Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Hold the Mayo

ESPN's story Sunday alleging OJ Mayo took money from an agent both before and during his college career didn't catch anyone by surprise. Now people want to know what the NCAA is going to do about it, since the Reggie Bush debacle has dragged on so long he may be on his second NFL contract before USC gets a final verdict. NCAA President Myles "I fired Bobby Knight!" Brand doesn't have a clue what to do about the Mayo situation, but just in case anyone thought he might learn something from it, this quote should convince you otherwise.

Brand would like to see the NBA require players to stay in school for "two, three or four years,"

Let's see... what we appear to have here is a situation where a player who had zero intention of going to college in the first place wound up having to put an obligatory year in as a result of a rules change. He may have engaged in behavior which violates your organization's rules and could get a prominent school put on probation. What would a good lesson to take from this be? Clearly, it's that you should have forced him to stay longer so he could do more damage and make even more of a farce out of the idea these are amateur athletes. Brilliant.

The ACC decided eight conference football games was enough for them after all. Going to nine was a bad idea for them and would have been even worse for the SEC to look at. Meanwhile, ACC bigwigs are supposedly watching to see if they should start a conference TV network like the Big Ten has and SEC likely will. Do you know how many ACC teams have won a BCS game this decade? That would be zero. Duke is reportedly ready to sell their 2010 home game with Alabama to Atlanta so they can rake in extra cash. Sure, all ACC football games being available on TV sounds like something we need really soon.

NOW David Stern notices that NBA games are loud and frustrating to go to? Can't wait to hear what he thinks about the finale of Seinfeld. When Indiana started playing race car sound effects over the game when the Pacers had the ball is when this trend should have been stopped in its tracks. Stern's right, but good luck removing the WWE element from the arena now.

So maybe you didn't have the cash handy to buy Chris Leak's BCS Championship Shoes for ten grand. Fret not, this a virtual steal of a deal.

It's remarkable to look at where the USA is with regards to racial harmony now versus forty years ago. But then you read a story like this and realize there are still some people who just don't get it. Absolutely disgraceful.

2 comments:

cramela said...

The whole Mayo thing smelled so bad from the very beginning. Who didn't see this mess coming from a mile away?(besides Tim Floyd I guess) I like the fact Billy seems to mostly recruit guys with good character.
The Obama thing just confirms there is no shortage of stupidity out there no matter what your political views are.

Jeremiah said...

Man, I was looking forward to seeing that Alabama/Duke game at the mighty Wallace-Wade. I'm convinced that's the one stadium in "major" in Division 1-A football that wasn't going to fit Saban's head / ego. Personally, I was hoping he'd get perpetually stuck in there. Also, why on Earth do they want that game in Atlanta?? I get why the Bama/Clemson game is there this year. It's about halfway between the two schools and it'll make for a fun environment and a pretty darn good game on opening day. But Alabama/Duke?? I know Tide fans will show up in bunches with those ridiculous toilet paper and laundry box signs, but why make all your fans travel to the ATL? I doubt Atlanta sports fans will be craving to see that game and I don't think the Cutcliffe/Cameron Crazies will cowboy up and make the trip. Heck, if the Duke band shows up, I'd be surprised. Why not just have the game in Birmingham? I'm sure Duke won't care.
The NBA arena intros are just obnoxious and Stern is 100% right. The Bulls of the 90s had in right. You just turn off the lights, do some lasers, put the spotlight on your championship banners, play Alan Parsons, and have a great PA guy go "ANNNNDDD NOWwwwww....." There were no fireworks, explosions, or loud rock music. The crap they do nowadays is just awful.