Yes, just as Hitler did with his cronies at the end of WWII, the New Nazi’s are retreating to their bunker to fix all the problems facing the NCAA. Yeah, that’s going to happen. No talk of illegally paid athletes, or shady recruiting practices. One issue that could get resolved is the lay-off the minor infractions and go after the big infractions. That could be a big decision that could help sort out a lot of pending investigations, which imo take way too long as things stand now. I just thought you guys would like to chime in on this article and take your minds off fall practice……… NCAA retreat to tackle three main topics // jQuery.getScriptCache(‘ http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/c/?js=espn.tools.r19.js’, function() { espn.core.init.tools(’6846512′,’ http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6846512′); }); // By Dana O’Neil ESPN.com On the surface, it looks like just another dog-and-pony show, a bureaucratic tap dance at which much will be discussed and little accomplished. But those who have been invited to the NCAA presidential retreat and the man who is hosting it insist that won’t be the case. When 54 university presidents and a cross-section of athletic administrators and conference commissioners gather Tuesday and Wednesday in Indianapolis, the goal won’t be merely to discuss college athletics reform. [+] Enlarge AP Photo/David J. PhillipNCAA president Mark Emmert says a lot is riding on the presidential call to arms he is hosting this week. It will be to make reform happen. “I don’t want to be melodramatic, but this meeting is very important,” NCAA president Mark Emmert told ESPN.com on the eve of the retreat. “We do have serious challenges, and we do need to make some serious reforms. I don’t think there is any debate about that. I want us to be able to build a consensus around those things that are most important for the NCAA to pay attention to and then address those things quickly.” This group in and of itself doesn’t have the authority to enact legislation. But because of the power brokers involved — especially the university presidents — any recommendations and endorsements it makes will carry serious weight and likely fly up the NCAA flagpole a lot faster than the typical tortoise pace. Some suggestions, in fact, could be brought before the NCAA board of directors as soon as Thursday. “I would say if we don’t make significant movement, we will have failed,” said Jo Potuto, the faculty athletic representative at Nebraska and former chair of the committee on infractions. “If we don’t come away from this meeting with some sort of model for change, it will be a disaster.” As with most things in life, the impetus for change comes in part from reaching the abyss. A gathering like this has been on Emmert’s radar for some time, but this past year — the NCAA’s nadir — has brought plenty of converts to his call to arms. Big-name coaches have lost their jobs, and big-name universities have been rocked by ongoing scandal. Mixed in with the anger at the alleged rulebreakers has been an equal frustration with how those alleged rulebreakers have — or, more to the point, have not — been punished. Toss in escalating television contracts and coaches’ salaries, and you have a groundswell of people wondering what in the world the NCAA is really all about. Out of the rubble, the usually fractured and self-serving NCAA membership has finally reached a consensus: What the NCAA is really about needs to be redefined and the broken system needs serious repair. “There are episodes every year like the ones we’ve seen this year,” said Penn State president Graham Spanier, who will attend the retreat. “But it becomes almost an accumulation of frustrations. There have always been several of us who have had this level of frustration, but now I believe it’s a majority of university presidents. I just think a number of us have gotten fed up.” SEC commissioner Mike Slive sounded the gong on the most glaring among the NCAA’s current issues at his conference’s media day last month. The rest of the big six commissioners fell in lockstep with his message at their own ensuing media gatherings. Slive and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, two of the most outspoken and powerful commissioners, were puzzling omissions on the retreat invite