You Play to Win the Game...!

I remember the days when Sportscenter on ESPN was king. Now that ESPN is the king of sports, Sportscenter is nothing more than a figurehead for a massive barrage of advertisements and tied products. Whether it be the "Budweiser Hot Seat", the "Coors Cold Hard Facts", "Gatorade Cooler Talk", and most recently the "Hummer Press Pass", to sum it all up in a word; RIDICULOUS. I could go on and on about how the mighty have fallen from grace - but to be honest - Sportscenter and ESPN are not going to go away or revert back to its glory days any time soon. And it's a shame.

With the Home Run Heard around San Fransisco, the NBA cheating scandal, and the Little League World Series all taking place, there has not been enough coverage over something that should have been much bigger news. Steve Spurrier and the state of college athletics.

Steve Spurrier, the head football coach at the University of South Carolina, when told that two of the players that he actively recruited were denied admission into the university. Here is an excerpt from the main article (from ESPN no less, because hate it or love it, habit is hard to break):

Bearden and three other tenured professors make up the university's special admissions committee, which, according to provost Mark Becker, reviewed more than half of the Gamecocks' football signees. The committee denied admission to three of the players, one of whom was eventually admitted on appeal, The State reported.

Spurrier was angered that receiver Michael Bowman of Wadesboro, N.C., and Arkee Smith of Jacksonville, Fla., were cleared by the NCAA to enroll, yet were turned down by the university.

"Hopefully, I truly believe this is the last year this is going to happen, because I can't operate like that," Spurrier said on Sunday. "I can't operate misleading young men."

Spurrier signed a contract extension, which included a raise of nearly a half-million dollars, that ties him to South Carolina through 2012. However, he said if things didn't change on admissions "then I have to go somewhere else, because I can't tell the young man that he's coming to school here," then not have him admitted.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2964254

Now if he really is that egotistical and hubris, this would all be understandable. But at some point three thoughts keep popping up in my mind:

1). It's misleading to tell them that they can go to school at USC if they're not qualified to attend. Everybody knows what the average ACT or SAT score, and GPA's are for every university and college. The Athletic Departments know the Athletic baselines. Work with them.

2). Does every school allow that much leeway for recruiting, and are perennial powerhouses of college athletics that inclined to bend the rules THAT much? I mean it's not quite the NFL yet - I know it's close - but not yet. So no need to listen to Herm Edwards yet. Seriously, you must be some student to get denied admission as a 4 star recruit. Snoop Minnis Stand UP!



3). Did Steve Spurrier do this type of "recruiting" at Florida all those years? Did Florida allow him to do this type of "recruiting" and turn a blind eye, or did they actively partipate? I'm assuming the latter because of nothing more than just speculation and a gut feeling. I think most people would agree with me. That's really sad because college sports as corrupt as it is, is probably the closest thing we have to pure sport left.

I just hope that college sports do not continue on this slippery slope. Long live the purity and beauty of sport where players play for pride, passion and university (big payday at the end of the tunnel, but I'll choose to ignore that for now). Long live college athletics.

That is all and GO BLUE!

-y