it

The college athletics that we have all known and loved is gone.

Your ideological view of college sports and student athletes has not existed in a long time.

When was the last time the NCAA cared about student athletes especially in football and basketball? They have cared about basically 4 things for several years when it comes to basketball and football:
1) How much money can these sports bring to the schools, conferences and the NCAA.
2) How to ensure none of this money is ever seen by athletes, and yet everybody else can get a nice healthy cut.
3) Ensuring football and basketball players have no ability to easily transfer like other students or even other student athletes.
4) Ensuring football and basketball players can easily have their scholarship revoked so the team can get better to appease its fans.

And fans who blame the NCAA and "money" for this corruption should consider their actions. Look at #3 and #4. How many fans get angry when a player wants to transfer. As fans, and purely as fans, they don't want players to have the same rights as other athletes or student athletes.

When the system view student athletes in that regard it's hard to have a system that is not corrupt.

The high level student athlete (football and basketball player) is incapable of getting the top degree they want because the fans, coaches, and the NCAA wants them to spend more time making more money or to help the team win more games. And this just isn't athletes "complaining: with no merit -- this was the entire basis of the Northwestern Football team, and I am pretty sure those are kids that are care about academics The time demands force many to compromise on their field of study. Or worse teams bring in players that have no interest in academics and have no chance in hell of legitimately passing a non tailored university degree.

Today was a brutal failure by the NCAA to enforce its current rules. At the same time, the real issue is not enforcing its rules. It's about coming up with a new framework for college basketball and college football that will reduce corruption.

Here some of the things that need to be considered. There is still way too much money in the game to make it not corrupt in its current framework:
P5 Separate from the NCAA or create a new division.
Recognize the extra time spent and less movement benefits they get does not make them the same as other student athletes. Compensate them
Allow kids to choose a university degree or a school sponsored life skills program (for example coaching skills, physical trainer) that does not result in a degree -- try to actually help the kid who doesn't have the same academic skills to excel academically but that can excel in another field. Of course you can say its too bad for the kid, but the schools will always go after them due to $. So make it work.

 

[JJKrispy82]

I have to admit ---- as much as I was fully expecting this flabbergasting decision, I still find myself pretty depressed today. There is a weight on my mind and a gnawing frustration that corruption has won again, and that additionally, it has stripped away the joy and legitimacy of college hoops (and football for that matter) from me forever.

Sure, corruption has existed, but if anything, we figured that most of the significant infractions would be exposed eventually and punished accordingly. From here on out, we'll never be able to take a UNC win seriously ever again, and I'll always be wondering about what level of cheating the top team(s) have needed to partake in in order to cheat their way to the top.

The UConn laptop theft case in the 2000s was my first discouraging taste of this. Now, instead of just limited to one team, the NCAA has opened up the floodgates to allow any and all teams to cheat ad infinitem without consequences. From a fan perspective, I will never be able to take this sport (or any major NCAA sport) seriously again .

 

[721Comstock]

I have to admit ---- as much as I was fully expecting this flabbergasting decision, I still find myself pretty depressed today. There is a weight on my mind and a gnawing frustration that corruption has won again, and that additionally, it has stripped away the joy and legitimacy of college hoops (and football for that matter) from me forever.

Sure, corruption has existed, but if anything, we figured that most of the significant infractions would be exposed eventually and punished accordingly. From here on out, we'll never be able to take a UNC win seriously ever again, and I'll always be wondering about what level of cheating the top team(s) have needed to partake in in order to cheat their way to the top.

The UConn laptop theft case in the 2000s was my first discouraging taste of this. Now, instead of just limited to one team, the NCAA has opened up the floodgates to allow any and all teams to cheat ad infinitem without consequences. From a fan perspective, I will never be able to take this sport (or any major NCAA sport) seriously again .

You said Duke fan too, right?
Um, hate to tell you this, but Dook has done some seriously shady shenanigans over the years too.