list, but the topics the two have preached about will be a major part of the conversation. Emmert said he wants this retreat to be an open discussion, but the key points he wants to address are similar to the key points the commissioners have discussed: academic standards, integrity and what he calls financial sustainability. Specifically, here’s what’s on the docket: Academic standards : There is a strong push to raise the required GPA from 2.0 to 2.5 for incoming freshmen. “Since the standard test score was eliminated [and partnered with a sliding scale with GPA], you’re finding more grade inflation,” Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said. “We need to set the bar higher.” The NCAA already is considering one dramatic change: allowing partial qualifiers to receive their full scholarships and be able to practice — but not compete — with their team for one academic year. It’s not a new idea. It used to be called Prop 48. “We’ve already had a lot of work go into issues of academic progress,” Emmert said. “That’s something we could deal with very quickly.” [+] Enlarge G Fiume/Getty ImagesWill the NCAA soon simplify its rulebook? There are plenty of advocates who are making that push. Integrity : Emmert has been outspoken in his hope that the NCAA will get tougher on its rulebreakers and he will find little resistance. But plenty of people also think that the bloated NCAA rulebook is at times its own worst enemy. There is a serious call to deregulate the rulebook, to eliminate the less serious offenses in favor of concentrating on the bigger ones. “We’re busy catching the jaywalkers as they walk into the bank while someone is taking the vault out back,” Beebe said. “We need to reform our legislation, reduce the amount of more trivial things and concentrate on the ones that really make a difference.” Potuto, whose job it once was to interpret those rules as part of the COI, agrees. “We have a group of violations that are somewhere in the middle; they aren’t secondary and they aren’t really putting anyone at a competitive advantage,” she said. “Yet we shoot ourselves in the foot because a lot of them have to be reported as major violations. We need to talk about what really matters. The NCAA should be a leaner, meaner machine.” Financial sustainability : No surprise that the money issue could be the most complicated. Money is the great separator when it comes to the NCAA, with some schools having it in bulk and other scrimping for pennies. What works for one group can’t or won’t for another. The current push is to find a way to close the small gap on a full scholarship and the actual cost of attendance at a university for an athlete. But even the cost of attendance can be tricky. What is easy and affordable for the major conference with deep-pocketed football revenues is difficult and financially strangling to those without that money. The issue then is how to allow for cost of attendance without further widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots. “It would be nice if there was a recognition that there have been no perfect solutions since Adam and Eve,” Potuto said. “No matter what policy decision you make, there will be consequences that some people don’t like. But I think we need to keep the main objective in focus here, and that’s how do we get where we want to get with the least amount of impact.” In essence, that’s what this entire retreat will be about — finding a common ground among a group of people who frankly have little besides job title in common. All of those invited are technically involved in college athletics. But college athletics as defined for Bernie Machen, the president of the University of Florida, and college athletics as defined for Penelope Kyle, the president at Radford University, are not necessarily one and the same. Finding consensus among all the NCAA constituents — from presidents to coaches and from big schools to small — has been the organization’s biggest stumbling block. That’s what makes the mission for this meeting so critical and so difficult. “We are responsible for our own situation,” Emmert said. “We need to make sure we have the will to fix what we can fix and make progress.” Dana O’Neil covers college basketball for ESPN.com and can be reached at [email protected] Follow Dana on Twitter: @dgoneil1.
