I will make this quick...
Someone is not paying attention.
Here is the set-up...
Surely by now you've heard about what happened to Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant, the talented wide receiver who was suspended for the rest of this season for lying to the NCAA about visiting with former NFL star Deion Sanders.
In a rare NCAA move, college's governing body actually handed out a swift, harsh punishment. But in an all-too-common NCAA move, they overreacted and got it wrong.
You can see where this is going from a mile away...
Here is the hook...
Consequences and justice are two different things. Unless there's a smoking gun we don't know about, the NCAA's decision to suspend Bryant didn't make a lick of sense. The appropriate punishment for Bryant would have been a multiple-game suspension. Put that in perspective by looking atwith some recent infractions committed by college athletes. Oregon suspended LeGarrette Blount, presumably for the season, for punching another player in the face and going after belligerent fans in the crowd. The NCAA ruled Oklahoma players Rhett Bomar and J.D Quinn ineligible for a year after they knowingly took money for summer work they didn't do.
Was Bryant's lie more serious than any of those offenses? Was anyone endangered or given a competitive advantage?
[...]
It's been theorized that the NCAA made an example out of Bryant to prevent other athletes from lying to NCAA investigators, but the Bryant decision seems more about ego than deterrence.
For most college football players missing even one game is excruciating, so if Bryant were told to sit out four to six games, that would have been enough of a warning shot to other college players.
Well, if we are a nation of laws, if you lie and get caught you should pay the consequences...Right?
Here is the Sting!
But don't think the NCAA is immune to the criticism it has received for how it handles major violations committed by major programs. At this rate, the NCAA won't punish USC for the Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo scandals until both athletes are eligible for AARP -- assuming, of course, USC is ever punished at all. Despite the fact that there's a paper trail from here to Nova Scotia that suggests USC was in the wrong, the NCAA is "still investigating."
It's decisions like the one in the Bryant case that not only make college sports a complete turnoff, but also make anyone unable to trust that the NCAA is operating in the best interest of its athletes. Suspending Bryant doesn't do anything but give college football fans one less Heisman Trophy candidate to watch. It's not like his powwow with Sanders gave the Cowboys any advantage. Bryant didn't gain anything financially, so how exactly was justice served?
I will make it easy for her...
We are not talking about the word of a couple of convicted felons like we have witnessed in the Bush & Mayo cases.
Bryant lied to the NCAA...he got caught and the NCAA acted swiftly.
I don't think it is right but he made his own bed.
I have issues with the NCAA in regards to Bush and Mayo as well. It has taken way too long for them to even send over a notice of infractions. Clearly, with the alleged "paper trail" that we have been subjected to, the NCAA could have said something...anything! Yet they haven't.
I do not know why.
The problem I have here is that this "journalist" attempts lump various infractions/punishments into the same bucket.
We all know that it is never the original crime but the cover up that nails you. That is what happened to Bryant. Right or Wrong, Good or Bad that is how it is.
The Bush and Mayo messes show that the NCAA is taking their time. Regardless of where you think this nation is headed we still do not always take the word of a convicted felon without corroboration because of the values this country was founded on.
You may think it is hokey until it happens to you.
I feel bad for Bryant but he made it easy for the NCAA even if it was just a kid who panicked.
How this has anything to do with Bush or Mayo other than the fact that the NCAA is involved is beyond me...