I try not to be "that guy" who overreacts
to events in sports. I'm not willing to say that LeBron is greater than Michael
Jordan. I'm not ready to declare mixed martial arts or soccer as the next big
thing in the US. And I'm certainly not ready to put Joe Flacco as the best QB
in the NFL (and he certainly shouldn't be the highest-paid one).
I'm also not ready to say that the NCAA is dead
because of their colossal blunder in its investigation of "The
U"...as in the University of Miami...football program. But I'm awfully
close, with every article drawing me closer to such declaration.
For several years, I've argued that one of two
things can tumble the NCAA: Internal corruption, or a legal challenge
from the big-time schools. The Miami investigation gives us both.
NCAA President Mark Emmert now has on his desk an
investigation that was corrupt and possibly illegal. Now, University of Miami
president Donna Shalayla seems ready to challenge Emmert’s authority.
As a minister by trade, I often hear critics who
say the church is just full of hypocrites. It’s a valid criticism; but compared
to the NCAA, the church look like, well, choir boys.
There is no greater hypocrisy than Emmert using
terms like “student athlete” and “lack of institutional control,” when wielding
power over an organization that is more of a slave to money than a Las Vegas
casino. And that slavery is making it just as corrupt as the programs that it
“investigates.”
Miami is talking tough about challenging those
investigations, in light of the undisputed ethics violations of Emmert’s team
of attack dogs. For the record, their assessment of the Miami program is
probably right. Shalayla hasn’t been presiding over an athletic department so
much as a TKE party, going all the way back to the "kickoff" event for that party.
But when the investigation of your program involves
blatantly unethical (if not illegal) conduct by the governing body, you have
plenty of reason to bow your neck and challenge the system. That’s exactly what
Miami is set to do, and there's no sign of anyone backing down.
Big-time athletic programs already view the NCAA
much like the public views the IRS. They take money that isn’t necessarily
theirs for things that may not be that important; and they give money that “we”
earned to people who don’t really deserve it.
Pretty soon, those programs are going to decide
that they don’t need the NCAA and they can do their own thing, at least in
football and basketball. They can run their own programs and keep all the money
without anyone else's approval.
All it's going to take is one legal challenge, one
"don't mess with Texas" attitude, one president who is willing to say
that they're not going to take it anymore. The NCAA will watch all of their
influence--and, more importantly to them, their money--walk right out the door.
It may not happen soon, and it may not even happen
with Miami. But a legal challenge from Shalala and South Beach is definitely
causing the first domino to rock back and forth. If it happens to fall, then
plenty of others will follow suite.
Emmert might be wise to call it a
day and walk away from Miami, no matter how corrupt the program actually was
(perhaps "is"). Otherwise his organization may not hold up to a
challenge from a program like the 'Canes, much less a bigger one. If Miami can
make a run at them, can you imagine what Texas or Alabama or USC might do?
The NCAA would do better to walk
away with its tail between its legs. Yes, it would look like they are selling
out for money and a desire to maintain power, but that ship sailed a long time
ago. Is there any point in trying to maintain the illusion that they are
benevolent and concerned about anything other than themselves?
Might be better to just admit who
you are and keep what you already have.
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