Imagine you are the new Boise on the block, you have a pretty, shiny top 5 preseason ranking.
You have the national press drooling over the talent that runs up and down your roster. You want to show the nation that you can not only hang with the big boys but win those games and get a respective chance at a national championship. Your hidden secret is that your players are knuckleheads who would be willing to throw away incredible opportunities for silly, selfish reasons that do not matter in the end.
You are practicing and getting ready for that big game and multiple players decide to violate team rules and not only break curfew but get into a fight that results in four people being sent to the hospital and your star quarterback kicking a marine in the head. Do you give up that once in a lifetime opportunity to be the national darling and a possible national championship by doing the correct thing and indefinitely suspending or kicking those players off the team? At what price do you sell your soul for athletic success? What kind of moral high ground can you ever have if you even delay for a minute doing what is right?
This is the case of LSU currently as it prepares for a title affecting opening game versus Oregon in Dallas, Texas. The details of the case broke last night (August 21) and as of 1pm on August 22nd there is no comment from the coaches about the allegations other than to say that some players are running some extra sprints for missing curfew. I want my squad to succeed as much as any fan, but the fact that these players were not immediately suspended or kicked off the team just shows the direction that ethics in college football are going and have been going for several years.
In the last 6 years we have experienced major scandals at USC, Oregon, Auburn, Miami, Ohio State, just to name a few and in many cases the coach denies knowing anything or does nothing basically waiting for the inaction of the NCAA that is all too common in big time college athletics. It is a sad indictment that a coach is so worried about winning a title that could easily be vacated a la USC that he could adjust his moral standing to let players blatantly break rules by doing such things as accepting ridiculous gifts from boosters, taking houses from agents, paying people to influence an 18 year old's college decision, etc.
This is the reason that I enjoy the non-big 6 college football landscape over the big business college football of the big 6. Power corrupts and the power of the big 6 has corrupted college football as well as the NCAA sanctioning body that it becomes a wait and see if the national title sticks or not.
While I am not saying that non big 6 college football is incorruptible and pure, it is miles ahead of the travesty that these scandals as well as the cover ups bring to the forefront.
Do the right thing Les, do what so many coaches couldn't do and make sure that theses student athletes get punished for doing wrong in the same way that you would get punished for letting corrupt ideals overtake a sport that needs some success stories after a turbulent off season.
No comments:
Post a Comment