OSU Admits Problem

I guess Andy Geiger is wrong. Ohio State University isn't beyond impropriety. The university now admits that starting quarterback Troy Smith got a "gift" from a Buckeye booster. The gift violated NCAA rules and the contribution got Smith suspended for the Alamo Bowl.

When Geiger, the OSU athletic director, was asked about the possibility of Maurice Clarett's accusations of gifts, money and other perks, Geiger went postal. His vehement, demeaning denial of Clarett's assertions were laughable even before the Smith incident arose. Geiger's response is the problem with big-time college athletics.

What Geiger and every single other AD, college president and head football coach in Division I-A needs to do is stop the charade. Everyone is breaking NCAA rules and not just the obviously stupid ones, either. Most schools are, at best, bending the rules on academics, contributions and anything else that deals with the old school notion of amateurism.

The funny part is that university administrators actually talk about the old world concepts of student/athlete like they ever existed. Using academically ineligible players, paying athletes under-the-table and renegade booster clubs are older than Knute Rockne. Yet, the schools, their alumni and fans all love to chirp about their institution's "clean program". Please.

The Marx Brothers did a movie where Groucho, playing the dean of a university, headed off to a local speakeasy to entice some local ringers to play for his football team. If the Marx Brothers could come up with a plot, (I use the term "plot" with the Marx Brothers loosely) based on using ineligible football players during Prohibition, how remote was the concept way back then? Does anyone really think that the situation has improved with all the money now being tossed around the nation's football stadiums?

Yet, school officials and fans continue to play pretend. They don't want their party ended. Instead of facing the truth and revising the rules of eligibility, they lower academic standards, create special degree programs and find new ways to keep their athletes students. Never mind the graduation rate or the fact that many of these specially designed credit hours won't transfer to a community college. Just keep the kids on the field come Saturday.

Frankly, I stopped caring about all the illegal activity years ago. Let 'em cheat. Just like the diehards, I don't want my season bogged down with all this academic and improper benefit nonsense. If the universities don't care about their own standards, that's fine by me.

Just spare me the "My school does things the right way" garbage. That's the tone Mr. Geiger set forth. We can see how well that has turned out.