I know I am now seen as the resident psycho-killer/non-stop fit-throwing, hell-raising, NCAA hating jerk here at ASOB, so I guess I will continue to perpetuate the title with another blog of non-epic proportions.

 

IT IS TIME FOR THE NCAA TO GET IT"S ACT TOGETHER

In a story on ESPN by Jemele Hill, (one of my new favorite writers) we get to see the newest example of NCAA hypocrisy by way of the area of baseball. New baseball phenom Bryce Harper, has decided to get his GED 2 years before his scheduled graduation from high school, enroll at a Nevada junior college, and prepare himself for the 2010 MLB draft. The reason this is significant as Jemele notes, is because there is no money in it for the NCAA.

By no money, I mean that compared to a college football player or a college basketball player, Harper does not represent a big time financial gain for the NCAA, so they have remained suspiciously quiet about something that would cause a furor in the hoops world. Inside the article, which is littered with information concerning the position of "adviser" that Scott Boras, Sonny Vaccaro and others hold for college baseball players. Somehow it is OK for these guys to do this for baseball players, but for basketball players and football players it would be seen as something nigh on to the Black Sox scandal. This kind of NCAA picking and choosing who to comment on and who to leave alone smacks of something less than honorable on their part. Since baseball players sign with smaller bonuses and less up front money, (which I assume is due to their inferior union, beware Donald Fehr) the NCAA looks the other way when they feel like it is in their best (and by best I mean their bank account's best) interests to do so.

 Why is this allowed? Why does the NCAA continue to operate like Caesar in Rome of old? Why do we continue to hear of inconsistencies with handling of issues, and professional sports unions that negotiate the beginnings of these young men's careers like they are their parents?

It's not about the money...............