The Beast : "Everyone is doing it" is not an excuse

I know I should be writing a preview of the Gainesville Regional, but I spent a lot of time covering this weekend’s baseball action on last night’s edition of allCanes Radio. For those who missed, check out the show and the breakdown of Friday’s match up between Miami and Jacksonville.

In the meantime, I wanted to discuss this Ohio State situation as it’s the biggest story in college football. There are a handful of signature programs in Division-I athletics. On the football side it’s Texas, Alabama, Southern Cal, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Michigan and Ohio State.

Florida probably thinks it belongs in that club, but you need decades of success to earn mention in the same breath as the long-time powerhouses. Even Miami, with five titles in the past twenty-eight years, isn’t in that same category.

This isn’t about NFL players produced; it’s about history and tradition. Michigan played its first football game in 1879 while the city of Miami wasn’t even incorporated until 1896 and UM didn’t open its doors until 1927.

For one of the premier, signature programs in college football to be on the brink of major punishment – that’s a pretty big story and as a fan of the game, it’s hard not to let it drive your thought process.

I had South Florida Sun-Sentinel columnist Dave Hyde on last night’s show and he made a great point. As long as you have a ying yang relationship between academia and the business side of D-I college athletics, you’re going to have problems making it all work. This is a system beyond broken in many ways, aside from making money. Some higher ups might say the system is working just fine as long as the money is coming in, but I digress.

Buckeye Nation is freaking out, as it should be. Miami fans lost it when that Sports Illustrated issue his shelves in June 1995, but Ohio State fans are a different breed. Blinded by the love for all things scarlet and gray, the excuse machine has started moving towards fifth gear, with many repeating the same thing over and over; “everyone is doing it”. Guess what? That doesn’t make it right.

As I drive on the highways and byways of South Florida, I often pass speed limit signs telling me how fast I can go. Still, I barely keep my car below the posted limit. Only driving the limit in Miami, I’d be honked at and shown the one-finger salute. To go with the flow of traffic, I have to go over the limit, which is against the law.

I’ve been pulled over for speeding a few times in my life and I’m yet to ever tell a police officer that my ticket wasn’t justified because everyone else is speeding. If I used that excuse I’d probably get another ticket for stupidity.

I’m sure other parents can relate to this, too. My son got in trouble a few weeks back for hitting. His teacher pulled my wife aside and we were asked to address the situation at home. We we asked Zach why he was hitting, his response? “All my friends were hitting, too.” Did I let him off? Of course not.

We don’t get into politics or religion in this forum but for the sake of making a point – immigration. When the Border Patrol arrests someone for crossing the border illegally, they aren’t let go after telling the officer there were thousands of others who made the journey and didn’t get sent back.

In the game of life, “everyone is doing it” isn’t a valid excuse.

Yes, there are several systematic problems in college athletics, but it’s the responsibility of all parties to deal with things the right way. Either change the rules, or ensure they’re followed.

Is it stupid that players cannot sell their own gear? Absolutely. That said, rules are rules. A football player can’t trade jerseys and rings for a tattoo any sooner than a chemistry major can slang Bunsen burner for some ink.

Bottom line, in one way or another there are countless big time programs, players and coaches who have skirted rules. This isn’t limited to Jim Tressel, Terrelle Pryor and Ohio State. But that’s no defense to breaking current rules, ridiculous as some of those rules may be.

We all know it’d never go down this way, but the only true way to change any of this; a major program getting the death penalty. Southern Methodist is the only program to get a ‘death penalty’ type smackdown, back in 1987, but no disrespect to the Mustangs – SMU isn’t a big time program.

Unfortunately there is way too much money at stake for a major program to take a hit like that, but until a big time university gets the death penalty, this behavior will continue – meaning others schools will be the cars that drive by, pointing and laughing at the sucker who got the ticket.

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