Mocking the NCAA's "Fines"
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
I wrote about vacated wins last week. I do think they matter. Ask Alabama whether they matter or not if Tennessee manages to pass them in the next couple of years to become the all-time winningest college football program in the SEC. (Post vacation Alabama leads by 2 wins.) But I think fines are absolute crap. Mainly because they're too low. Here's the column.
"Last week, the NCAA's Committee on Infractions brought the "hammer" down on Alabama. They vacated wins, turned a lampshade askew in the football offices, fined the University for the improprieties related to the textbook scandal, and turned the windshield wipers on Nick Saban's Mercedes so they pointed towards the sky. Up instead of down! Oh, snap. The NCAA got straight crazy up in the joint. Oh, and the fine the multi-billion dollar NCAA levied? Try $43,900. That's less than it costs a parent to send their kid to Vanderbilt.
I'm sure Alabama is trembling deep beneath the brim of their houndstooth hats. Especially given that Alabama had total athletic department revenue of $88.9 million in 2007-2008. What's the NCAA penalty for major infractions represent within the context of Alabama's overall budget? Try .0004938 of the overall total.
Let's put that in a context to which we can all relate. The median family in America makes around $47,000 a year. What would that same percentage mean to them if they were fined? A $23.20 penalty. Or about one-tenth what a speeding ticket will end up costing you these days. Yep, the NCAA isn't even as strict as a traffic cop.
A few months ago, I moderated a panel of NCAA and college officials at Vanderbilt Law School. There was an NCAA attorney, a past member of the NCAA infractions committee, the acting head of an SEC athletic department, and an attorney who appears before the infractions committee on a regular basis. Near the end of the panel session, I asked a question that I think is representative of the feelings of an average college fan:
"Many fans believe that the NCAA acts as a glorified traffic cop in this day and age, randomly pulling over a program every now and then for speeding when everyone else is flying by at the same time."
Now I feel like I was too kind, the NCAA isn't even as onerous as your average traffic cop. So apologies to traffic cops across America, even though I hate you and believe you're worthless, you're more effective than the NCAA."
Continue here. Labels: ncaa fines too low claynation alabama
Posted by Clay Travis at 2:49 PM
 
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