Should the NCAA be Held to Higher Standards?
May 14th, 2009 - byYahoo sports broke yet another story this week involving potential NCAA sanctions and a high profile NCAA program. USC, already reeling from previous allegations, was hit with the allegations that their coach Tim Floyd made payments directly to Rodney Guillory. Guillory has already been accused by Yahoo of providing multiple improper gifts to star guard O.J. Mayo. The feds and the NCAA already have multiple investigations going and this will add more fuel to the USC needs to receive the dreaded lack of institutional control penalty.
Deadspin writer Tommy Craggs had a very unique take on the allegations that I wanted to share:
Yahoo has built a brand out of catching young athletes with their hand out, something that always makes for compelling reading but now seems more than a little misguided. If you find yourself writing story after story about NCAA rule after NCAA rule being broken, shouldn’t there come a point where you question the wisdom and validity of those rules in the first place?
I suppose Yahoo’s reformer spirit is commendable, but this really does get the issue exactly wrong. The “problem” isn’t everywhere. It’s in one place. The NCAA charter. Where’s that series?
I think the NCAA does a tremendous job given its resources, but Craggs has a valid point. Why don’t we hold the NCAA to the same standard we hold schools? If a school is expected to monitor its athletes to the point where no violations occur, should the NCAA be expected to monitor its own members to the same degree?
Is this realistic? What do you think?
