While Rome burns, the NCAA fiddles

[PCM]

I don't buy the argument that the NCAA has more important things to worry about than athletic teams using American Indian nicknames, logos, mascots, etc. Every governing body that's ever existed has dealt with smaller issues while pondering and studying larger ones. It's human nature to handle small issues to create the perception that things are getting done while more difficult issues linger.

My problem with the NCAA in terms of the American Indian nickname policy isn't that the organization took action to "solve" the problem, but that it chose to ignore its own constitution and bylaws to leapfrog this issue over all others.

There was obviously little or no thought put into determining how this policy would be enforced on member institutions that chose not to comply with it. Myles Brand and the executive committee simply assumed that when the 800-pound gorilla spoke, everyone would get in line to grovel before it. And with the exception of UND, Brand and his like-minded buddies were correct. So now the NCAA finds itself in the position of having to enforce a policy that doesn't exist in the rulebooks that govern its championship events because the organization's members have not voted on or passed such rules in accordance with the NCAA constitution and bylaws.

I do think it's reasonable to ask the NCAA this question: If hostility and abuse at college athletic events are such despicable behaviors that they must be stamped out by extraordinary means, and if creating an atmosphere of respect for all is so vitally important that NCAA members can't be trusted to find a resolution themselves, why is this behavior allowed to continue in much broader and more pervasive forms? Is it not the height of hypocrisy and discrimination for the NCAA to claim that one race of people deserves special shielding from allegedly hostile and abusive treatment while everyone else must tolerate and endure behavior that is, without question, hostile and abusive?

Two recent articles contrast and compare the borader problem of hostility and abuse in college athletics that the NCAA appears to have little interest in tackling.

From the San Antonio Express-News:

Rubs Me Raw: "The Brawl" proves that the NCAA is weak

It's interesting how the NCAA finally won its struggle with mighty McMurry University. In its quest to rid the world of schools with nicknames that create "hostile and abusive" environments, it wore down the tiny school in Abilene and forced it to drop its morally reprehensible nickname, the Indians.

Speaking of "hostile and abusive" environments, did you see the Orange Bowl in Miami on Saturday?

Yes, this is another rant about the Miami-Florida International brawl. What rubs me raw is that Miami was soft in its actions following the brawl and that the NCAA is unable to do anything about it.

From the Columbus Dispatch:

SPOILSPORTS

Alcohol and late games don

Edited October 22, 2006 by PCM

[Tommiejo]

Hey PCM I agree with you 100% on this one. Furthermore let me AMEN from the gallery there.

[The Sicatoka]

That's the true nature of my beef with the NCAA.

You expected less from the NCAA Executive Committee, a group of exclusively university presidents?

Read this excerpt from "The Shadow University". You'll understand (not like you don't already). (More excerpts here.)

What remains of the '60s on our campuses are its worst sides: intolerance of dissent from regnant political orthodoxy, the self-appointed power of self-designated "progressives" to set everyone else's moral agenda, and, saddest of all, the belief that universities not only may but should suspend the rights of some in order to transform students, the culture, and the nation according to their ideological vision and desire.

Sound familiar, or exactly like Myles "the NCAA is a catalyst for social change" Brand?

What's most noteworthy to me in this is that Dr. Charles E. Kupchella is standing up for true liberty.

PS - Before folks start ripping on the book as conservative clap-trap, it'd be good to note one of the co-authors is a Massachusetts ACLU attorney!

[PCM]

NCAA president Myles Brand certainly has some interesting ideas about the autonomy of member institutions.

The president of the NCAA didn

[PCM]

More positive press for Dr. Brand.

Let

[PCM]

Oh! The hypocrisy of Myles Brand!

"It's disappointing to see violence in college football games," Dr. Myles Brand said Friday during a panel discussion at the State University of New York at Oswego on the impact of media on sports in the United States.

"The NCAA from the national office can't police all those sites. The handling of individual incidents is properly the job of the local college or university."

It must be nice to pick and choose when institutional autonomy begins and ends, eh, Dr. Brand?

"We're seeing amongst players, and even in some fans' behavior, some unacceptable levels of violence and disruption," Brand said. "Does it surprise me? It's always unfortunate when it happens. In some ways, it's not new. We all hoped it would go away, and we all hope we can get on the front end and work with the student-athletes and others very early on so we don't wind up in these situations."

