College Football: Forget Integrity, We Just Want The Money

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.

It's Official: The Dallas Cowboys Are The Worst Team In The NFC

Before anyone thinks to step in and correct the title of this post, please understand that it was written with full knowledge that the Carolina Panthers are equally as awful. That said, the Panthers have an excuse for their suckage. The Cowboys do not—they are just a bad football team playing bad football—period.


If you're a Cowboys fan, it has to be painful to watch your team sputter and freefall through a season that was supposed to be so full of championship promise.

Your quarterback was supposed to be better than ever, you thought you had talent galore in the running game, and, for once, there was plenty of promise at wide receiver with an emerging Miles Austin and a talented Dez Bryant.

Well, somewhere along the way, that promise went to hell as the team has under-performed and played like a bunch of guys with no idea what the heck a football field, a football, or a touchdown looks like. Their offense, with or without Romo, is deplorable.

Their defense is a joke—seemingly falling apart after week three and, honestly, showing little sign of returning the remainder of the season.


So, the questions that people need to start asking are 1) when will Wade Phillips be fired?

Obviously, the guy has reached his ceiling for what he can do in Dallas. He has never been a next-level kind of coach and it's mind-boggling that his mediocrity has kept him employed this long.  Question 2)
when will Jerry Jones hire a real GM?

Let's be honest, it was Jones' decision to bring the oft-injured Felix Jones and the ineffective Marion Barber to the Cowboys in the first place. Not to mention, Roy Williams...why?

Jones mojo might have been good four seasons ago, but it's time he relinquish his draft rights to someone more qualified to handle their importance—especially since it looks like Dallas could be in the running for the No. 1 overall pick this spring.

More seriously, though, you have to wonder how Jones will pay for that billion dollar stadium in Dallas now that his team has no value to the average fan. Who wants to spend their hard-earned money to see a bunch of overpaid athletes quit on a weekly basis—pass on that one.

You want a true testament to how bad this team is...at the time of this posting, they have exactly 87 yards of offense...through three quarters!


Pathetic. 


America's Team?...not right now they aren't.

Dez Bryant to Roy Williams: "You Should Be Carrying MY Pads"

Don't be confused by the hype-machine about Dez Bryant, he may have been "electrifying" in his first practice, but color me unimpressed until he actually plays a real football game.

I watched him play college football for nearly three seasons and while he has the frame to be a magnificent pro, he was inconsistent in the college ranks. He manhandled the weaker competition he came up against in the Big 12, but often struggled against the better ones. He's good but he's not nearly the god the media is touting him to be—yet.

So forgive me if I'm a tad skeptical about how well Bryant did in practice—we are talking about practice right? Not a game, not a game...PRACTICE!

However, the comical part wasn't the media jockeying of Bryant, but rather his one act of defiance in refusing to accept the hazing offered him by Roy Williams.

Apparently, Williams asked Bryant to carry his pads after their practice session on Sunday evening and Bryant refused.

After many of us stopped laughing, it came down to the business of asking one of two questions, either "who does Dez Bryant think he is," or "who does Roy Williams think HE is?"...either way, tongues were wagging.

Dez Bryant's reasoning, "I'm not doing it, I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads... I'm saying that out of no disrespect to (anyone)."

Fair enough, right? I mean, after all, Bryant is getting paid $11.8 million to catch the ball for Dallas, something that Roy Williams has done a poor job of over the last several seasons. Bryant probably doesn't feel Williams is worthy of asking him for such a thing—what has he done to be afforded that level of respect?

And, honestly, if this were Jason Witten, how likely is it that he would have denied that request?  Just saying. Roy Williams can be as diplomatic as he wants about the fact that the Cowboys found it necessary to draft a receiver in the first round but, the fact remains, his clock is ticking.

My bet is that this will be Williams' last season in Dallas (especially if Bryant performs as expected...or even close). Williams' knows it. Bryant knows it. So, again, why should Bryant feel the need to cow-tow to the man who may soon be sitting on the bench, watching him snag balls from Tony Romo?

I understand that, in the end, it's the principle of the thing, and I am sure that after this little brouhaha is over, Bryant will be pulled to the side and told as much but, seriously, carry Roy Williams' pads?...Not even I can blame him for denying that request.

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