A turbulent offseason has plagued college football and with Notre Dame fighting its way into the mix, I’m sure every conference commissioner cannot wait two weeks until the games begin and the focus switches to the field.
Notre Dame is investigating whether several football and basketball players broke NCAA rules by promoting a South Bend, Ind., television show. The athletes filmed promotions for the talk show “Sports Dogz.”
Not only did the student-athletes jeopardize their eligibility, but they did so for a show that has perhaps the worst title in talk show history. Even Sally Jesse Rafael has more ring to it than “Sports Dogz.” Seriously, does the word “dogz” need to be used, especially ending with a z?
At the risk of offending the near dozen Notre Dame fans who can read and the “dogz” who bark about how great the Fighting Irish are, Notre Dame has climbed out of the dog house and back into the criminal spotlight that Florida State and USC have occupied in the past decade that Notre Dame has sucked.
I realize that no athlete will end up suspended because as long as he or she plays stupid and represents a winning university, the NCAA will smile and say, “It’s all right. He is just a college student who didn’t know better.”
I’m serious. An Associated Press story quoted Associate Director of Public and Media Relations with the NCAA Jennifer Kearns, who said when an athlete doesn’t know he or she has broken an NCAA rule it is deemed a secondary violation.
“If they say, ‘I didn’t know this was happening,’ we try to work with them and do what’s best for them,” Kearns said.
And what is best for the NCAA, which is Florida State, USC and Notre Dame winning.
There have probably been rule violations at every university, and whenever a student-athlete feels that he or she can get away with it, that will continue to happen for years.
So is the problem the athletes or institutions, or is it the NCAA, who keeps allowing people to play dumb?
I’ve had to play dumb many times in my life, mostly on dates with girls from Springfield High School, but where has it gotten me? I’ll be honest, not far. Maybe I should grow six inches, gain 50 pounds, become extremely athletic and sign a Division I scholarship. Then I could play dumb and get away with anything.
Former USC quarterback Matt Leinart had his eligibility revoked after taping a commercial for ESPN approximately one year ago, but his eligibility was later reinstated and he didn’t miss a snap.
While it wasn’t a big deal at the time, Leinart ended his Trojan career with another NCAA question mark when his father paid more than half of Leinart and teammate Dwayne Jarrett’s rent for a Los Angeles apartment.
Neither violation was a major crime, Leinart didn’t miss a game. Jarrett was recently reinstated as well. Does it really matter that he taped a commercial or that his father helped pay a large chunk of rent for the players?
Nope.
The scenario is similar for the Notre Dame athletes.
I doubt any consequences will come of the issue, other than the NCAA appearing more like the money-making industry it is rather than the rule-abiding association that it was formed as.
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