NCAA investigating Cam Newton

Exactly. I don't care who you are, students at an institution have privacy and it's a very serious offense to disclose a kid's academic records without his/her permission. It's not something that should happen willy-nilly.

 

I don't know. It's a complicated issue.

But I could do without this holier-than-thou bullshit from ESPN, the NCAA, the SEC, the Heisman Trophy people, and everybody else who makes money off of these guys. Get over yourselves, already. You created this monster. Don't act like you didn't by raising your eyebrows, throwing your hands up in the air and wondering how the hell Auburn could have (allegedly) offered Cam Newton $200K, and how the hell Cam Newton could have (allegedly) taken it.

 

yeah this falls into the realm of somebody going to jail.

 

"Cam's an AUBURN MAN, by golly, and that's good enough for us."

He's been great, FOR US.

That was TWO YEARS AGO.


In other words, Jay, skate backwards, slowly, facing the 3-on-1, and pray.

Gag.

 

yeah you have a point and it is hypocrtical but it just doesn't work that way. they can say they are going to school for football but they can't declare football as a major. yeah i guess sports and rec or whatever is the same, but no school has a major called football. yeah they can go to school for free and if they can end up with a little spending money when they have full scholarships. but no they can't receive 200k payments.

 

And FWIW, I'm not condoning academic cheating. But Florida should have dealt with that in-house. Leaking someone's academic records to the media is a major issue, and if I were Newton, I'd be absolutely pissed about that. Investigating my legal options pissed.

 

It's not about the money. It's about breaking the rules. We could debate whether or not the SEC and ESPN should make money off of amatuer players all day. That is not the issue.

This issue is, there are allegations of rules being broken. They should be investigated. And if it is found that he did break rules, he should be ineligble, and they should forfeit all games this year. Now, if nothing is found, then we should just continue on.

However, the idea that allegedly taking money is okay because the NCAA, SEC, and ESPN make a ton if it is moot. Rules are rules. Even the dumb ones.

 

How would you know if someone is being completely honest with you?

 

I'm not saying it's right. I'm saying anyone who's acting shocked is either a) delusional, b) an idiot, or c) both. And that I don't really care *what* he took.

The NCAA, and college athletics in general, needs some serious reform. And we can paint it however we want, but the fact is that kids like Cam Newton, Reggie Bush, etc. -- the most talented kids -- are in school to play football. They are there because there is no other path to take to professional football. That *is* their college education. Treating them otherwise is an insult to them, an insult to universities, and an insult to the other students.

 

I read that and nowhere in it does he come out and say that it was all a lie.

 

i don't know anyone who is shocked. maybe it's a surprise because he was caught and the evidence seems to be enough. and i pretty much agree with but there's a problem with that. when a kid doesn't make it and can't get a job then you will hear some clowns saying how the school just used them. if you want to say they are there only for football that's fine but don't turn around and say well the university just used them for sports and now they're not prepared for another job.

 

This.

In 1990 I was a young naive lawyer just out of law school and I was discussing on a business trip with a partner this very issue (ironically we were on a job in Birmingham, Ala.) and I said, college sports is a business, the kids are making huge $$ for the universities, they should get a cut of the pie. His response, was "why does college sports have to be a big business?" It seemed so obvious then, sports is huge, we're never going to roll it back. After a while, I realized that I agreed with him, roll back the sports to where it is supposed to be, actual student-athletes. Let the Cam Newtons play minor league football somewhere else.

Admittedly, I did not go to a big D-1 school (but we did produce Ken O'Brien). Big time athletics is not necessary for a university. Why the charade? Its ridiculous. UCLA basketball players got cash. Kentucky hoopsters (hello Chris Mills). Oklahoma football players (Switzer era.) USC football (Bush.)
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find one college president that says i'll scale it back and turn out D1 (FBS or whatever the f it is) team into a non-scholarship Patriot League team and i'll find you someone who'd be gone before Wade Phillips.

Big time athletics is not necessary for a university???

seriously??? so USC can go D2 and tell everyone they're the academic equivalent of Stanford? do you know how much money from just TV contracts and alumni they get for football.

edit: messed up the quote function there