The NCAA Sucks

I hate the NCAA. For starters they have the most absurd set of rules in the world. The rules can’t be enforced and when they are, they’re enforced so unevenly that you have to wonder if the people in Indy have money riding on the season.

First off, let’s be very clear that Alabama’s current probation and such is based on the fact that there were violations of the rules committed. But, after reading the university’s 65-page appeal, I can tell you that the NCAA are a bunch of morons.

My biggest problem is not with the fact that we were found to be guilty of the offenses, but that the punishments make no sense at all. There are some key points brought out in the appeal that I think everyone who cares about college football ought to know:

1. The NCAA is using confidential sources to make their case against AL. This is strictly forbidden by the NCAA’s own bylaws.
2. The NCAA knew about some violations from 1996 and failed to tell UA officials about them.
3. UA Self-reported some violations, which are now being used to justify “repeat-offender” status, thus punishing UA for policing itself.
4. Not a single person who is at fault for the violations is still at UA and the Committee on Infractions has said numerous times that the institution did everything that it could possibly do to keep the infractions from happening. So the punishments levied against UA are only punishing innocents.
5. Not a single one of the rogue boosters is a UA graduate, the individuals have no association with UA and cannot be controlled by UA. In essence I could get rich and pay players to go to tennessee, then report to the NCAA that I did that and get them in all sorts of trouble. How dumb is that?
6. What’s more, a few of the violations were outside the NCAA’s own statute of limitations.

And that’s just a small portion of the appeal, which is really a good read. Of course, what really spurred this entry is this article at ESPN talking about the NCAA questioning South Carolina and Lou Holtz simply because they went from 0-11 to two straight bowl games. Folks, that’s what Lou Holtz does… he’s an amazing coach. I’m still curious as to why nobody cares that Rex Grossman came back from what would’ve probably been a #1 over all draft pick and millions of dollars to play another season of college football under a new head coach. That seems a lot more fishy than Holtz being successful at South Carolina.

I’d really like to drive up to Indy and walk into the NCAA headquarters and see if a single person in that building has an IQ in the double digits. I highly doubt it.