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Okay, okay, so I'm not crazy enough to think the NCAA actually has it in for the University of Alabama. There's enough overwhelming evidence to point out the fact that some people did some things they're not supposed to do, and they should be punished accordingly. But I do have a few problems with the way they do things.
As stated on their own website, the goals of the NCAA are:
"Promote student-athletes and college sports through public awareness.
Protect student-athletes through standards of fairness and integrity.
Prepare student-athletes for lifetime leadership.
Provide student-athletes and college sports with the funding to help meet these goals. "
Can someone tell me how punishing our football team accomplishes any of these goals? It has been well publicized that no current coaches or players had anything to do with the charges that have been brought. Is it fair to punish them for "crimes" they had nothing to do with? A lot of young, white, American males committed crimes over the past few years...should I be punished for that? The rather serious reduction in scholarships (and potentially even worse penalties) will hurt the Crimson Tide for years to come...kids who just started high school with dreams of playing for the Tide might not be able to because of this. Is that justice? Does that help meet the NCAA's own goals?
Some would argue that this is the only way to bring the second goal..."standards of fairness and integrity". I'm sure Hitler thought he was being fair as well. How is it fair to have one organization be the police, judge, jury, and executioner all in one? Didn't we win WWII?
But I digress. Obviously, the only way to keep things "fair" in college football is to have rules, and rules are no good if they are not enforced (see also "holding"). Enforcement of rules and subsequent punishment is absolutely necessary, or else rules are nothing more than words.
One of the charges is that recruits were entertained at parties with strippers during their visits. Why is it okay to provide other forms of entertainment to recruits, but that's against the rules? Last time I checked, strippers were not illegal, and once again, the NCAA seems to think they have the power to make up their own laws. The University is allowed to show off its athletic facilities, its beautiful campus, it's academic buildings, the cool city of Tuscaloosa...why can't it show off a few of its sorority girls?
Another charge is that some players were put on the 15 meal a week plan instead of the 5 meal a week plan from Bama Dining. I say that this is actually punishment, and not an illegal benefit. Perhaps, rather than make the players who messed up do sit ups or run laps, they just made them eat at the Burke cafeteria a few extra times...how can that be against the rules?
Yet another charge was that someone from the University arranged for someone to give a recruit a ride home because he was on pain medication. Would they have liked it better if they had let the guy try to drive home while medicated and hit a school bus? Come to think of it, I don't think involuntary manslaughter is against the NCAA's rules...
So what's my point? I'm not sure, really. Since the offenses the NCAA claims are not actually illegal (except in rare cases like the Memphis fiasco), there's no way for those who break the rules to actually be punished except to lose their jobs/be kicked off the team. Unfortunately, since the NCAA takes a million years to investigate things (another reason they shouldn't be doing it), that doesn't help in this case. None of the players involved are around anymore, and all of the coaches were fired last year for lack of coaching ability, not for cheating.
This ramble would be a lot better if I had an alternative to the football team being punished, but unfortunately, I don't. Oh well.