Here are just a few:

ormer Duke player Corey Maggette admitted taking cash from a booster Despite fears they would have to give back over $200,000 in NCAA Tournament revenue and stripped of their Final Four appearance in 2000, Duke was never punished by the NCAA after an investigation determined Duke coaches were unaware of the payments.

A 2003 New Orleans Times-Picayune investigation (article not available online) revealed that former Duke guard Chris Duhon's mother “landed a job working for a Duke booster; co-workers say the job opening was never posted and that Harper was overpaid and lacked qualifications.”

In 2010, former Duke player Lance Thomas was sued for failing to repay an alleged $67,800 credit to a jeweler. The NCAA did not find any violations after an investigation.

J.J. Redick was arrested for drunk driving in 2007 two weeks prior to the NBA Draft.

In 1995, center Greg Newton was suspended from school for two semesters after he was found guilty of cheating on an exam. Ricky Price also received a two-semester suspension in 1997 due to academic issues. Both eventually returned to the team.

 

[Cheriehoop]

To be honest the last 2 incidences you listed starting with 1995, at least showed some repercussions for academic issues and having some academic standard. We probably have had some of those same issues but for privacy sake, haven’t disclosed the reason for the suspension. The remainder listed above the last paragraph, I agree with you.

 

[triplethrea]

It's the beginning of the end. Today everybody got confirmation about who and what the NCAA really is. The cats out of the bag. People know.

The ones defending the NCAA right now or trying to deflect are on the wrong side of history. You know who you are.

Stop defending teen slavery.

 

[Cusefan0307]

It's the beginning of the end. Today everybody got confirmation about who and what the NCAA really is. The cats out of the bag. People know.

The ones defending the NCAA right now or trying to deflect are on the wrong side of history. You know who you are.

Stop defending teen slavery.

I think the only people defending the NCAA are UNC fans.

 

[triplethrea]

I think the only people defending the NCAA are UNC fans.

Go through ESPN comments. It's 80/20 but people are making excuses. Media types are deflecting. A few "connected" posters here that I won't name are also trying to deflect. Lots of pansies who are afraid of upsetting the status quo.

 

[cuseinseattle]

Don't think this has anything to do with the "Adidas case."
But...the NCAA has proven itself a joke.

Worse...this case provides a blueprint of how to "help" athletes stay eligible.
Just create "special" courses and course work make sure they're available to any student.
Don't worry...the athletes will know were to go.
In other words, devalue education until it isn't even a fig leaf any more.
And drop the word "student" from the term "student-athlete."

Just so you know. If USC or Syracuse or a host of others school did this exact same thing we would be murdered by the NCAA. They don't work this way. They punish on a case by case basis. If Syracuse did this for example they would claim they have evidence that Boeheim knew about it and Roy never did or something. Then they would drop the hammer.

 

[Hoo's That]

Regardless of what system people come up with, including paying the players, people are going to cheat. The boosters of the Texas and $EC schools will still give a boatload of money to recruits. I can guarantee that if players are paid, after a few years Bilas et al. will complain that predominantly non-AA schools are exploiting AA athletes and they're not getting enough. It will never be enough.

 

[Moontan]

 

[Col. Bleep]

Yes...but in a pinch the NCAA could try to switch IRS tax exempt categories to the one essentially covering trade organizations.

Meanwhile...these are the NCAA's own words on its IRS 990 form:
THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE NCAA IS TO MAINTAIN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM AND THE ATHLETE AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE STUDENT BODY.

How does the UNC ruling accomplish any of that?

 

[Townie72]

It's the beginning of the end. Today everybody got confirmation about who and what the NCAA really is. The cats out of the bag. People know.

The ones defending the NCAA right now or trying to deflect are on the wrong side of history. You know who you are.

Stop defending teen slavery.

"Slavery?"

You are actually comparing college athletes to slaves?

It reminds me of a line from a Beatles song, "But if you been carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, ain't nobody going to listen to you anyhow."

