A new school year always brings the start of football season and all the world is right again... or is it? My alltime favorite sport has recently left a very bad taste in my mouth and I'm wondering how long it will take to leave. Here's why... I can't go to ESPN.com and read up on college football team without at least one major college program suspending a member of their team for drugs, sexual assault, felony charges or "violating team rules..." - whatever that means! Meaning they need that player to play and they want to protect any further conversations or investigations happening inside or outside the confines of the university. Really?! - It's getting ridiculous! A few of the programs - FSU, OU, TX, UF, UA, and those are just the ones who are reporting issues to avoid further scrutiny.
Yesterday every media outlet on the planet were sharing the video of Ray Rice hitting his wife in an elevator last February. The video was just released and caused the Ravens to release him and banning him from the NFL. Rice is one of several players who recently received suspensions from the NFL on violence issues. (along with PED,s and drug violations)
So I'm wondering what is different this year than year's past? Are these just making the front sport pages because it is more common, or because the issues have gotten out of hand? - because they have!
How can these pampered athletes who begin their coddled existence early in high school receive free ride when other upstanding students are denied entrance into the same university because they aren't generating the kind of revenue a high caliber athletic program needs to exist.
My solution... IF there is any "suspensions" or violations of any portion of a team policy, behavior, classroom and academic expectations by the student- athlete, the athletic program forefits that athletic scholarship into the general student body where some other deserving student in the university would receive it for the remainder of the year. Both the athlete and student can "re-apply" for the scholarship the following year and reception would be based upon merit and how they lived up to the honor of the scholarship. That would put the pressure on the athletic program to police..their athletes, as well as carefully screen their student-athletes far beyond their athletic abilities.
Let's give the right message to our kids in high school - and enforce it in our college programs. Then perhaps we avoid the kind of behaviors that Ray Rice exhibited.
