NCAA Football: The King Has No Clothes

Is the king immune to his subjects? Are the subjects subservient to the king's will? Most likely, the king is distracted by counsel that he believes is destined by God's will to do his bidding, and the subjects are to blindly trust the king, that he does what is best for the kingdom and no questions or rebellion should ever enter the minds of the subjects that allow them doubt in their majesty.

This is pretty much the doctrine of royalty, and the destiny of its subjects. Sounds pretty rough, huh? Imagine how the British subjects felt hundreds of years ago...or better yet look no further than the present day NCAA.

That's right, from the top down it is a monarchy without remorse and negotiation. The crown is no burden and to quote Mel Brooks, "It's good to be da king."

The ruling class sits in Arizona, and the fate and legitimacy of its power is now in the balance, as a group of NCAA officials will decide if in fact the king has no clothes.

A host of college programs all sit nervously by and wait to see if the supposed nefarious acts of USC staff and players will be judged innocent, guilty, or naughty and warned to do better.

It is the rod in which future accusations and activities are to be measured. It could be the difference in which a less than fortunate player might rise through the ranks of college fortune, or the fact that the same player may decide that his or her college may do as they please without fear of reprisal.

Best of all, if all things go well, a future student won't have to worry whether or not there are bargaining chips present to attend a specific university; instead, he could worry whether or not the girls are prettier or dare worry if one engineering program is better than another. Novel, isn't it?

This might seem very dramatic, but "what if"? What if a player is able to attend a college of his choice having been recruited by less than desirable methods? What if those methods involved a new job for his parents, and maybe even a nice home for them to cheer their child from? Oh, it's just mere speculation right? Right?

You can insert any number of possibilties that might allow your imagination to wonder, but the ones that will wonder most are the smaller colleges. They're ones without the Romanesque type stadiums, the muti-million bank-roll, and an elite staff to rival those of the championship quotas.

Oh, boo-hoo for them right? Come on, lets's level the playing field; oops, the NCAA already did that right? Right?

Well, it's all in the hands of the king and his court. The question is whether the subjects or courtiers pay the  price. What price? Well, if you're USC, it could be a few scholarships and a swat across the nose with a rolled up newspaper followed by "No no no, bad boy."

If you're somebody like Alabama or Auburn, it could mean a conference title or even a championship. Sincerely, for the sake of the realm, I hope justice is served, whatever it may be if said parties are guilty.

If the latter of the two comes true and the milder prediction comes to pass for a guilty party, then sadly the king has no clothes and the rest of us should all line up for the ax.

God, I hope the Gipper ain't watching, and I don't even like Notre Dame.