Student athletes are expected to handle their responsibilities with grace and class. These are young adults who are supposed to decline a free meal, a ride across town or a new pair of sneakers. It may sound easy, but most of us would quickly accept any of those conveniences just because the majority of college students can always use a freebie or two during a busy and expensive semester.
On the other hand, you have university leaders and conference commissioners trying to justify their desire for millions of dollars to pad an already-stuffed wallet because a couple of schools are “academically compatible.”
The people in charge are constantly placing themselves in firm control of everything and expect the student athletes, the most important pieces of their lucrative business, to just shut up and like it.
But on the field, it would be nice if the NCAA could at least provide college football with a set of rules that is free of asinine and archaic rules that make the game itself less interesting and, most importantly, less fun.
Take Saturday’s game between Toledo and Syracuse, for example. Trailing 27-23, the Orange scored a go-ahead touchdown with 2:07 to go in regulation to make it 29-23. The extra point team came onto the field to complete the scoring drive and put Syracuse up seven, but kicker Ross Krautman clearly missed wide left. Or did he?
The referees ruled the extra point good, but they had an opportunity to fix the mistake. The play went under review. The call should have been easy. The review itself indicated there was evidence to believe an error was made in the initial on-field ruling, just as the 2011-12 NCAA Football Rule Book states there must be for a review.
The official made the wrong call again and instead of taking the lead 30-29 with a field goal at the end of regulation, the Rockets merely tied the game to force an overtime period they would eventually lose.
Shortly after the game the Rockets were pleading for Syracuse’s victory to be vacated, and the Big East Conference admitted its officials made a mistake. Justice was not to be had in this case. Due to NCAA rules, once a referee has declared a game to have ended, the score is final.
The lack of accountability displayed in this instance is absolutely ridiculous considering how blatantly obvious and critical this play was in the game. It is impossible to know for sure if the game would have played out exactly the same apart from the PAT, but at the very least Toledo should get something more than a loss – even a tie may be more appropriate.
The NCAA is lucky this situation occurred between two essentially irrelevant teams (neither likely headed to a BCS bowl game). Can you imagine if this scenario had played out in a game where Oklahoma State and Texas A&M clash? This rule would have not been dropped from the storylines until the season was over, the victim arguing that it possibly cost them an undefeated season to the bitter end.
The next couple of rules just seem absurd to begin with. The first rule listed under “Major Rules Changes for 2011 and 2012” is that gloves may be of any color. Now I can’t decide what seems more strange: the fact that they had to change a rule about what color gloves a player can wear or that the NCAA had a rule about it in the first place.
If you aren’t going to let the players accept a lunch once in a while, you should be able to at least let them catch the above-the-field cameras attention with some flashy gloves. The kid needs to get noticed somehow so he can play on Sundays.
How about the eye shade rule that got implemented a couple seasons ago? The rule states that any shading under a player’s eyes must be solid black with no words, numbers, logos or other symbols. Good call NCAA, I know that before the rule change players ran willy nilly with inappropriate messages below their eye lids.
Actually, I remember it being quite the opposite. Tim Tebow was one of many players who constantly sported Bible verses, and Reggie Bush occasionally gave love to his hometown by featuring his area code. The most controversial message was probably former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor writing “Mike” under his right eye and “Vick” under his left in support of Vick after he was arrested on dog-fighting charges. Wishing someone well shouldn’t be illegal.
Here is a rule that could ruin an entire season, so picture this: Saturday night, Nebraska and Wisconsin are in a dog fight for supremacy in the Big Ten. The Cornhuskers are leading the Badgers 31-27 with :10 to play, but Wisconsin is driving for the go-ahead score with the ball at the Nebraska 25-yard line.
Russell Wilson drops back to pass and breaks the pocket scrambling to the right. The clock is ticking. Five seconds left. He finds wide receiver Nick Toon crossing the field with no one between him and the end zone. Three seconds left. Wilson fires a perfect pass, hitting Toon in stride. Toon is headed for the score when he raises the ball above his head in celebration before the goal line. Game over. All of Camp Randall goes insane, but wait. The referee has thrown a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct.
This year, if a player taunts or celebrates before scoring, the penalty is counted as a live ball foul. The ball is marked 15 yards from the initial spot of the celebration, and the touchdown is nullified. Cornhuskers win.
The player wasn’t even taunting. The wide receiver was simply ecstatic because he knew his team had just won the game. Instead, the NCAA has just changed the fate of a program’s entire season. All the kid was doing was playing football with the love of the game in his heart, and not a dollar sign in his mind.
Maybe it’s time the NCAA learned from the players.
