In my first editorial (about a hundred years ago!), I hammered the NCAA, calling them "a joke in every sense of the word". I didn't get too many complaints, so I'll assume that most people agreed with my viewpoint. Well, NCAA-Haters will just LOVE my second editorial. It discusses the NCAA "delaying" the recent right-to-work measure for student-athletes that was supposed to go into effect this sports season. With no further delay, here it is....
In the August 14th edition of the USA Today, Steve Wieberg reported that the NCAA was delaying for one year a plan to allow student-athletes to hold part-time jobs to cover expenses that scholarship money does not cover. The concern was that boosters and other outsiders would use the law to give student-athletes special benefits and financial incentives that are forbidden under NCAA Rules. The NCAA says that it needs to study this provision further so that a new and improved version could be adopted in one year.
Sorry boys, that doesn't wash with me. I understand the concern about abuses by fans and boosters, but shouldn't these concerns have been addressed when the rule was being written? Don't tell me that the NCAA wasn't aware of potential problems that could result from this rule change! That's the first thing that pops in their heads most times. Also, doesn't it seem strange that the NCAA waited until just before the new college sports season started to "delay" this rule? The rule was adopted in January, why not look at it in Feburary or March? Get the kinks worked out and allow it to go into effect. But no, the bureaucrats who run the NC$$ had to wait until August to decide that the rule was "inadequate". Does anyone else smell something fishy here?!?!
I believe that the NCAA has no real intention of allowing student-athletes to work. Kenneth Shaw, chairman of the Division I Board of Directors (remember my first editorial!), denies any such intentions. "We want to do it, but we want to do it right," Shaw claims. Wrong. You guys want to "delay" it for a year so you can cook up some poor excuse NOT to do it. Don't believe me? Some advocates of the right-to-work rule are already suspecting the same thing. Bridget Niland, head of the NCAA Student Athlete Advisory Committee, says in this article: "The NCAA recognized or voice and actually listened to it. Now, I think you're going to see a little bit of cynicism. You have a whole bunch of questions about what the future's going to be for student-athletes and our role in the NCAA. What does this mean?".
It means that we can expect the same, tired-old crap from the NC$$. They don't care about student-athletes or anyone else but themselves and their wallets. Remember my first editorial, which compared the NCAA structure to that of a corporation? Let's apply that model to this case. The rule was adopted at the NCAA Convention (Stockholders). The rule was delayed by the NCAA Divison I Board of Directors (Corporate Board of Directors). See my point? The big-shots at the top decided that they didn't want the rule, so they imposed their will on the rest of the membership and basically said "Too bad, you're not getting it!". This kind of garbage will continue unless the structure of the NCAA changes. Emphasis should be placed on the Student-Athlete, not on increasing profit margins. Until that day comes, the NCAA will continue to be "...a joke in every sense of the word!". My Two Cents.
Brian D. Helland.
Editor-In-Chief.
The Unvarnished Truth College Hockey Web Site.
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