True hostility? Real, live, nationally televised abuse? All the NCAA can do is wring its hands and hope things get better.

"We don't want to censor the media," Brand said. "We have to understand that the ability to deal with those kinds of issues isn't so much in the punishment. The horse is out of the barn by the time that happens."

No, of course not. You simply want to dictate which team nicknames are appropriate to say on the air and which are not. That's not censorship, is it?

"Human nature being what it is, we will always have incidents of this kind," Brand said. "Our reaction has to be not to see if the punishment is too large or too small, but what can be done on campuses in the future so that our young people understand why that's unacceptable behavior."

In response to previous concerns, the NCAA has offered sportsmanship seminars at its annual convention, urged schools to adopt standards regarding fan behavior, and provided leadership conferences for nearly 3,000 student-athletes.

How convenient. Racial stereotyping, also a product of human nature, is a problem that Brand and the NCAA Executive Committee members believe they can solve by issuing a decree, but real, well-documented hostility and abuse among sports fans and "student-athletes" can be solved by urging schools to "adopt standards" and hold "leadership conferences."

Isn't that special?

[dagies]

Wow. Amazing that documented hostility cannot be managed, but perceived it can be managed.

[SiouxMeNow]

excellent points PCM!

[Tommiejo]

Hey PCM good job, now that's doing your homework. For the record, I really do mean that a whole lot.

SIOUX FAN SINCE 1973.

[farce poobah]

This thread should be in the Hall of Fame.

Simply outstanding.

[KEH]

This thread is too deep for this UND Junior...But it is nice to see what the NCAA God himself is like!

[PCM]

Now here's an issue in which the NCAA feels compelled to become involved.

Group wants men out of women's practices

Allowing male players to scrimmage violates spirit of Title IX legislation, NCAA panel says

In the University of Arizona and Arizona State athletic departments, women's teams routinely compete against male students in practice, but an NCAA committee wants that to stop.

The ASU and UA women's basketball teams criticize the proposal because it would deprive female players of a higher level of competition in practice.

The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics has said the use of male practice players limits opportunities for women, violating the spirit of gender equity and Title IX, a notion that Turner Thorne and UA coach Joan Bonvicini scoff at.

The statement imparts: "To have talented, capable female student-athletes stand on the sidelines during official practice while the team's starters practice against 'more talented men' is a lost opportunity."

[UND92,96]

Now here's an issue in which the NCAA feels compelled to become involved.

Group wants men out of women's practices

Allowing male players to scrimmage violates spirit of Title IX legislation, NCAA panel says

The vast majority of women's basketball coaches are, in fact, women, so it's certainly ironic that the NCAA would essentially say that it knows better than female basketball coaches what is good for female student-athletes. My guess is that influential coaches like Pat Summitt (who I believe was one of the first coaches to use male practice players) get this proposal shot down.

[HockeyMom]

Now here's an issue in which the NCAA feels compelled to become involved.

Group wants men out of women's practices

Allowing male players to scrimmage violates spirit of Title IX legislation, NCAA panel says

The NCAA is getting stupider by the minute. Seriously! It hurts female athletes more by not letting them practice with males thus gaining better skills because they are matched against higher skill levels.

Please no one tell the NCAA that I plan on letting my daughter play hockey with the boys as long as she can so that she can obtain better skills, such as the ones that you learn when you check.....

[coach daddy]

Has to be as stupid an issue as the NCAA has come up with in a long time. My daughter is a college basketball player and they practice just about every day against guys who volunteer their time to come in and help the girls get better. They are bigger, as quick or quicker, and it is hard for the girls every day in practice.

If you have 12-15 girls on your team, how is anyone being deprived of practice time because 7 or 8 guys come in and practice with the team? The NCAA has way too much free time on their hands. I wonder how this even became an issue; someone's mom/dad call and complain at a school like U Conn or Tennessee? Makes you wonder.

[dakotadan]

HA HA HA!!!!! I have to thank BigRedGorilla over on D2football.com for this. He has it as his avatar.

[A.B.T.G.]

