NCAA Punishes Ohio State players. Yeah, 10 months from now.

I don’t even know where to begin, other than stating the obvious. The NCAA is a piece of work. There are a million examples, but let’s try and just stick with the mosrecent. Five Ohio State football players were found to have sold various items that they earned and/or were given. This is a clear violation of NCAA rules and the players were punished with a five game suspension. Quite a substantial penalty considering that a regular season consists of 12 games.

Ah, did you catch the fact that I mentioned the regular season? Yeah, that would be because the five Buckeyes will be able to play in the January 4th Sugar Bowl game against Arkansas next month. Yup, the suspension starts next season. As in September of 2011.

Why you ask?  As the famous saying goes, “follow the money”. Tickets are bought, flights are booked, hotels are reserved. How happy do you think those fans would be to find out that the star QB and four other important players would be sitting the game out? And how do you think the conversation would go with Allstate? Yeah, I’m sure the corporate sponsor would be thrilled.

Once again we’re slapped in the face with the cold reality of what major college sports is all about. Money. It’s also interesting to see who gets into this kind of trouble. The guy third on the depth chart at linebacker? I haven’t heard those allegations. I have heard about the Buckeye five. I have heard about Cam Newton. I have heard about Dez Bryant last year. I have heard about Reggie Bush. I have heard about OJ Mayo. It strikes me that there is a common theme here.

It seems to be better players. Why? They have a sense of entitlement. They’ve been pampered and treated as special since they began playing sports. Are they any worse off than anyone else on the team? Don’t have money to go out? Welcome to the world of 95% of college students. Why don’t we hear about backups selling the same items that the star sells? The star thinks he deserves more. He’s special.

I don’t want to get into a discussion of whether or not these kids should be paid. I do think they should but the reality is that they can’t right now. Just because the rule is bad doesn’t mean it can be ignored. If you don’t like it, work to get it changed. But it still needs to be followed. It’s just hard to take these things seriously when the organization that runs things is so hypocritical and messed up. How is it okay for the players to have done something so bad that they are suspended for almost half a season but it’s okay for that suspension to wait? Obviously it’s not.

UConn's Auriemma off base about his team's 89 straight wins.

Last night the UConn women’s basketball team crushed Florida State for their 89^th consecutive win. That’s one more than the previous best streak authored by the UCLA men’s team in the early 70’s. To start this discussion I want to go back to Sunday when it appears that the right side of the bed was blocked and UConn coach Geno Auriemma was forced to get out of bed on the other side. The wrong one.

 Geno was pretty cranky and played the gender card. Saying his team’s accomplishment wasn’t being taken nearly as seriously as it would have been if pulled off  by men.  Am I as interested as I would be if the UConn men won 89 in a row? No I am not. Do I think it would have been more impressive if the UConn men won 89 in a row? Yes, I would.

Do I have to apologize for being sexist? Ok, ok, enough with the questions. I am not going to apologize and in no way am I a sexist. There are two issues here. Interest from fans and perception of the magnitude of the feat. Comparing the women winning 89 in a row to men doing it.

It’s not sexist to realize that women’s sports just don’t have the same appeal as men’s. I’m not interested in Nascar either. It has nothing to do with gender. I like the athleticism and skill of the mens’ game. I just don’t see the same when watching women. That’s not to say that they aren’t great players. And yes, the UConn women could beat a lot of men’s teams. Many pick up teams at the Y. Just not any college teams. It’s foolish to ignore the difference in size, strength and speed between men and women.  There is no way that the UConn women could beat any good high school boys team. The starting frontcourt at my kids high school is 6-10, 6-8, and 6-6. Dajuan Coleman mans the middle at 290 pounds and is one of the top five players nationally in the junior class. How would UConn handle him?

Geno has done an unbelievable Hall of Fame job. Maybe too good. It’s hard to consider the UConn streak as impressive as UCLA’s because of the comparative lack of competition for UConn. Only two of the 89 wins were by single digits. 53 of the wins were by more than 30 points. 89 straight wins is certainly impressive, but it does lose something when there isn’t much of a chance of an upset.  Geno and UConn certainly deserve all the credit in the world for building a program that is so dominant, but there is no doubt in my mind that it lessens the magnitude of the streak.

Should Newton have been allowed to win Heisman? Should his dad have been there?

To no one’s surprise, Cam Newton is the 76^th winner of the Heisman Trophy. No reason to have a discussion about whether or not he deserved to win. Since I’m just a hack sitting in my living room, I don’t have access to inside information. I believe that part of the criteria for voting for the Heisman involves character and integrity. I’m not sure of that. Even so, if voters want to award the trophy to Newton that’s fine.

Let’s address the huge elephant in the room. Should Newton have been declared ineligible? This bizarre story took yet another twist about a week and a half ago when Auburn declared Newton ineligible and then appealed to the NCAA to get a ruling on his eligibility. While it appears that there is no debate about the fact that Cecil Newton did ask Mississippi State for money to sign his son, apparently the NCAA declared Cam Newton eligible since there was no evidence that he knew what his dad had done.