A Different Take on USC and Lane Kiffin
As a Pac-10 fan I am excited about USC hiring Lane Kiffin. In order to explain, there are a few points you need to know. The talent levels in the Pac-10 have been closing in on the level of talent that the Trojans have been recruiting. Pete Carroll knew this and I believe is one of the reasons he bailed out. The days of USC being named the Pac-10 champions before a single game is played, is over. Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying, USC will always compete for the Pac-10 championship and the occasional National Championship, but so will Oregon, Washington, Stanford, Arizona, UCLA, and Oregon State. What does Lane Kiffin bring to USC? How about an offensive coordinator that is directly linked to Reggie Bush. How about a head coach that has the NCAA sniffing at him for how he did things last year at Tennessee. Why on earth would USC hire this guy? Especially with all the crap that is about to hit the proverbial fan. How can USC tell the NCAA that they are cleaning up their act when they bring in the biggest horses rear end out there? It seems that the USC fans are more excited about Lane’s dad, Monte, than they are Lane. They seem to think that the vaunted Tampa 2 defense is the answer to the Oregon spread option. They also claim they will be able to hold the Ducks to less than 24 points. Now remember something they have forgotten, Pete Carroll ran a lot of cover 2 schemes, which are very similar in style. Yes the cover 2 defense can limit the big plays, but its biggest weakness is facing misdirection, short throws to the tight-end, and runs up the middle, oops, just like the Tampa 2! So what is the Oregon spread option designed to do? Misdirection, runs up the middle, and passes to the tight-end. So in the end it will come down to coaching ability. Now there lies the problem for USC. Kiffin couldn’t get the job done at Oakland nor Tennessee, so what makes anyone think he’ll do it at USC? I am still baffled by this hiring of Kiffin, but I am excited that the Trojan’s are about to burst and the only people who will feel like they got screwed will be the USC fans. USC will be a good program but the days of putting fear into the players simply by seeing them on the schedule are over. Kiffin’s hiring will put even more sanctions on USC and after they get banned from some bowl games they will begin to lose their appeal on the recruits and then they will complete their fall back to earth where they belong. God Bless Us, Everyone!!!!!
Updated: SEC presidents vote to reduce signing limit to 25; Nick Saban blows a gasket Posted by Ben Kercheval on June 3, 2011, 2:39 PM EDT Despite the coaches’ opposing opines on the matter, all 12 SEC member presidents/chancellors have reportedly agreed to limit the number of players signed in each recruiting class to 25, according to various tweets from Cecil Hurt of tidesportsextra.com. The conference currently legislates that members can sign as many as 28 players – although they can only hand out a NCAA-mandated 25 scholarships each signing class — between National Signing Day and May 31. The proposed legislation by SEC commissioner Mike Slive was one of several items voted on during the final day of SEC league meetings in Destin, Florida. Slive’s legislation called for “Limiting the size of a football signing class in each academic year to 25, down from the current level of 28… The 25 limit would cover those who sign from Dec. 1 to August 1.” “Slive: President’s vote to go to 25 limit was unanimous. Felt it ‘was fairest to prospects, while allowing flexibility,’” Hurt tweeted. “Slive: ‘No one wants to win more than I do, but we don’t want to win at the expense of our young people.’” The new rule will still allow grayshirting, or the act of delaying the signing of a player until the following year, and the SEC Office will oversee medical scholarship exemptions. Back-counting players is also still a go. Theoretically, a coach could sign 25 players one class, have a handful not qualify academically, and still enroll them in January of next year without it counting against next year’s signing class. But they would still count as part of the previous year’s signing class. The SEC is also reportedly looking to get this new rule adopted as national legislation. While the university presidents unanimously heralded the decision, Alabama coach Nick Saban has led a handful of SEC coaches who not only accept oversigning, but can’t for the life of them understand why anybody wouldn’t love it. “You all are creating a bad problem for everybody. You’re going to mess up kids’ opportunities by doing what you’re doing. You think you’re helping ‘em but you’re really hurting ‘em. It took one case where somebody didn’t get the right opportunity. You need to take the other 100 cases where somebody got an opportunity,” Saban said Wednesday, referring to the media’s disdain *ahem* of oversigning. Au contraire, Mr. Saban, it’s merely about protecting the players currently on campus. And the new legislation helps to do just that. UPDATED 3:05 p.m. ET : Seth Emerson of the Bulldogs Blog has some updated info of the voting. The conference will now approve all requests for medical disqualifications. If necessary, it will seek an outside opinion. The exemption allowing graduate students to transfer in and not sit out a year was also eliminated, although it won’t go into effect until later. That means former N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson would still be able to play at an SEC school this year. Additionally… The SEC will distribute $220 million to its schools, an increase of 5.3 percent over last year. The $220 million is for the 2010-11 fiscal year, with most of it ($113 million) coming from football television. Looks like if the SEC decides to legally pay players, it won’t have to be out of Steve Spurrier ‘s pocket after all. UPDATED 7:22 p.m. ET : Some more notes from the Birmingham News ‘ coverage of the vote today. The SEC initially proposed summer enrollees immediately counting toward a school’s scholarship numbers for the upcoming year. But amid heavy push-back by the coaches caused, the SEC took a wait-and-see approach largely because of a new NCAA rule. Starting this year, football players must pass nine credit hours in the fall or potentially be suspended up to four games the following year. One way for players to avoid that suspension is to have earned 27 credit hours by the end of the next summer.
Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel Resigns
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio State says football coach Jim Tressel has resigned as the NCAA investigates the Buckeyes for possible rules violations. The university announced the resignation Monday. Tressel says in a statement that he met with university officials and agreed that it is in Ohio State’s best interest that he resign. The school says Luke Fickell, an assistant head coach under Tressel, will serve as interim head coach for the 2011-2012 season. http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/sports/ohio-state-says-head-football-coach-jim-tressel-has-resigned http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6606999 Tressel is being investigated by the NCAA and Ohio State for knowing that his players had broken NCAA rules by accepting improper benefits. The 10-year coach of the Buckeyes learned in April 2010 that some players had sold memorabilia to the tattoo-parlor owner, Edward Rife (in related news Friday, Rife was charged in federal court with drug trafficking and money laundering). Tressel did not tell his superiors what he knew, instead forwarding an email with that information to Sarniak. Even though compelled to tell his superiors, the NCAA or his school’s compliance department about any knowledge of violations, Tressel did not surrender that information until confronted by investigators in January of 2011. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6600129
Arron Rodgers 6th Round from CAL
Guess who has the NCAA record for most completed passes in a row? Hint, it occurred at the Memorial Stadium in Berkeley CA, in a game between the CAL Golden Bears and the USC Trojans. The Trojans won the high scoring game by 2. 18 without a miss or a drop!
Utah AG plans suit to force dissolution of BCS
I agree with the Utah AG. Let’s dissolve the BCS and go back to the way it used to be, with all the “sweetheart” deals between the bowls and the conferences. Good luck to a school trying to break into the network (read that the next Texas Christian, Boise State, or Utah), and bid a fond farewell to having the top 2 ranked teams meet in a postseason game. Since the NCAA won’t give up the bowl games cash cow, we all admit there won’t be a playoff system in what is now called the BCS subdivision; so we can have 3 or 4 “National Champions” voted in by their respective polls. That way, the arguments will still never be resolved, but more trophies will be awarded. That’s the American way!!! Yeah, that is a good use of the AG’s time and effort. I sure am glad that Utah is so crime free that the Attorney General has time to waste on this, and Utah has enough of a surplus that it has money to waste on this. If it’s okay for the Federal government to waste time and money on sports, it must be okay for the States.
