The NCAA is the governing body that oversees all major intercollegiate sports in the United States. It has a strict set of rules and by-laws for its institutions and particularly its players. If you cross the NCAA as a player you can be sure that you'll hear from them and will suffer sever consequences. When was the last time you heard a player suspended by the NCAA for a few games? Never. Because they don't play like that. If you break an NCAA rule than you're probably done for a significant amount of time. Which brings us to the case of one Dez Bryant.
The Oklahoma State standout was suspended this week by the NCAA for the remainder of the season, after it was found that Bryant lied to NCAA investigators about meetings he had with former NFL players Deion Sanders and Omar Stoutmire. As far as we know, all the meetings were legal and even set up through the university, yet for some reason Bryant felt like it was necessary to lie about them and he got busted. Once again, he did nothing wrong, lied about it for fear that he had when the NCAA sent investigators after him (because nobody but the NCAA really knows every in and out of the rule), and for that he has lost a year in which he was trying making his case to be a top 15 NFL Draft pick next April.
Bryant is appealing the decision and if the NCAA has half a brain it'll overturn it. The kid has obviously learned his lesson and there is nothing to be gained by suspending him. He's a big attraction so its a loss for Oklahoma State and the NCAA. It also would cost Bryant millions unless he has a miracle run of workouts, because his draft stock would take a huge hit not playing football for the 6 months leading up to the draft. This would leave the NCAA looking like what it really is, an uptight bully.
Bullies are only bullies until they are stood up to, challenged, and beaten. They always pick on the smaller kids because they know they can win, and they always put themselves in power positions. Since collegiate athletes are amateurs and can't unionize, they can't fight the NCAA like professional counterparts. The student-athletes simply have to deal with it.
The same unfortunately goes for us in the fans and media. First the fans side: who wants a college football playoff? You? Oh and you too? And you? Wow. That's, well, everybody. Yet for some reason known only to the NCAA and maybe God (but that's only a maybe) there isn't a playoff for college football. There is precedent. First, there are playoffs in every other level of NCAA football except for the bowl subdivision. Secondly, in the NCAA's second most popular, not to mention commercially successful sport, men's basketball, they have a little thing called "March Madness," which is the greatest playoff in the history of the world. I could continue on this tangent forever but that's not the point. The point is the NCAA is holding us, the fans, captive.
It also is holding me, the media, captive. Most college students know a few athletes, but because of my chosen future profession I've made sure to know a lot of them. One of these is MTSU Wide Receiver Garrett Andrews who is not only an acquaintance, but someone I consider a friend. We had talked about him coming on my radio show and hanging out for a significant part of the show, first with us interviewing him about MT football but then him staying around and picking the rest of the college and pro slate of games with us. When I ran this by the Athletic Communications Department, they immediately said absolutely not. Why? Because according to the NCAA, simply picking games is a form of gambling. Not picking games against the spread. Just stating who you think will win and lose a football game. So I asked if he could not pick the games and just give his thoughts. They had to call the NCAA on this one: still a no. He couldn't give his opinions on any team other than his own, even though that could probably do more harm than talking about other teams if you really think about it. I saw it as a chance for the Middle Tennessee fan base to get to know one of our student athletes in a non-interview setting while still talking about the sport he plays. Instead the NCAA sees it as something that could be used to gamble and shot me down.
So in review, the NCAA is a big bully and it's beating up everyone and taking their lunch money. It's robbing its players of many freedoms most people would never even think about having at risk such as who they associate with and who pays for lunch. They're robbing their fans of a true champion in their number one sport and the right through the media to see it's student-athletes without a uniform. Yet, through all this, the NCAA is still a multi-billion dollar corporation that will continue to thrive because no one can challenge it. Even congress has tried and that's gone no where. It's going to take the fans not showing up to games, or the best players going to NAIA schools, neither of which will or should happen, for a change to take place. In a way, it's good business. People are still paying their money, so why change? Because it's the right thing to do. But seriously, who does that nowadays anyway?
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