Wow. Let’s start with whether or not we think Cam knew that his dad was pimping him out. This isn’t  a court of law, so don’t worry about innocent until proven guilty. This is the court of public opinion. Ours. While it seems unlikely that a son wouldn’t know that his dad was asking schools for money, I do think it’s possible. However, I find it hard to believe that the NCAA says that the player’s eligibility relies on whether or not he knew what a family member or street agent was doing. They nail someone for giving a kid $20 for a hamburger but it’s okay for a dad to ask for $200K for his son’s signature?

How are we really to know if the kid knew? How is the NCAA really to know? It’s crazy. Not to mention that a Mississippi State assistant coach says that Newton called to apologize for backing out of his verbal commitment to MSU and said that his dad chose Auburn cause the money was too good.

Too much smoke for there not to be fire.  And a bad precedent for the NCAA to set. All that said, as a dad I found it sad that Cecil Newton was not at the Heisman Award ceremony. I hated missing any of my kids’ games, I can’t imagine missing that. Even with everything,  he should have been there to celebrate with Cam.

Never Mind Cam Newton Winning Tomorrow Night. The Heisman has already been awarded.

There’s so much to write about right now. The Albert Haynesworth suspension, the first time evidence that Peyton Manning is human, the Jets failing to walk after so much talk, and of course the Cam Newton controversy.

I don’t want to write about any of that. Nothing negative right now. I need to talk about something positive. Yesterday the William V. Campbell Trophy was awarded. Never heard of it? Me either. And that’s a shame. It’s the academic Heisman.

The winner? DE Sam Acho from Texas. Never mind his on field accomplishments. Sam is a Community Health major with a 3.55 GPA. He has made numerous medical mission trips to Nigeria.

I’m tired of hearing all the negatives in sports all the time. No more Heisman candidates being pimped out. No more Heisman winners thinking his parents living rent free in a great house is ok. No more running backs driving a new car that he claims belongs to his girlfriend. I’m tired of it all. Here’s where you assume I will tell you that while those players I just mentioned will end up in the NFL, the Campbell Trophy finalists will end up benefitting society. While for the most part that is true, guess what? It is possible to do both. Yup, Just ask the 1997 winner. Tennessee’s Peyton Manning. Or the 1999 recipient. Marshall’s Chad Pennington. Or last year’s winner. Florida’s Tim Tebow.

It’s clearly possible for great athletes to be great students and humanitarians at the same time. Shouldn’t we set that as a standard? Let’s let athletes know they are so much more.

It’s important the rest of the field get notice too. I feel like such a slacker:

*OT Anthony Castonza-Boston College: Biochemistry with a 3.45 GPA. Visits children at the Franciscan Hospital for Children and Camp Harbor View in Boston.

*QB Ben Chappell-Indiana: Accounting with a 3.70 GPA. 2010 AFCA Good Works Team. Organized team visits to Riley’s Children’s Hospital and the Boys and Girls Club.

*LB Alex Gross-Columbia: Sociology with a 3.58 GPA. Volunteered at the St. Francis Youth Center, collects for Toys for Tots, and delivers meals to the Padre Pio Homeless Shelter.

*FB-LB Owen Marecic-Stanford: Human Biology with a 3.47 GPA. Donates hair to Locks of Love to benefit cancer patients. Did a cardiothoracic surgery laboratory internship.

*QB Greg McElroy-Alabama: Business Marketing with a 3.83 GPA. Volunteers with Read Across America, Habitat for Humanity, the West Alabama Food Bank, and Hospice of West Alabama.

*LB Mike Mohamed-California: Business with a 3.43 GPA. A Sage Mentor for children in Berkeley and Oakland. Serves meals at a drug rehab center.

*LB Travis Nissley-Bucknell: Mechanical Engineering with a 3.96 GPA. Toys for Tots volunteer and youth football coach.

*RB Isaac Odim-Minnesota-Duluth: Mechanical Engineering with a 3.85 GPA. Vice President of the Tau Delta chapter of the Mortar Board National Honor Society. Corresponding secretary of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society.

*QB Christian Ponder-Florida State: Finance with a 3.73 GPA. One of the ACC’s Top Six for Service Award winners. Volunteers with the United Way, American Cancer Society, Relay for Life, and the Children’s Miracle Network.

*OT Derek Sherrod-Mississippi State: Business with a 3.54 GPA. 4 year member of the student-athlete community service organization. Participated in the Sudduth Elementary School’s Kid’s Fair.

*OT Nate Solder-Colorado: Biology with a 3.51 GPA. Participated in the Read with the Buffs elementary school program. Helped rebuild homes in Italy. Spent time with children in a Guatemalan orphanage.

*OG Chris Stewart-Notre Dame: History with a 3.54 GPA. Currently in Law School. Helped with relief efforts in Haiti. Volunteers at the South Bend Youth Center. Visits local children’s hospitals.

*QB Scott Tolzien-Wisconsin: Consumer Affairs with a 3.50 GPA. 2010 AFCA Good Works Team. Visits elementary schools and has befriended a young cancer patient.

*RB Ben Wartman-St. Thomas(Minn): Finance with a 3.89 GPA. Coordinated the UST Football for Haiti initiative that raised $1500 in four days.

*OG Stefan Wisniewski-Penn State: Secondary Education with a 3.91 GPA. 2010 AFCA Good Works Team. Made two mission trips to the Dominican Republic.