Living in Ohio, it is only natural that I hear about Ohio State more than any other school…all the more so because I am a Michigan fan. I don’t really mind hearing about another school, but I do mind the hypocrisy I have been hearing a lot lately. When Michigan got caught breaking the NCAA’s workout rules, many OSU fans ribbed Michigan fans...which most of us didn’t mind because we found it as ironic and as funny as everyone else. When the USC scandal broke, everyone, and I mean everyone, was calling for the book to be thrown at them. (Please note, the book being thrown and the “death penalty” are not the same. Southern Methodist still has not recovered from the “death penalty”, and no fan should wish that on any school). When the issues with Newton came up, many claimed SEC bias because, as of yet, he and Auburn got off free and clear. UConn, Texas Tech, and many others had recruiting violations, and I am fairly certain if a microscope was put to every school, some sort of violation would come up. That being said, OSU has taken the preverbal cake on violations. I am not going to rehash the violations, nor am I going to speculate if more will turn up. I am, though, going to ask why is it now that it is THEE Ohio State University that is the rule breaker, many fans are crying foul? The amount of rules broken by OSU makes this one of the, if not the, largest scandal in NCAA history. That is a big deal. SOOOOO, that being said, why wouldn’t there be a punishment fitting of the violations? The same fans that wanted so much more to happen to Michigan for a workout violation, the same fans that make fun of Michigan’s record (p.s. your record is now 0-13 for last year), the same fans that wanted the book thrown at Auburn and USC. Hypocrisy is the only answer I can think of. The NCAA has rules. Some of those rules seem may seem silly, but they are still the rules. The schools that wish to play under the NCAA umbrella must follow those rules, to the letter, or pay the consequences. After all, it is a choice. Hopefully something good will come out of this, and all the other recent scandals. Schools, such as Oregon, are coming clean with violations without being prompted. Maybe the NCAA will even look into their compliance officer set up (that is an entirely different topic I hope to get into soon in another blog). After all we, the fans of the NCAA, want integrity. Now we should demand it….from the schools, from the players, from the NCAA itself, and even from us, the fans.
