Born to Grill

5 thoughts on “Born to Grill”

1. Just pay them. Not a six figure salary or houses like some of these studs were getting, but rather make NCAA play part of the work-study program.

   It’s not a lot of money, but it is some compensation and will help out the students from very impoverished backgrounds who are most susceptible to the under-the-table payouts. Some of us went to college and had our pizzas and dates financed by mom – these athletes, and not just football players, will have similar challenges. You can’t expect a 20-year-old kid to keep saying no.

   The NCAA should be vigorous about many of the high-end violations, esp. what happened in Miami, but some of the rules are draconian. Buying Reggie Bush’s family a new house threatens the nature of college football, but giving a softball player a $50 handshake doesn’t.

2. good morning from Omaha,

   the ncaa seems to have so many rules that it almost impossible to enforce them all. what they might have to do is go back to the drawing board after the investigations conclude and streamline the rule book.

   paying the players like a work study program is fine, but when phil the fan offers 100 times that amount and companionship?

   drop the bomb on osu and miami and then put some teeth into the rules that remain. I think its going to take drastic action for the big schools to get the message that the ncaa is serious. its played patty cake with the big schools for too long and like a bride after 30 some years is being ignored by those it is there to guide.

   strive for excellence, nothing but your best

   Gene

3. Listening lately to the debates on this subject, all the solutions seem fraught with so many more problems and consequences. I leaned towards the make them farm clubs for the NFL thought, but there are so many schools, which ones do they sudsidize? And that only speaks to football. It seems to me the consequence of a system like that is that rich schools just get richer. I have really enjoyed the ESPN panel debates on this. Gene and Badger make good points, it does seem that NCAA needs to stop adding rules and streamline, get into the 21st century. Maybe the money the alums want to hand out should go to the athletic departments and be distributed amongst all the athletes on an as needed basis.

4. My other problem is that the rules infractions result in punishments on the players more than anyone – and future players, at that, who are likely blameless. If the NCAA were able to punish these boosters directly somehow, the punishments would have more teeth. Instead, you have a roster of players at Ohio State who through no fault of their own must now muddle through a season crippled, and tied to a school by their letter of committment, at that.

   A recent positive development is that coaches/ADs who have known and endorsed behavior have started to be chased out of jobs, which is good as they at best looked the other way. They’re the adults here, they should pay at least part of the price. If the NCAA were to force a sanction on the individuals for a period of time, I’d support that.

5. The next order – grilled (Oregon) Duck.