Does the NCAA Care about the Student-Athlete (Continued)

What is wrong with the sanctions imposed on universities found guilty of recruitment and other violations? Any sanction which directly punishes innocent past and present student athletes should be changed. For example, in the Sandusky case involving Penn State University why should all the victories of Penn State from 1998 to 2011 be removed? Why should the current Penn State football players be denied the right to play in a post-season bowl game? Of course, what Sandusky was convicted of was awful and he was punished.  The perpetrators of the cover up, including Joe Paterno, were also punished. Finally, the University received a heavy fine. However, the current and past Penn State football players had nothing to do with these crimes. In the case of USC football, the only players involved were O.J. Mayo and Reggie Bush who are now very rich pro players. Why should the current USC football players be punished? As mentioned in the previous posting, a child should not be punished for the crimes committed by their parents.

So how do we punish the university without punishing the innocent student athletes? My answer is that we should examine each sanction against the university and make sure it does not negatively affect the current and past innocent student athletes. For example, allow the punished university to take part in the post-season for at least 2 years so the current juniors and seniors who paid their dues are allowed to finish their college athletic careers and take part in post-season play. After the two years the ban can then be implemented. Of course, do not allow the punished university to receive any money from the post season. Also, if the conference splits up the post season money do not allow the punished university to receive any of that money. I have no problem with the reduction in scholarships or reducing the recruiting time or imposing heavy fines. But can someone tell me the reasoning behind removing all of Penn State’s wins from 1998 to 2011? The past Penn State football players earned these victories and some were injured during their football years. The bowl games they played in were earned through hard work. Yes, reading between the lines, the reason was to deny Joe Paterno the distinction of being the football coach with the most wins. If that was the reason why not just disqualify him from consideration for that honor. In baseball, Pete Rose and Joe Jackson were disqualified from the being considered for the Hall of Fame.  Baseball did not take away Rose’s career hit mark of 4256.

The NCAA will counter with the argument that recruiting violations is cheating and may give a team an unfair advantage in a game. Let’s look at some of these violations. These include making phone calls to a recruit too early or visiting a recruit before the recruiting period. Many of these players actually chose another school and never attended the punished school. A very few of the athletes were given gifts or off season jobs by alumni. If the job was a real job I see nothing wrong with this anyway. Remember, many of these athletes come from very low income households. In fact, it has been suggested that since these athletes make so much money for their universities that a small amount of money be set aside for them and awarded to them upon leaving the university.

Finally, please read the following paragraph taken from a petition for the undefeated Ohio State’s 2012 football team: “While a punishment for past indiscretions is to be expected, a season ban is too harsh for a few young men trading memorabilia for tattoos and some change. The offending players and coach who covered it up are no longer part of the program.”

Do you think the 2012 National Championship Game should be between Notre Dame and Ohio State?

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