In any captivating tale of a drug kingpin, there is inevitably a moment where a police officer is threatened or brutally murdered as a warning or act of revenge. Typically, this leads to the downfall of the anti-hero. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey essentially sent the NCAA a personalized letter containing the names and addresses of their family members on Thursday. However, due to the prevalence of blue-collar crime in America, there will be no bloodshed at the toll station, no retribution.
During an interview with Yahoo! Sports this week, the leader of the most influential conference in college athletics advised the NCAA to focus on themselves rather than the “cases” involving schools under his jurisdiction, including the one involving Tennessee.
“I have a track record of refraining from commenting on specific matters. What lies before us are a significant set of realities,” he stated. “Not simply – quote – cases, but substantial realities. We must confront these significant realities.”
The realities that Sankey is referring to are the existential challenges facing the sport. It is incredibly convenient to instruct the NCAA to address these challenges when you have them under your control. It’s akin to an 18-year-old telling their parents not to worry about the massive bar tab they accumulated in international waters because it will be legal in three years and won’t matter.
The NCAA finds itself in an impossible predicament. It must create rules as quickly as it enforces them, all while attempting to prevent the schools that employ them from further undermining their existence. I know it may sound absurd, but somewhere within the NCAA, committee members are dedicating serious thought to developing rules and regulations with the goal of making the sport safer, better organized, and less objectionable.
Since this is America, where laws are more lenient than morals, Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti established an “advisory group” to advise the NCAA to construct the most exceptional playhouse for them or face the consequences. Imagine if the NFC simply said, “Screw you, Roger Goodell. You’ve irreversibly altered the sport, and we’re going to establish our own league just to spite you.” (That would actually be quite impressive, so on second thought…)
I must admit, it pains me to side with the NCAA on anything. However, let’s not automatically vilify them every time they attempt to be responsible. Here’s my fourth(?) analogy in nearly as many paragraphs, so please bear with me: Even a disheveled and intoxicated parent can have good intentions.
The NCAA is not to blame. Money has a way of transforming everyone into poolside alcoholics eventually, and heaven forbid they don’t want academia to end up in a state of ruin and isolation like themselves. Charlie Baker is well aware of the threats confronting America’s most extravagant form of extortion: the transfer portal, tampering with NIL, and numerous lawsuits that could result in billions of dollars in losses.
“Those are the overarching issues that need to be resolved as our primary focus,” Sankey emphasized. “We should not allow ourselves to be distracted by specific matters. We must address the bigger picture.”
Thank you, Greg. You know what would be truly beneficial? If you didn’t remind me of my time in prison when I inquire about how many drinks you’ve had tonight.
During Friday night’s victory over Stanford, USC freshman guard JuJu Watkins single-handedly scored 51 of the Trojans’ 67 points. She nearly outscored the entire Cardinal team, who managed to accumulate only 58 points.
This is not a knee-jerk reaction. Watkins possesses a smooth jump shot and exceptional ball-handling skills. In her debut year, she is averaging 25.8 points, a mere 0.8 points below Caitlin Clark’s freshman year record. Furthermore, her scoring output ranks second in the country this year, just behind Clark’s 32.1 PPG.