Why I Don't Care About The Buckeyes and The NCAA Anymore

(This post was originally written two weeks ago, and was supposed to be released prior to Ohio State's first game of the season. When it wasn't completed in time, I chose not to post it. However, in the wake of Sports Illustrated's profile of Oklahoma State's program and Yahoo! Sports' recent report on SEC programs, it only added fuel to the flame. Dan Wetzel is referenced in the post, and his column on the subject hit the nail on the head generally better than what I wrote below).

I was born in Cleveland. When it came to college football, if you wanted to cheer for the sport, you only had one option: the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Cleveland State Vikings had no football team, and unless you had a family connection to another Ohio college, there was absolutely no reason for your football allegiance to not bleed scarlet and grey. I remember as a kid that I would follow the same format. I'd tune in to watch the Ohio State game and see Eddie George scamper for touchdowns on ABC followed by a local high school quiz show called Academic Challenge and the state lottery game show, Cash Explosion. My fall Saturdays were highly entertaining even if Ohio State wasn't the best team in the country.

At that time, fans were fully aware of the NCAA's rules, but they often disregarded it. They turned a blind eye to it mostly because there was no reason to pay attention to it. The only scandal that I can recall from that era was Gene Stallings's Alabama team, and that did not seem to get the type of national media attention that it would today. As fans, we accepted that players got full scholarships, and that a free education was a proper reward for whatever they did on the field.

With the advent of the Bowl Championship Series, things started to change. In Death to the BCS, written by Dan Wetzel (in my opinion, the best current sports columnist), Josh Peter, and Jeff Passan, the authors detail the level of greed and lack of logic behind the system that determines the national champion in college football. The bowl system relies on its supposed history and prestige to be appealing to schools and their fans, but the reality is that it only lines the pockets of conference commissioners and bowl leadership. Over the years of the BCS, it's become clear: the people at the top will not allow anything to stop them from making as much money as possible.

When it comes to being an Ohio State fan, everything turned with the notorious and annoyingly named “Tattoo-gate.” It was one thing to be exposed by reports, but now the NCAA had no choice but to investigate and make an example of the Buckeyes based off their rules for student athletes. The ordeal cost coach Jim Tressel his job, even though Tressel probably did the same actions (or lack thereof) that most NCAA head coaches would have done in the situation he was placed in. With the opportunity to provide appropriate punishment based off their rules, the NCAA instead gave the players involved in “Tattoo-gate” an out and allowed them to play in the Sugar Bowl that year. For any Buckeyes fan with decency towards rules and logic, that game left a sour taste in one's mouth. The NCAA wasn't even truly standing behind the rules that they established. They were looking at what was best for their product. They were looking at the money, and as usual, the Louisiana Superdome was packed with fans from both Ohio State and Arkansas.

College football got even more complicated and disturbing with the Jerry Sandusky revelations at Penn State. The subsequent investigation ultimately brought down the reputation of head coach Joe Paterno. With that, it also allowed us to examine how we look at college football as fans and what it means to us. We often put college football on a pedestal of history and appreciation. We prop up coaches like Paul “Bear” Bryant, Woody Hayes, and Paterno, even though all had their own faults and legacies affected. Yet, they supposedly created great players and greater men and were an ideal for all people in sports to attempt to reach.

The best coaches in the game are not far off from their predecessors. Under the guise that they are positive role models, they still are fearless in the recruiting process and the money generation that is involved in college sports. Nick Saban acknowledged that he would rather be out recruiting than coaching in the national championship game. Urban Meyer, who has a cloud of criticism regarding his past recruiting actions, allegedly reported on his former school, Florida, for an infraction. The best coaches don't seem like good guys. But, winning still cements one's legacy in college football over the success of any player as an individual, a human being, or a scholar. The best coaches know how to coach football, but they also know how to work in a system that's more about big business than it is about what college is actually supposed to be about. 

My reaction to the NCAA is not far off from Urban Meyer's face here.

The Johnny Manziel case highlighted just how far things have gone. The NCAA punished Manziel for a half for allegedly selling his signatures for money, a clear NCAA violation. Unless the evidence was right in their face, the NCAA would not have done anything anyway. Manziel is money. He needs to be on the football field. The fact that the NCAA punished him for a half (an unheard of punishment prior to this announcement) furthers just how much the organization insults its fans. They know they have the swagger to enforce their rules in any way that they see fit and that their fans will seemingly accept it.

The hypocrisy towards their own rules has reached such a level that it has ultimately tarnished how I interact with collegiate sports, particularly football. It would be one thing if the NCAA did not allow players to earn any money beyond their scholarship, did thorough investigations of such possibilities, and then enforced those rules properly. Instead, they need the media, whistleblowers, and other such sources to put these issues in front of their faces. Even then, they only punish based off what is best for their product and what will produce them the most money. It's frustrating and insulting to its fan base. By going to games or purchasing collegiate apparel, it feels as if one is lining the pockets of people on Wall Street in 2013 who were directly responsible for causing the financial crisis in 2008.

When I bring up my issues with college sports with friends, they often point to professional sports and their recent issues that have tainted their games from the Alex Rodriguez/Ryan Braun PED scandal in baseball to the Aaron Hernandez trial in football. With professional sports, there comes a certain level of greed, crime, and immoral behavior that come to be accepted by its fans. The main difference is the word, “professional.” These individuals are being paid hefty amounts to do these sports as a job. They get a piece of the pie when it comes to the use of their likeness, jersey sales, and the monetary success that can be gained from their name. Their negative actions receive punishment from their organizations and draw attention from the public that will forever shape their legacy, but it doesn't have an effect on how much they have already generated in earnings from being who they are as professional athletes.

The current Ed O'Bannon case has the potential to open up many doors for student athletes. But, it also will generate far more issues as well. People will debate over how athletes will get paid, if the lower budget sports programs will get sacrificed, and so many other factors if O'Bannon and the rest of the plaintiffs in the case are victorious. I have every belief that they will be victorious, but I also have every belief that the NCAA will find ways for new rules to never truly be enacted properly and for its hypocrisy to continue.

With conference realignment, lack of proper enforcement of its own rules, and an overall approach that shows that money matters over an appreciation for the game, it's hard to be a fan of the NCAA. Personally, I've had enough. As good as the Ohio State Buckeyes will be this year, I won't really be keeping on top of what they are doing. I'll go out to watch games if it's an event that my friends would like to do. I'll still support them from afar since they are still a part of my sports make-up. But, it's hard to really care about wins or losses when you know that the only people that keep winning are the millionaires in suits at conference offices just trying to squeeze out more and more money at the sacrifice of logic and fair play for their student athletes and fans.