Who would believe this guy could ever evaluate talent anyway! Report: NFL Network cans Matt Millen, Joe Theismann The Detroit News You’re fired, Matt Millen! Again. SI.com is reporting that the NFL Network, which hired Millen after he was canned following a disastrous tenure as general manager of the Lions, is sending him packing. The report said Mike Mayock, a highly respected draft analyst, will join the network’s game broadcast, while Millen and Joe Theismann are out. The NFL Network also is considering added Detroit’s Gus Johnson, a hit for his NCAA Tournament coverage, SI reported. The NFL Network hired Millen in 2009 and Theismann the following year, and since has been bombarded with criticism from fans. Millen, 53, was a popular on-air analyst before the Lions hired him to run the team in 2001. What followed was one of the most embarrassing stretches of play in NFL history, before he was fired by William Clay Ford in September 2008. Millen still is doing college football for ABC From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110414/SPORTS0101/104140462/Report–NFL-Network-cans-Matt-Millen–Joe-Theismann#ixzz1JuaC4e2V
I think it was a very good point for a rule change in fact it cost Tenn a loss in a bowl vs North Carolina with one second left.imo Tenn should of won that game.JMO Gator Nation Dooley Rule’, two others changes approved by NCAA panel Posted by John Taylor on April 15, 2011, 1:28 PM EDT Two months after receiving recommendations from the NCAA Football Rules Committee, the Playing Rules Oversight Panel has approved three rules changes that will take effect in the 2011 season, with two of the new rules dealing directly with players safety. As recommended in February, the biggest change will come from how below-the-waist blocking is defined and called. Players on the line of scrimmage within seven yards of the center will still be permitted to block below the waist anywhere on the field as in the past, but anywhere else “cut blocking” will be illegal except on scrimmage plays in the following instances: –Wide receivers more than seven yards from the center at the snap of the ball can block below the waist only against a player facing him or toward the nearest sideline. –Running backs/receivers in the backfield and outside the tackle box (the area five yards on either side of the center) or players in motion can block below the waist only on players facing them or toward the nearest sideline. As well as clarifying the new cut-block rules in an attempt to enhance player safety, the panel approved a change that will make it a five-yard penalty for three defensive players to line up shoulder-to-shoulder-to-shoulder over a single offensive player on field goal and extra point attempts. And then there’s what’s lovingly becoming known as “The Dooley Rule”. At the end of regulation of the December Music City Bowl , Tennessee was leading North Carolina when the Tar Heels committed a penalty with one second left in regulation. That penalty actually benefited the confused Tar Heels immensely as it allowed them to get their field-goal unit on the field for the game-tying field goal attempt, which they made. The Tar Heels ultimately won the bowl game in double overtime. If such a situation would occur in a game in 2011 and beyond, a team like the Volunteers would have the option of a 10-second rundown of the game clock if a team commits a foul that stops the clock in the final minute of both halves. Such an option would’ve given head coach Derek Dooley a win in his first bowl game with the Vols as there were under 10 seconds left in regulation. Technically, the new “10-second runoff rule” — i.e. “The Dooley Rule” — would give the opposing team three options: –Take the yardage penalty and the 10-second rundown. –Take the yardage penalty without the 10-second rundown. –Decline both the 10-second rundown and the penalty yardage. In addition to the rule changes, the panel also made note of two rule changes that were approved last year but will not go into effect until 2011, including one that has the potential to stir up a tidal wave of controversy. This will be the first year of the rule change regarding unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, which will be treated as either live-ball or dead-ball fouls. Previously, all fouls of this kind were treated as dead-ball fouls. The change means, for example, that if a player makes a taunting gesture to an opponent on the way to scoring a touchdown, the flag would nullify the score and penalize the offending team 15 yards from the spot of the foul. Penalties for dead-ball misconduct fouls (for example, unsportsmanlike behavior after the player crosses the goal line) continue to be assessed on the ensuing kickoff or the extra point/two point conversion attempt. Another rule that goes into effect this season is video monitors being allowed in the coaches’ booth for the purpose of determining whether a team should request an instant-replay challenge. Only a live broadcast of the game will be allowed (that is, no editing/rewinding capabilities). If monitors are installed, the home team must provide the same equipment in both coaching booths.
