Ohio State Football Suspensions Prove NCAA Is Living in an Ivory Tower

The NCAA is proving more and more that they are in an Ivory Tower. 

Taken from Wikipedia, an Ivory Tower is: “Used to designate a world or atmosphere where intellectuals engage in pursuits that are disconnected from the practical concerns of everyday life. As such, it usually carries pejorative connotations of a willful disconnect from the everyday world; esoteric, over-specialized, or even useless research; and academic elitism, if not outright condescension. In American English usage it is shorthand for academia or the university.” 

In short, the NCAA seems to be living in a different world. Over 98 percent of the general public are not exposed to the journals and publishing of academics in Universities. Some have estimated that over 70 percent of academic publications have little to no utility in the “real” world. Unlike hard sciences, that demand results to be reproducible by those who read the research, most academic pursuits are based more on creativity than reality and some say that it produces baloney (bologna).  

The NCAA College Football committees are proving true that modern day Universities are living in an Ivory Tower.

Most recently, the NCAA suspended five players from Ohio State for five games in the 2011 season and one player for one game. The players sold OSU memorabilia like championship rings, gold pants, etc. as well as received benefits for tattoos at a reduced price.   

OSU has argued that the motive for the player’s actions was that they were trying to help their families. Before the suspension, most of the five were thought to be coming back for their senior years and not enter the NFL draft, but now it is believed that four or all five players will go. 

Though I believe that rules were broken and punishment needs to be handed down, the punishment is too strict and will hurt the very purpose of the NCAA. The NCAA is doing the right thing by punishing these players but the penalty is such that many of these players will forego next season, as well as another year to complete their Undergraduate degrees and try for the NFL. 

If there is a strike or lockout in the NFL, any player who has eligibility will be penalized.  These men, though doing wrong, would be penalized twice for this infraction. How is this good for our young people? Wouldn’t a lesser penalty of two games like what Troy Smith got a few years ago, along with things like community service be enough penalties for these men to learn their lesson and still not give up one more year of their education as well as development as a football player? 

OSU will likely appeal this and I will be surprised if the NCAA does not mitigate the punishment, but what the NCAA has shown is more of a disconnect from reality and their purpose of existence, which is to foster the development and growth of young people, is being compromised.

Then there is the Cam Newton saga, where he was suspended for a day then reinstated.  What if there is evidence that Newton was guilty of more infractions than what has been discussed in the media? What if he, like Reggie Bush, has finished his career and is in the NFL? What realistically could be done? 

USC is paying a dear price for the Bush incident and the majority of the current players on USC were never teammates with Reggie Bush. Though there needed to be some form of punishment handed down, the NCAA could have made it more centered on Bush. They could have asked him to donate to USC’s scholarship fund while still stripping him of the Heisman (which he willingly gave up) and take away USC’s Championship. 

But USC and the current coaching staff are all suffering the consequences of something that they were not a part of, while Cam Newton wins the Heisman Trophy and is preparing for the Sugar Bowl. 

Maybe the story with Cam stops here, but it seems odd that he seems to be going on unscathed while five OSU men are essentially losing half of their 2011 season.

Another story that received lots of press was the Big Ten (who now has 12 teams) naming its two divisions the legends and the leaders. Scores and scores of stories have been written citing the stupidity of these names. Many do not like it and the Big Ten is revaluating the naming of the two divisions. 

Shouldn’t the general public been consulted? 

And finally, there is the BCS. While lower divisions of Collegiate football are finishing up a 16 team playoff to determine its champion, the NCAA division one continues to hold on to the bowl system. Though the current BCS system is better than the past, there is still much work to be done. 

The BCS has garnered so much criticism that a book titled Death to the BCS has been written arguing that the BCS is a horrible system. After reading the book, Mark Cuban has ended his quest to own a major league baseball team and is working on a playoff system that will end the BCS. 

The BCS is nothing more than a monopoly for the automatic qualifying conferences. This year, the Orange Bowl matches University of Connecticut against Oklahoma, while teams like Boise State and Michigan State are playing games outside of the BCS. The universities participating in the NCAA teach against monopolies, discrimination and champion causes like human rights, yet lower conferences are experiencing exactly what professors are teaching against while the NCAA asserts that it is a good system.

The BCS is another example of the disconnect the NCAA has with the real world.

Is there such a thing as an “Ivory Tower?” Watching the NCAA recently suggests there is. 

While academics hole up and write scholarly articles that are suppose to forward knowledge in their respected fields, the NCAA is showing that the process is not helping with the real world. 

Hopefully, the NCAA will get it before the people who support it revolt.