October 14, 2006

Of feathers and more stupidity

Back in May, I commented on some stupidity from the NCAA.

The bloggers at the Post have picked up on this too.

Favorite quotes from the president of W&M:

I am compelled to say, at the outset, how powerfully ironic it is for the College of William & Mary to face sanction for athletic transgression at the hands of the NCAA. The Association has applied its mascot standards in ways so patently inconsistent and arbitrary as to demean the entire undertaking.

But even better:

Meanwhile, across the country, in the face of massive academic underperformance, embarrassing misbehaviors on and off the field, and grotesque commercialization of intercollegiate athletics, the NCAA has proven hapless, or worse. It is galling that a university with such a consistent and compelling record of doing things the right way is threatened with punishment by an organization whose house, simply put, is not in order.

For those still reading enough to care, I do wish W&M would take up the charge on this. Nichol's second quote hits the nail on the head -- the NCAA does little to actually promote student athletics, and now has the gall to tell W&M -- a school that actually graduates students shouldn't be penalized over something this stupid.

The inconsistency of the process what makes it a real sham. What was once inappropriate is now fine, but none of the criticism is actually justified -- it's some stupid hand waving with no specifics.

I wish they would focus on something, you know, important.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It would be nice if some deep-pockets alum offered to foot the bill for the entire legal process needed to fight the petty dictators at the NCAA on this issue.

At least the bigshots at the NCAA now do have something more important (to them) to worry about. The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has sent them an interesting letter asking why the NCAA should continue to be tax-exempt. I'm sure they're excreting masonry over that.

DJDave said...

The full text of Nichol's letter seems to imply that some alum actually offered to pay for it, but the College turned it down.

W&M is always "behind" on their endowment -- they're no UVa -- and I think they're looking to get that money put somewhere they can spend it.