While Alabama and Kentucky each are having better seasons in recent years, both are ineligible to play in bowl games this year because of NCAA sanctions against their athletic programs.
One has to feel sorry for these schools, especially Kentucky. How long has it been since Kentucky was actually a competitor in SEC games, much less had a bowl-eligible record?
But the teams will have little to show for it: no banners to erect, no trophies to bring home and no rings to wear.
A group of guys was considering this situation the other day. Graham Thomas, a Reveille sports writer, came up with a solution for Kentucky and Alabama fans who say they deserve to be in a bowl and claim the NCAA shafted them. The NCAA should begin a new bowl: The Cheater’s Bowl. The first one would feature Alabama versus Kentucky. What a game that would be.
Enron and WorldCom could sponsor the bowl. Since both companies are in financial disarray, it may be difficult for one company to foot the whole bill, but between the two they should be able to muster up the sponsorship money. Even if they must cheat their stockholders once again, it would add to the event’s mystique.
Where would the NCAA hold such a blockbuster event? A place noted for questionable practices would be the best sell for the Enron/WorldCom Cheater’s Bowl site selection committee. It may begin looking for a suitable site in Miami-Dade County where a slight dimple in a ballot could be enough to overturn a presidential election. There is also New Orleans, a city with notorious political corruption that reported precincts turning out at 110 percent in a 1996 election. I am sure you can come up with other suitable sites — submit ideas to the committee.
Could this event be annual? There are enough cheating athletic programs to keep this bowl a profitable alternative for years. The NCAA hasn’t issued the “death penalty” for infractions in more than 15 years, when it canceled Southern Methodist University’s football season. As teams keep getting away with unethical behavior, more will risk it. In upcoming years, we could see more teams facing bowl bans and we’ll have an even larger pool of potential participants.
Some argue Alabama was guilty of allegations that were as serious or even more than those committed by SMU program, but it was not given the “death penalty” due to its program’s legendary status. According to the NCAA, the “death penalty” is only given to repeat offenders. Alabama is guilty of violating NCAA rules three times since 1995. Some consider the 2002 violation is to be one of the most egregious a university ever committed.
SMU had 21 players who allegedly received approximately $61,000 in cash payments from funds provided by a booster with the assistance of athletics department staff members. Payments ranged from $50 to $725 per month and occurred while SMU was on probation.
Alabama boosters paid more than $100,000 for a defensive lineman, offered a player a vehicle in exchange for attending Alabama and took it away after he transferred, held parties featuring strippers for recruits and let boosters run wild doling out cash and favors to players and recruits. There were a dozen allegations against the program, many of which involved large sums of money.
“They were absolutely staring down the barrel of a gun,” said Thomas Yeager, chair of the NCAA’s infractions committee. “These violations are some of the worst, most serious that have ever occurred.”
Yet Alabama’s program went on to play this year. If repeat offenders don’t receive the “death penalty,” then who will? The NCAA has given out 20 bowl bans since 1987. It has banned 10 schools from television and seven have faced scholarship cuts, according to ESPN.com. It is showing athletic programs that illegal recruiting, as well as paying student athletes, is all right, that is, if you are a prominent program.
This atmosphere will give the Enron/WorldCom Cheater’s Bowl years of success and allow it to feature match-ups between many prominent athletic programs.