In the words of Derek Andersen, the atrocious QB of the Arizona Cardinals, "I'm Done...Sorry!".
What am I "done" with? That is simple, the remainder of the college football season.
Yep, that's right, I AM DONE!
After hearing about the ineligibility and the sudden reversal of that ruling in a little over 24 hours of Auburn star QB Cam Newton, I am officially out on this college season. It doesn't mean that I won't watch games, or even enjoy the great plays that occur. It does mean that I won't care. The final scores, the awards that they give out and the build up of these athletes "draft stock" will mean nothing.
This one simple situation shows everything that is wrong with college athletics. I always new that the game was about money, that was not a surprise to me. What surprises me is the control, the dictatorship, that is the BCS conferences and the NCAA.
It took the NCAA 4 years to reach a conclusion about the Reggie Bush case at USC. Both Reggie and his parents were found guilty, as a result the team was punished. The school lost scholarships, which doesn't punish the school but rather punishes the students, the very life-blood of college sports. The NCAA, rather then air on the side of caution decided to do what benefits their wallets and media attention.
This story reminds me much the O.J. Simpson murder trial. In the 90's we only knew O.J. as a great athlete. We all fell in love with him, his style, his star power. The 90's were a different time. Reality TV didn't fill television sets. Gossip blogs and massive amounts of paparazzi didn't follow stars from location to location like the 2nd coming. The lack of personal knowledge gave all of his fans the ability to project on him what the fan wanted him to be, in this case the fans wanted a hero. No one wanted him to be a murderer. It was this desire and self brainwashing that made the fans ignore the facts. It wasn't until O.J.'s most recent run-in with the law that 99% of people realized that he was in fact guilty.
The difference between O.J.'s story and Cam Newton's story is that the college football landscape is divided. Nearly 50% of fans are against the current BCS system. This means that 50% of the country have convinced themselves that Cam is guilty and that he shouldn't play. The NCAA can adjust the record books all they want, they can be as inconsistent in future rulings as they have been in this ruling with Cam and it still won't change one thing...
You can't fight culture. As much as America has changed and become corporate driven, eventually some oppressed person will use their God given rights to stand up for themselves. They will rally the troops and the oppression will eventually fall. The BCS and the NCAA have a flawed system, for some desperate programs looking to regain national prominence it is in their benefit to schedule a ranked non BCS school. It is this simple inconsistency that will eventually create "super-conferences" and the ultimate fall of the NCAA.
The NCAA can do everything they can to keep TCU out of a BCS title game, but they still can't change the outcome of the game. They could change the rules, literally tipping the scales to favor one team drastically over another. This doesn't change the fact that the "suits" don't actually play the games. Their will always be a chance for a great trick play to bring down a perennial powerhouse in OT. I just hope that I am alive to watch the day it happens in a BCS title game and to see in the next days paper- "SEC Athletic Directors in favor of Playoff".
