The NCAA has
been receiving a lot of negative press throughout the past three years, mostly
due to its official procedures as well as their lack of following them. This first came to the public’s
attention in 2010 with the antitrust case O’Bannon
v. NCAA. More recently, the NCAA investigation involving the University of
Miami has received numerous headlines not only for rule breaking on the
Hurricanes’ part but on the NCAA’s part as well.
The
University of Miami received its Notice of Allegations from the NCAA this past
week. The documents were extremely bad press for both parties involved. Several
recruiting violations by the Hurricanes were highlighted, and the NCAA outlined
several of their major mistakes in the investigation process as well. While
these mistakes in collecting evidence of Miami violations are likely to help
the Hurricanes in their official hearing this summer, University of Miami
President Donna Shalala seems to be preparing to take athletic association’s
case to the next level in a real courtroom by using her former connections on
Capitol Hill from when she served as the Secretary of Health and Human Services
under former President Bill Clinton. And because the University of Miami is a
private college and not public so as to be considered a part of the government,
it could bring up multiple charges that public schools would otherwise not be
able to, such as defamation of the entire athletic association or school that
otherwise would have to be brought up by individuals within the case.
Due
to the fact that the courts have been favoring the plaintiffs’ side in the
O’Bannon case, especially by not issuing a summary judgment at the request of
the NCAA, collegiate sports and legal experts are saying a possible trial
involving Miami as well could lead to the demise and power of the NCAA.
Multiple collegiate athletic directors are rumored to have been thinking about
leaving the NCAA already and are simply waiting for a major catastrophic event,
which could possibly happen in a trial involving Miami, where they can
successfully propose the idea of leaving to their university president. Once
one major athletic association does this, experts believe that other major
programs will do the same, resulting in not only loss of respect and power of
the NCAA but possibly the demise of the entire organization as well.
Although
the NCAA has experienced scrutiny amongst programs and college sports fans for
not following proper investigative and enforcement procedures in violations
cases for years, there is a statement on the NCAA’s main website highlighting
its “immunity to due-process standards,” which would be a very strong defense
in the courtroom. However, the enforcement staff for the NCAA disregarded the
majority of advice given to them by their legal team in the Miami
investigations. If Miami did bring their case to trial and a summary judgment
was not granted, legal and sports experts predict that numerous other illegal,
unethical and corrupt activities committed by the NCAA’s investigators and
enforcement staff will be brought to the public’s attention during the
discovery process, leading to further scrutiny and possible demise.
The
NCAA is currently reviewing and editing all of its policies that member
athletic associations will vote upon in the upcoming months. This has occurred
at a time when NCAA President Mark Emmert has been questioned by member schools
on his effectiveness in the organization, although NCAA committees say that
they continue to support him.
I've never been too fond of Mr. Emmert myself, especially after the recent shenanigans involving the University of Georgia's Kolton Houston. Houston was interviewed last weekend by ESPN about being injected with a banned substance unknowingly in high school due to a shoulder injury. He is currently ruled ineligible to play, even though he has said that he has not used any banned substance since. (For the full story, click here. To sign or view the online petition, click here.) After hearing Mr. Emmert ramble on and on at the Atlanta Sports Summit in April about how the NCAA's job was to "protect all student-athletes on the collegiate level," it seems to me that the the main evil monster that the student-athletes need protection from is the NCAA itself.
