Bad sports, good sports: Ohio State benefits from hypocritical NCAA

Posted on December 27th, 2010 by Alan Spoll

Someday, I would like to do some real research into the NCAA. If you are not aware, it is the organization that essentially governs college athletics. I am sure that it serves some kind of positive purpose, but I can’t claim to be aware of what that purpose might be. More often, it seems that the decision makers of the NCAA arbitrarily hand out punishments to schools and players for a variety of infractions in the areas of recruiting and player eligibility with little regard for fairness or consistency. This week, five football players from Ohio State were suspended for having received improper benefits from a Columbus-area business, as well as for selling various items that had been given to them by the school. The suspension is for five games, and will commence at the beginning of next season. Why next season, you ask? What about the Sugar Bowl, scheduled for January 4th? Surely the NCAA is not allowing these players to participate in that one, right? Wrong. All five players, including quarterback Terrelle Pryor, are expected to play in Baton Rouge.

This one is bizarre, even for a group as wildly inconsistent as the NCAA. If the infractions were so serious as to warrant a five game suspension, how can they possibly think it’s okay for the players to play in the bowl game? I can only assume that it is because of the high-profile nature of the Sugar Bowl, one of the few BCS bowl games. An Ohio State team without Pryor, receiver Devier Posey, running back Dan Herron, and tackle Mike Adams surely has less appeal to television viewers than one with them. Although the BCS and the NCAA are separate entities, they are presumably working toward the same goal, which is to maximize interest in college football. Ohio State, despite numerous recent failures in high profile games, remains one of the country’s marquee teams. Surely the NCAA would rather see those players miss games against teams like Akron and Toledo than to have them miss the Sugar Bowl against an SEC team like Arkansas.

The reason given for not suspending the players for the bowl game was that the players “did not receive adequate rules education during the time period the violations occurred.” If that’s the case, why are they suspended at all? Five games is a major suspension. You don’t hand those out without a finding of clear guilt. It’s an absolute joke that the bowl game is being treated differently. The fact that this is occurring in the same season in which the NCAA decided that Cam Newton, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Auburn, did nothing wrong even though his father clearly attempted to get money from at least one school in exchange for Newton attending that school is amazing. Those are a couple of major black eyes for a group that could hardly afford to look worse than it already did.

Bad sports, continued:

2) A couple of players from the Mississippi State basketball team got into a fight with each other in the stands of the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu at the start of a game between Hawaii and Utah on Thursday night. The players were there because their team was participating in the Diamond Head Classic, one of many early-season basketball tournaments on the season schedule. Renardo Sidney and Elgin Bailey have both been suspended indefinitely.

3) Yes, I guess it’s Suspension Week. Two players from the Kansas State basketball team, including star guard Jacob Pullen, were suspended for r eceiving some kind of improper benefits at a local clothing store. The suspension is for three games.

4) It’s not just the men that can get suspended, it seems. Diana Taurasi, a WNBA player for the Phoenix Mercury, has been suspended from the professional basketball league in Turkey she has been playing in during the WNBA offseason. The suspension is for failing a drug test. Her test showed a positive result for an illegal stimulant.

5) OK, this guy wasn’t suspended. The fact that he is out for the season with an injury may have something to do with that, though. Denver Broncos linebacker Elvis Dumervil was cited for assault and disturbing the peace during a Broncos game against the Oakland Raiders. A security guard would not allow Dumervil into the players’ parking lot, as he did not have his identification. I am not sure exactly what he did, but I would think Dumervil would have appreciated the fact that the guard did not let someone without credentials into the players’ private lot, rather than doing whatever got him a citation for assault.

6) This is a weird one. New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan has been connected with a number of bizarre videos that were found on the internet. In the videos, a man is videotaping a woman’s feet while talking to her. The woman is clearly Ryan’s wife, and from what I know, nothing all that awful was said or shown in the videos. Maybe he likes his wife’s feet. This is a Bad Sports story, not because of anything Ryan did, but because of the fact this somehow became a big story.

Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday.

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02