What do you think it would take for the NCAA to drop the Death Penalty on a program now?
I can't think of anything, really. What SMU did, back in the late 70's and the 80's was to basically just pay guys, cash under the table, to go to SMU. A vast network of wealthy donors created a very large slush fund and either directly payed players or funneled the money to their families.
SMU is just 5 miles north of Dallas. The campus is 234 beautiful acres. I have a cousin who went there. This guy is a Pig. And I mean that as a compliment. I mean, he never killed anyone (that I know of) and he never did time, but he is a depraved individual.
McLovin, you know what I'm talking about.
McLovin, you know what I'm talking about.
Anyway.
SMU did this shit for years. Even when they had been caught and were on probation, they just kept doing it.
But they also kicked ass. They had some great running backs. Eric Dickerson. Craig James.
(CJK5H).
Officially they dubbed the team 'The Pony Express' and they ran roughshod over everybody in the now defunct Southwest Conference. But, on the down low, everybody really called SMU 'The Pony Excess'.
And by 1987, the NCAA had had enough. They dropped the hammer.
The NCAA cancelled SMU's 1987 season. They couldn't even have a scrimmage.
They stripped them of just about all athletic scholarships.
SMU had their probation extended to 1990.
Once the suspension was up they still weren't allowed to have their games broadcast on TV.
It was a knock out blow. For the next 20 years they won exactly one game. They couldn't recruit anybody. They tried but ... really? No. The Southwest Conference folded.
And now? All that stuff that SMU did is okay. It's not a slush fund. It's NIL money and revenue sharing . It's not a vast network of wealthy donors. It's a vast network of wealthy donors.
SMU still has the scars.
ForEVER, the SMU Mustangs battle cry was "Pony up!". You could see how that is kind of an unfortunate phrase for SMU to rally behind. They still have a Shetland Pony named Peruna as their mascot. That may never change. But now the battle cry is something lame like, "GO Mustangs".
Wow.
Inspiring.
There have been two other programs that got Death Penaltied. The U of Kentucky in the 50's (basketball) and some program in south Louisiana. I'm sure they deserved it.
Again though. NOW? It would have to be some sort of monstrous gambling scam or a Ponzi scheme run out of the administration building or something involving dozens and dozens of dead babies, I don't know. Something like enriching uranium and selling it to Mexicans or hacking JP Morgan executive accounts to generate NIL money. Or like hiring Brian Kelly. Something really reprehensible and beyond the pale.
I don't think the Death Penalty will happen again in my lifetime.
Rest easy, BRFLers.
38 days 'til kickoff.
Lance Herbstrong
Commissioner for Life
There will be no Death Penalty from the NCAA. Those feckless cunts have no power and no ability to enforce their arcane rules. Any school the NCAA attempts to punish - at least the big boys - will start their own league with their own rules. Watch. It'll happen soon. So they NCAA takes their enforcement boner out and slaps around Slippery Rock or Indiana Teachers College of Pennsylvania for a coach driving by optional summer workouts.
ReplyDeleteThese SMU infractions were for money that is miniscule in comparison to days wages. The Ponies could score enough cash to get a new Datsun 280Z or pay 5 hookers to star in your dorm room snuff film. Now the Pony Express would get paaaaaid. The NCAA ain't touching that no mo'.
Inspired prose, DPo.
DeleteDid you check out Eastern Michigan Women's golf team? Tied for 3rd at the NCAAs this year, losing in the semifinals to eventual champ, Stanford. Like me, when you think women's golf, you think Stanford, Texas, Florida, and Eastern Michigan University. How? Well, it's not that putting in the snow improves your golf game. Apparently, golf coaches don't do much on the collegiate level other than schedule tournaments and book hotel rooms. Golfers have their own swing coaches, so the ladies on the team stay near their swing coaches in the warmer climate where they can play year-round. They just fly in to meet up with the "team" at the tournaments, then go back to Florida or California or Texas and keep practicing, where they can take an online class or two to stay eligible. Nice gig, eh? But if the NCAA isn't saying boo about any of that, well, I'm pretty sure we can agree there just isn't anything they will enforce anymore.
ReplyDeleteIf the NCAA tried to make an issue of this, then the Eastern Michigan Links-ladies would sue them for an extra year of eligibility, since you can lay the blame for all this shit on Covid and the whole on-line classes thing. And when you say 'Covid' you're really just dog-whistiling 'extra year'.
ReplyDeleteWord.