 

[Cowtown]

It reminds me of a line from a Beatles song, "But if you been carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, ain't nobody going to listen to you anyhow."

Well, not exactly. The line goes, "But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow."

 

[Townie72]

Well, not exactly. The line goes, "But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow."

You are correct, of course.

But you are focusing in on the minutia, Instead, what about this comparison of today's college athletes and slavery?

 

[orangedave]

"This sham of a ruling by the NCAA for UNC makes the timing of the latest Adidas scandal extremely suspect.

I know it is a stretch, but it really feels like the timing of the Adidas scandal going down was perfectly orchestrated to try to deflect attention from this outrageous ruling exonerating UNC."

While I agree with everything you said about the NCAA handling of the UNC scandal, I find your connecting the timing to the Adidas scandal to be questionable. You are basically saying that the FBI is in bed with the NCAA to take the pressure off UNC. Pretty unlikely in my mind.

 

[Townie72]

Just what exactly is your problem with what UNC did and what the NCAA did about it (which was essentially nothing)

I hear different things on here.

1. What bothers me (they say) is not that UNC escaped any real NCAA sanctions, but rather, by comparison, SU was grossly over-punished.

That's kind of like saying, "I got a ticket for 50mph in a 35mph zone and I had to pay it. While someone else got a ticket for going 100mph in a the same zone and beat the rap on technicality and/or having a smart lawyer. So I think I ought to have my fine returned to me."

2. What bothers me (they say) is that this further exposes big time college sports as a sham. These schools will do just about anything to keep this money-making machine humming. These were fake classes. That no one in the Athletic Department knew about them isn't even remotely possible. This makes a joke of the NCAA and it exposes them as worse than a toothless tiger.

This moral outrage is fine. Except that no one stops watching, rooting, and buying and wearing sporting gear. We are all complicit in this scam.

 

[Cowtown]

You are correct, of course.

But you are focusing in on the minutia, Instead, what about this comparison of today's college athletes and slavery?

Oh, so it's minutiae after you got the quote wrong?

Well, since you asked, using slavery to define cholarship athletes is certainly hyperbole. You know, exaggeration for effect. So while it's certainly not slavery, consider the scholarship athlete. He can't even do his laundry without wondering whether he'll get suspended for not using official NCAA approved detergent. More hyperbole, but you get the point. Really, unless a kid already has reasonable means (as in, his parents have enough money to send him some now and then), he's effectively a prisoner of the NCAA guidelines. A lot of scholarship athletes don't much apart from their scholarship. I know what it's like to have nothing in your pocket but your meal ticket while several of your friends even have cars and can put gas in them, etc. It was complete BS when a couple SU basketball players were cited for getting a minimum wage job handing out towels at the local YMCA, while the NCAA and the schools make hundreds of millions of dollars. So I think something does need to be done for scholarship athletes in college today. For "fair" is not the same as "equal" and the NCAA apparently doesn't understand that. Nor do they want to.

 

[Townie72]

Oh, so it's minutiae after you got the quote wrong?

Well, since you asked, using slavery to define cholarship athletes is certainly hyperbole. You know, exaggeration for effect. So while it's certainly not slavery, consider the scholarship athlete. He can't even do his laundry without wondering whether he'll get suspended for not using official NCAA approved detergent. More hyperbole, but you get the point. Really, unless a kid already has reasonable means (as in, his parents have enough money to send him some now and then), he's effectively a prisoner of the NCAA guidelines. A lot of scholarship athletes don't much apart from their scholarship. I know what it's like to have nothing in your pocket but your meal ticket while several of your friends even have cars and can put gas in them, etc. It was complete BS when a couple SU basketball players were cited for getting a minimum wage job handing out towels at the local YMCA, while the NCAA and the schools make hundreds of millions of dollars. So I think something does need to be done for scholarship athletes in college today. For "fair" is not the same as "equal" and the NCAA apparently doesn't understand that. Nor do they want to.

