Circus acts
Because, well, I guess the simplest answer is because it’s the NCAA I suppose.
How about these headlines that covered college sports Wednesday.
First, there was Megan Rapinoe appearing before Congress, which is demanding answers for the inequities in the NCAA tournament set-ups for the men’s and women’s basketball teams.
(Side note: This instance has erupted, and there are a lot of folks demanding better. I agree. But there seldom is universal equity in sports on any level. Will the Div. III tournament teams want the same access and accommodations? What about the NCAA Lacrosse tournament? Of course the NCAA looks like buffoons, because well, I guess the simplest answer is because it’s the NCAA I suppose. And dear Lord, I’d rather try to defend 1991 MJ in the open court than defend Mark Emmert for anything. I just hope that the NCAA decides to increase the perks for the women’s tournament rather than eliminating the extras for the men’s teams.)
Then there was news that a hot-shooting Syracuse star Buddy Boeheim was unknowingly part of a potential NCAA violation. Yes, the cleverly named Glazed & Confused donut shop put young Boehiem’s picture on a team-themed donut tribute. This, of course, could run afoul of the NCAA rules because, well, I guess the simplest answer is because it’s the NCAA I suppose.
Yeah, of all the things in play, we know that Emmert and Co. have their fingers on the pulse of possible pastry penalties and punishments. Swell.
And speaking of untied ends, how about the next level jackwagonery of Lincoln Riley.
Yes, the NCAA transfer portal is turning the offseason in college sports into a Wild West-meets-free agency combo that has made roster turnover a full-time job for someone on staff.
But Riley, of all people, dragging his feet in the case involving quarterback Chandler Morris, who transferred to TCU in January but still has not been released by Oklahoma or cleared yet, is extreme hypocrisy.
“This particular situation for us is about something that we believe in. Myself, the leadership here at OU, we think it’s unhealthy for college football to encourage intra-conference transfers,” he said in response to a question from Jason Kersey of The Athletic.
Riley, you may remember, took Oklahoma to conference championship seasons with Heisman-winning QBs Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray.
Both of whom TRANSFERED to OU to play for Riley. The comps are not exactly the same as Morris, but the optics here are dreadful.
What a clown, even in the ever growing collection of them in the clown show that is the NCAA.
A slippery Peel
OK, back story: NHL referee Tim Peel was canned by the league after he was caught on a hot mic saying, “I wanted to get a (bleeping) penalty against Nashville early in the” in Tuesday’s game against Detroit.
He was set to retire at the end of the season after a career in which he called more than 1,300 regular-season games and 90 playoff contests.
Context is valuable in moments like this, of course. And Peel would only be example 12,402,003 of a referee or an official using a ‘make-up’ call.
If that’s what it was.
But the optics have changed, especially in the wake of Tim Donaghy, the NBA official who conspired to fix games for betting benefits. (Side note: Is it me or did the NBA do an amazing job of just sweeping that story completely out of the public eye? Because, I know a fair amount about sports, and a fair amount about wagering on sports, yet I know very little of the dirty details of Donaghy.)
Anywell, this is the modern world of the hot mic in terms of sports. Heck, not this side of Thom Brennamen has a career ended as quickly on a hot mic.
And while slurs like Brennamen’s are hurtful and offensive, Peel’s certainly sent a cold shiver through the spines of the leaders of the NHL.
Because in a time of insane gambling expansion, the integrity of every league, every game, has never been more critical.
Was Peel’s slip of the tongue a mistake or a misdemeanor? Hard to know, but even the perception of game-fixing is a nightmare for any league.
Audibles, loud and clear
Man, what happened to ‘Omaha, Omaha,’ the famous Peyton Manning audible that became a thing during his NFL career?
Well, according to this story, a Massachusetts high school football team had its game cancelled for using audibles that included anti-Semitic terms that included ‘rabbi,’ ‘dreidel’ and ‘Auschwitz.’
I certainly can see the offensive nature of the last one.
This is so strange – who would even think of this to begin with, you know – but it would not surprise me if there’s another chapter to this story in the coming days.
It also cost the head coach his job, as the school fired Dave Maimaron. Because firing Maimaron is a pretty big deal considering he was 159-32 and had been the coach at Duxbury since 2005.