It is clear that the real accronym for the NCAA is:

Never

Compromise

Action Groups or

Activists

Let's rid the college ranks of all mascots, I am sure someone is offended by the Whitman College Missionaries in Walla Walla, Washington.....doesn't that name have a provocative connotation as viewed by SOME! I AM OFFENDED!

[redwing77]

Has to be as stupid an issue as the NCAA has come up with in a long time. My daughter is a college basketball player and they practice just about every day against guys who volunteer their time to come in and help the girls get better. They are bigger, as quick or quicker, and it is hard for the girls every day in practice.

If you have 12-15 girls on your team, how is anyone being deprived of practice time because 7 or 8 guys come in and practice with the team? The NCAA has way too much free time on their hands. I wonder how this even became an issue; someone's mom/dad call and complain at a school like U Conn or Tennessee? Makes you wonder.

Bah.

The answer is obvious!

Have the men get hair extensions, require them to be clean shaven (including their legs), and wear padded sports bras under their jerseys. Give them voice lessons in how to raise their voices a little bit and give them fake names during practice. Problem solved.

[Diggler]

Have the men get hair extensions, require them to be clean shaven (including their legs), and wear padded sports bras under their jerseys. Give them voice lessons in how to raise their voices a little bit and give them fake names during practice. Problem solved.

Speaking from experience, are we?

[redwing77]

Speaking from experience, are we?

I did it so I could get full court pressed, if ya know what I mean.

[The Sicatoka]

It is clear that the real accronym for the NCAA is:

Never

Compromise

Action Groups or

Activists

No, it's

Nucleus of

Capricious and

Arbitrary

Actions

[THETRIOUXPER]

How about:

Nothing but

Crooks

And

A-hole's.

[Chief Illiniwek Supporter]

Yes, good idea-increase women's opportunities by getting rid of males. Where have we heard this one before? Oh yeah-every time a men's team (or the number of walkons allowed for men's teams) is lowered or eliminated.

One question: has anyone seen the names of these committee members published anywhere? I hate it when clowns hide behind "oh, it was a committee decison".

Back to the point at hand. At Illinois, the coach of our women's basketball team has used men practice players for as long as she's been at the school-which is at least ten years. Her qualifications include being a Olympic Head Coach (1992), winning a National Coach of the Year award and being elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Additionally, she helped to found the Women's Basketball Coaches organization and has served as its president in the past. She also played hoops, winning a national title in college during the pre-NCAA years. I have no doubt that some of her past players have gone on to coach in college and high school. Her job is to win basketball games and also to turn out solid citizens. If using male practice players is such a bad idea, why are some of the best coaches in the game doing it?

To expand on this, if using practice players stunted the growth of the reserves, the teams that "grew" their reserves by giving them all sorts of extra practice time would eventually win, wouldn't they? Have these teams dominated women's hoops? I doubt it. If this was to start happening, male practice players would be quickly dropped.

As someone pointed out, the simple fact is that women's teams (in virtually every sport) have a hard time attracting competitors. I can confidently say that most schools in the Big Ten have a cap on the number of walkons allowed for men's teams and floors on women's walkons. In the past, the volleyball coach at Illinois has been out recruiting during the first week of school when he should be coaching. Isn't that "limiting opportunities" to learn??? Meanwhile, baseball tryouts have been overwhelmed. But, that's getting away from the point.

To me, its very simple. The people closest to the sport-the head coaches who are both men and women-have adopted the use of male practice players to improve their team. I don't see that their input was valued or even considered. This sort of top-down dictation is not only unpopular, but silly in the long run. ANY team that has an extra-tall assistant coach (who's young enough) probably has that guy/girl tutor the inside players. Is their any difference between the two situations??

[HockeyMom]

I think the whole situation about getting rid of male practice players is dumb. Tennessee uses male practice players- you can't tell me that Pat Summit doesn't know what she's doing. She has more wins than Bobby Knight under her belt......(if Bobby and Pat were yelling at me, I'd be more afraid of her) The only thing that the NCAA is going to do is hurt women by not allowing men in their practices.....

[The Sicatoka]

..... (if Bobby and Pat were yelling at me, I'd be more afraid of her) .....

Is Bobby holding a chair in a "hostile and abusive" posture?