So your plan/recommendation is that the NCAA try and equalize what all athletes have? (Sounds like the former Soviet Union approach.)

There are always going to be people that have more than others.

Sorry you had to suffer through only having that meal card that your parents paid for. Must have been rough. (Someday I'll tell you about eating in a torrential rainstorm with no cover bending over the mess kit so that the water did not pour into the food.)

 

[Cowtown]

You're really good at shooting your mouth off and being wrong, aren't you?

So your plan/recommendation is that the NCAA try and equalize what all athletes have? (Sounds like the former Soviet Union approach.)

I didn't say that, you did. And in doing so, completely misunderstood what I was actually trying to say. No worries, let it go. If you arrived at that conclusion, you'll never understand.

There are always going to be people that have more than others.

Luminous. Thanks. You sound like the love-child of Ayn Rand and Antonin Scalia.

Sorry you had to suffer through only having that meal card that your parents paid for. Must have been rough. (Someday I'll tell you about eating in a torrential rainstorm with no cover bending over the mess kit so that the water did not pour into the food.)

I paid my own way through college. You, on the other hand, were getting paid for the circumstances in which you were living at the time. Maybe you just make bad choices?

 

[Townie72]

You're really good at shooting your mouth off and being wrong, aren't you?



I didn't say that, you did. And in doing so, completely misunderstood what I was actually trying to say. No worries, let it go. If you arrived at that conclusion, you'll never understand.



Luminous. Thanks. You sound like the love-child of Ayn Rand and Antonin Scalia.



I paid my own way through college. You, on the other hand, were getting paid for the circumstances in which you were living at the time. Maybe you just make bad choices?

You are the one that wrote, "I know what it's like to have nothing in your pocket but your meal ticket while several of your friends even have cars and can put gas in them, etc."

Not me.

 

[Cowtown]

You are the one that wrote, "I know what it's like to have nothing in your pocket but your meal ticket while several of your friends even have cars and can put gas in them, etc."

Not me.

Yes, Captain Obvious, I did. And what I meant by that you either completely ignored, or it went right over your head. Neither one would be a surprise.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Life-long Syracuse (and in recent years, also Duke) fan chiming in.

This sham of a ruling by the NCAA for UNC makes the timing of the latest Adidas scandal extremely suspect.

I know it is a stretch, but it really feels like the timing of the Adidas scandal going down was perfectly orchestrated to try to deflect attention from this outrageous ruling exonerating UNC.

With everyone focused on the Adidas scandal, this may not even see major new outlet headlines...if it was the only major NCAA story at the time, it would at least scrape the front pages and might have stirred up some momentum about how toothless the NCAA was.

As it stands, the story can now be safely buried and "forgotten" about, at least from the general media & public perspective.

As much as we think this will be the death of the NCAA, and that UNC will be forever tarnished in the public eye, here's what will really happen:

The NCAA will remain.

College sports will steadily become more corrupt, less emphasized on students & academics, and more of a "Pro-light" league.

UNC will never lose its image in the public eye --- 20 years (and maybe 3 more championships) from now, no one will remember this scandal well. Most won't even mention it within 5 years. What fraud? Didn't you read the NCAA ruling?

Schools without the influence of UNC will continue to get hammered for minor to moderate self-reported items OR schools will stop self-reporting and college sports will become a cesspool of corruption.

Today was not the beginning of the end for the NCAA. Today marks the end of college athletics as we know it, regardless of whether the NCAA remains or not (spoiler: they will remain).

The college athletics that we have all known and loved is gone. Destroyed. Murdered by UNC and the NCAA. The Walking Dead that will arise from this disgusting corpse of a ruling will be a hollow shell of its former self. Oozing with corruption to the core, lacking any of the genuine quality & soul that it had when it was alive and well.

Hollow. Dead. Soulless. RIP College Sports.

The reason the Adidas issue is considered such a huge scandal is because players actually got a cut of the money for their services. Anything else goes...just can't let the athlete get his hand on any cash. that would just be beyond the Pale