NCAA probing Auburn’s Tiger Prowl…
One thing is certain about the NCAA, when they are building a case for lack of institutional control, they will tack on every allegation they can find, and in this case they may be very well working to establish a pattern of corrupt practices. Next thing you know Auburn will be shutting down their Tigerette program because they have “hostess” issues, something Tennessee knows all about. Water wet, sky blue, NCAA probing Auburn… again Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a man walks into an Auburn bar, and trips over an NCAA investigator… A new day has dawned, so, of course, it’s time to bring you word of a new NCAA investigation involving the Auburn football program and its since-banned “Tiger Prowl”. This investigation, though, should not be confused with the NCAA’s ongoing probe into the Cam Newton situation. Or the ongoing probe into Auburn recruiting practices. Or the ongoing probe into allegations made by four former players on an HBO show. Or this is just one big ol’ probe underneath one huge NCAA umbrella. One of the two. The Birmingham News reported Thursday that they had requested of the school any records pertaining to individual violations that may have arisen from last year’s “Tiger Prowl” recruiting caravan. The thing is, Auburn was forced to deny the open-records request because, you guessed it, last year’s “Tiger Prowl” is currently part of a pending NCAA investigation and, the paper writes, Alabama law therefore does not require release of the records at this time. “The NCAA is not reviewing Tiger Prowl as individual violations. They are reviewing the entire event as a whole,” Auburn Senior Associate Athletics Director Scott Carr wrote the News via email. “Therefore, the investigative phase of this event is still ongoing and we are currently working with the NCAA.” The paper goes on to note that Auburn would not comment further on what the NCAA is investigating in relation to last year’s “Prowl”. “Tiger Prowl” first appeared in April of 2009 in Gene Chizik ‘s first year as AU’s coach. That year, coaches would pile into a white or black stretch limo Hummer, and proceeded to travel from high school to high school to high school visiting potential recruits, hoping to make enough of an impression on the players that, come Signing Day, they’d put pen to paper and fax their intentions to Auburn. The event was held again the following year , only this time with pimped-out buses/motor coaches. Shortly after “Tiger Prowl v2.0″ began, however, the NCAA passed a measure that prevented a school from sending more than two coaches in any one day to the same high school. On a completely unrelated note, we can neither confirm nor deny the rumors circulating that the NCAA is considering relocating its home office to the state of Alabama in order to save on travel costs.
Well shoe is on the other foot hey Bama fans lol,i kind of thought it being funny how Calloway made the move so quick back to Bama.Yep you Bama boys are right its going to be a fun summer,Bama pay 4 play.HAHAHA.Roll pay 4 play HAHAHA LSU Auburn Writer Accuses Bama Of Paying Signee Calloway April 7th, 2011 ║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink ║ Tags: Auburn Send This Story To A Friend If you read this site regularly, you know that we have time and again said that the SEC is entering a danger zone when it comes to NCAA accusations. Mike Slive has said on occasion that only the SEC can stop the SEC. That appears to be happening. Today, Jeffrey Lee of AuburnSports.com — the Rivals site covering AU — went on Mobile, Alabama radio station WNSP-FM and accused Alabama of buying recent signee Brent Calloway. Lee has posted online a number of bulletpoints that are circulating on SEC messageboards this morning. Those points include: * A supporter of Alabama took Calloway to Tuscaloosa multiple times including the weekend prior to national signing day. * The supporter allegedly then drove Calloway out of state and kept him there until he returned to his hometown of Russellville, Alabama on signing day. * Before Calloway’s final trip to Tuscaloosa pre-signing day, the Bama supporter allegedly made cash payments to Harland “Peaches” Winston who is Calloway’s adoptive father. * Winston supposedly received $2,500 from the Bama fan on at least one occasion. * Supposedly, Winston also received aid in catching up on his home mortgage. * The fan also allegedly provided Calloway with a new car that the player drove to school. Supposedly enough questions were asked about the car that it was returned on the same day. * Allegedly, the car was purchased by the Bama supporter from a dealership in Muscle Shoals owned by yet another Alabama supporter. * Supposedly, the supporter told Calloway that he would receive $1,200 per month while playing at Alabama. Calloway’s recruitment was a soap opera from the get-go. The player even claimed to have received death threats. Calloway was a four-star outside linebacker prospect who was ranked the fifth best linebacker in the country and the 38th best player in the nation by Rivals.com. Stay tuned… you can be sure you’ll hear a lot more about this one. Great. Another off-field scandal. Mudd right back at cha…