Terrell Pryor is not my favorite college football player in the world. He further alienated me recently when he complained that his offense was suitable to his talents and if he ran the same offense as Cam Newton, he would "dominate college football." It is hard to feel sorry for a guy who had the choice to go to Michigan and run an offense more suitable to his talents that would allow him to dominate, but he chose a better program with a better chance at Championships. It is hard for me to feel sorry for a guy who has three, er, make that two now, Big Ten Championship rings. It is hard for me to feel sorry for a guy who is as arrogant and lucky as he is: if he played anywhere but Ohio State, he'd be a nobody on a team with very few wins...K, enough about Terrell Pryor being an idiot, now to the point.
A lot has been said about the NCAA, BCS games, etc. as it pertains to the handing down of punishments for the Ohio State players. Here is where I take issue with it: Reggie Bush knowingly violated the rules, in which he was thoroughly educated by USC. USC may or may not have known about his rule-breaking, and may or may not have done anything about it. USC gets the hammer dropped on them by the NCAA. They get NO bowl games for two years. They are punishing the University and the current group of players by taking away that "award" of playing in a bowl game.
Ohio State did not properly educate Terrell Pryor on what he could and could not do as an amateur. However, Pryor is (and his other Buckeye Hoodlums are) being punished for the crime, while the university gets a verbal warning. The players who actually committed the offense are allowed to play in a bowl game, and will not be suspended until the 2011 season, because bowl games are a reward and the NCAA doesn't want to take them away from these players who worked so hard on the field, while breaking rules off the field. However, at USC, that reward was taken away from every player, none of whom did anything wrong! They punished an entire university and its current players for the actions of one single, former player who knowingly violated the rules. Now they are punishing players (in a very delayed and counter-intuitive manner) for an omission of the university. I realize they are different situations, but they seem like they were handled by two entirely different governing bodies with entirely different rules of enforcement. How can the NCAA punish the wrong people in both cases, and do it in very bad timing, and feel justified in its actions?
That is not even to mention that Cam Newton does not get in any trouble for his dad trying to sell his services to the highest bidder. If I'm the dad of a popular high school player, I definitely shop his services, without his knowledge, knowing that he could not possibly get in trouble for it. Nice loophole you created for yourselves, NCAA!
In my mind, the NCAA's handling of college football continues to be a joke. I am not even sure the NCAA is running the show any more: BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock probably has to approve any and all rulings made by the NCAA, at least for rulings on schools that belong in 6 certain conferences...
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