After the story broke about Ohio State players selling their jerseys and accepting favors, many of us watched and waited to see what the all-mighty NCAA would do to punish the players and the university—at the very least we expected the six offenders to sit for the Sugar Bowl.
Well, what happened instead is yet another example of how the NCAA is just another bully masquerading as an organization of order.
Ohio State was given the option of delaying suspensions until the start of the 2011 season, and now that the representatives of the Sugar bowl have spoken, we know why—money.
Said Sugar Bowl CEO, Paul
Hoolahan,
"I made the point that anything that could be done to preserve the integrity of this year's game, we would greatly appreciate it...that appeal did not fall on deaf ears, and I'm extremely excited about it, that the Buckeyes are coming in at full strength and with no dilution."Must be nice.
While it's easy to understand Hoolahan's motives—he is a business man after all—it's less easy to explain away the obvious double-standard of the NCAA in this case.
Are they the governing body of college football or not?
A.J. Green sat four games for selling his jersey, Anthony Dasher missed four for taking a $1500 loan, and last season, Dez Bryant missed most of his final season for talking to Deion Sanders...but Ohio State gets the option of delaying punishment because some bowl official doesn't want another lackluster BCS game on his hands?
Nice job of getting tough, Mr. Emmert. Here we thought you were bringing balance to the NCAA—as it's new president—but as it turns out, you just brought a bigger checkbook.
What a joke.
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