For what it's worth (which isn't much) from the link early in this thread: [NCAA policy allows suspending withholding penalties for a championship or bowl game if it was reasonable at the time the student-athletes were not aware they were committing violations, along with considering the specific circumstances of each situation. In addition, there must not be any competitive advantage related to the violations, and the student-athletes must have eligibility remaining. The policy for suspending withholding conditions for bowl games or NCAA championship competition recognizes the unique opportunity these events provide at the end of a season, and they are evaluated differently from a withholding perspective. In this instance, the facts are consistent with the established policy, Lennon said. Gene Smith, associate vice president and director of athletics at Ohio State, said the university will "further enhance" its rules education in the future based on this situation. "We were not as explicit with our student-athlete education as we should have been in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic years regarding the sale of apparel, awards and gifts issued by the athletics department," Smith said. "We began to significantly improve our education in November of 2009 to address these issues. After going through this experience, we will further enhance our education for all our student-athletes as we move forward." The standard withholding condition in cases like these involving the five student-athletes is four games, or 30 percent of a season. A fifth game was added to the penalty because these student-athletes did not immediately disclose the violations when presented with the appropriate rules education, Lennon said. "Once a student-athlete understands a violation has occurred, they must immediately come forward to report it," he said. "That did not happen, so the additional one-game penalty was imposed." The university declared the student-athletes ineligible on Monday (Dec. 20) and requested reinstatement from the NCAA.] So here's another case where the school declares a violation and gets a positive response back from the NCAA in a day or two. Odd indeed.
My question in all of this is... Who is going to step up and start police-ing the NCAA? 1. A. J. Green The NCAA Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement upheld the earlier four-game suspension of UGA wide receiver A.J. Green. Green sold his 2009 Independence Bowl jersey for $1,000. These suspensions were immediate BTW. 2. Steven Ridley This was a one-time, first time offense by a classy kid. Not a long-term operation like this OSU gang. Again suspension was immediate. I am sure we can all name several more instances of hypocrisy and favoritism in game time suspensions over the years. Hopefully people everywhere are getting tired of all this bs and hold the NCAA responsible.
So the Big Ten commissioner was outraged, indignant with the manner the NCAA handled their business in the Newton case, essentially the NCAA claiming little SCam was ignorant of his daddy's actions. Now because Ohio State did a lousy job explaining the rules, these players were also ignorant of the Bylaws, so in the spirit of SEC fairness, let them play. What ye say Mr. Big Ten Commissioner? Take a stand for college football against the lastest ruling as well and this time everyone will listen. USC coming to the NCAA appeals process with these new found rulings on "ignorance of the law" is indeed a virtue, can't get there fast enough.
Just what rational does the NCAA use ? Hmm, let's see.AU/Scam, in the MNC and Heisman hunt if they make it ratings and financial jackpot. Well we'll just let this one slide.tOSU/Pryor and gang, Pryor National know player, ratings bonanza for the Sugar Bowl, hmm we'll just let them pay for it next season.LSU/Steven Ridley, well he's pretty important to them, but outside the SEC nobody knows who he is, we'll rule him ineligible for the bowl, and take our time. Ridiculous
Delany wasn't the only commish to question why the "agent law" wasn't applied and it had little to do with it happening in another conference. Plus, his comments were related to the father/agent involvement while at Miss State, not how Auburn got "relief" in one day. The same rule was applied at tOSU that made A.J. Green have to sit out at Georgia. I don't like it either, btw, but there are some prior ncaa rulings that dictated how the players suspensions were handled in this case. What has happened in the Cam Newton ordeal is apples and oranges, as is a player being suspended for academic issues, i.e., Ridley or Adam Robinson at Iowa. All that said, I would have loved to see tOSU take a hit, if not to just make up for the Maurice Clarett (et al) affair where players were driving rental cars for free, getting paid to not work at a landscaping company, etc. and nothing happens... yet Oklahoma does basically the same thing and all hell breaks loose. Your right about one thing... the NCAA has the respect of no one right now.
Like A.J. Green, these players understood they were receiving value/services from the items they were selling. Nobody forces them to play CFB. When you agree to play in the NCAA, you're volunteering to give up some of the freedoms that don't apply in normal life, like the freedom to sell your own stuff. They can sell it later, after their eligibility has expired. No big deal
Well I'm not ridiculing them as much as just hoping these commissioners keep the pressure on the NCAA. That to me is the bigger issue. But now he has the moral high ground. Let indignation reign. Jim Delany chastised the NCAA for not sending a clear message in the Newton case. And does he think this one is clear? "The Student athletics did not receive adequate rules education during the time period the violations occurred." Last time I heard that, Bama got hit with a lack of institutional control. Ignorance of the law is now a pretty good defense, that is what these two cases have in common. If Delany felt compelled to utter a lack of clarity on Newton, he should be at least as bewildered on the lack of clarity and consistency on Pryor. These Juniors, go pro the Ohio St. program may not take that much of a hit. With AJ Green and so many more who did exactly the same thing, the NCAA left no doubt and they suffered immediately. As Delany so eloquently stated, I just want clarity.
On the news yesterday, the Athletic Director for OSU said the players did these improper things to "help their families". In my local paper in Toledo, OH, it was reported that several of OSU's football players traded signed memorabilia for tattoos and perhaps received cash in return from the owner of a Columbus tattoo parlor. How does that "help their families" in "one of the toughest economic environments in our history (quote from the OSU A.D.)" by getting tattoos? They were thinking about how cool they'd look. If these guys had thought about what they were doing, they would've stayed in their dorms. Helping their families? Give me a break. They were helping THEMSELVES!
last night during the poinsettia bowl (sdsu and navy) the announcers really hammered the ncaa for this. they were saying the same thing. if it is a violation then the suspensions should start immediately. i think a lot of people are questioning this and between it and the scam deal the ncaa is losing any credibility they had faster than cecil newton can say "how much?"
