Can anybody grasp the logic here? Because I’m not feeling it.
“Another kid comes along and says I want to play professional basketball,” Emmert said. “We say, ‘Great, come to us. By the way, don’t ever talk to us about that again. Don’t ever talk to anyone in the business. If you do, by the way, we’re going to make you stop playing basketball.’ There’s some component about it that doesn’t make any sense. … There’s some part of that we have to fix.”
Minutes later, Emmert said he doesn’t see change coming anytime soon. It comes down to a societal cultural bias, he said. Music and art have a long history of being academic pursuits. “Athletics, at least since ancient Greece fell, have been something outside of that.”
I’d call that a double standard, except it’s so incoherent it doesn’t even rise to that level. Somebody should tell A.J. it’s the Greeks’ fault.
Every day I grow more amazed that there are supposedly intelligent people who thought Mark Emmert was qualified to run a major university and now the NCAA.
Get The Picture 
All I can say is “Huh”????
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He’s an absolute moron. That said, there are two lawsuits that are going to make him rip his hair out. The O’Bannon suit and the one year contract for scholarships. Oh, not to mention that before long Emmert’s butt is going to be fighting to keep non-profit status. Those are gonna leave a mark.
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I bet they settle the O’Bannon suit in the end. Can’t wait to hear Emmert’s spin on that.
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Won’t that spin be a twisted mess? This guy can’t deliver the message to a group of schook kids that recess is over. He’s that bad.
To me it’s an example that many of the school President’s are merely gifted at glad handling and nothing else. The ones I see quoted sure aren’t thinkers.
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Has anyone noticed that the period of time that Emmert was President of the University of Washington just happens to coincide with the period of worst athletic performance in that school’s history? Why would anyone ever want him to be President of the NCAA? Mike Adams, as bad as he is, would have been better than this guy. I never thought I would say this but I actually miss Miles Brand.
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“We say, ‘Great, come to us. By the way, don’t ever talk to us about that again. Don’t ever talk to anyone in the business. If you do, by the way, we’re going to make you stop playing basketball.’
That’s the dumbest part of a dumb statement. I’m pretty sure they’re allowed to talk to someone in the business. The problem is receiving any kind of benefits from people in the business.
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Well, they certainly can’t talk to agents. As far as talking to people in the business, I have no idea what the hell this guy is talking about. Our guys have every opportunity to talk to Champ Bailey, Matt Stafford, Knowshon Moreno, or any other Georgia alums in or out of the NFL either by phone or in person when they return to campus. Want to talk to an NFL GM or coach? Come cheer on your fellow teammates when they’re trying to get good numbers at Pro Day. Now, you can’t accept free tickets from them, sure. But if we’re just trying to do the sob story that a dude in the business school can do an internship at a sales firm but poor AJ Green has no idea if he can even make it in pro ball because he’s not allowed to talk to people in his chosen industry, well, that’s crap and this Emmert guy is an intellectually challenged individual. That’s the kind of crap that I’d expect from a Dennis Dodd, but this dude’s *running the show*.
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Myles Brand was a world-class buzzkill, but at least you sensed some kind of linear, coherent thought process behind what he said or did. Emmert sounds like his sound bites are put together with Mad Libs (and his rulings are decided upon via Magic 8-Ball).
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Much to its surprise, what the NCAA Executive Committee thought it was getting for effective message delivery when it hired Emmert hasn’t turned out to be that way in any venue:
“But the NCAA decided to go in a different direction, opting for a man they thought could deliver the organization’s message effectively in any venue.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5140803
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As dumb as he sounds he is talking about the conflicting sports draft rules. Basketball one and done, Baseball high school draft but no ineligibility unless you sign and Football end of 3rd year and declare for the draft. Baseball = white sport football & basketball not so much. I think they should let the football players get drafted when the NFL thinks they are ready and if they don’t get drafted high enough they can remain eligible.
Soon some lawyer will attack the eligibility issue of baseball versus football.
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Those aren’t the only things the NCAA isn’t consistent on. When to punish, who to punish and how harshly to punish could use some boundaries.
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Soon? That’s so 2003.
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This may be a crazy idea but I hate how schools cannot plan for the “turnover” due to CFB players leaving early for the NFL, and all the phoney games played around this problem. Why not let the players sign with the NFL early, but have their draft money put into a trust that cannot release more than “X” amount (say $500 per month) until their eligibility is spent? The NFL has a free minor league/deveopmental organization anyway, and few players can make an impact the first 1-2 years. It would allow the players to protect their financial future, stabilize the college programs, and the players could get stronger get more playing experience, and perhaps get their degree.
I know it has a hundred drawbacks from injuries, to restricting the players from realizing their earning potential, and so on, but it is only 30 years since leaving early wasn’t an option at all. This could have advantages for both parties by getting this out in the open and away from the scumbags. NFL teams could always buy insurance to protect their risk. The downside would be the inability controlling how they are trained, coached, utilized, etc. For every argument against, there are some advantages, and ways to make it work. We are all kidding ourselves about them being student/athletes so while this idea certainly has it’s shortcomings, finding new solutions is something that has to happen or the sport we all love will continue to take major hits.
I have always been bothered that athletes put in 40 hours a week at football (training/practicing, studying) and cannot be compensated a dime, while scholastic scholly holders can work in the cafeteria or library and make $7 an hour. It is imperative that we allow those who have no/little spending money to get some honestly or we will force them to break rules. The above proposal doesn’t address all of that since very few players are NFL caliber, but it would help stabilize the college game while not harming the NFL.
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Mr. Emmert has (ambitiously)decided to over haul the entire NCAA process. But it is evident that he has ONLY intentions and not the first real solution. What is worse, he cant even talk a good game. Emmert is way out of his depth. And some of the decisions he has made lately have been either inconsistent or just plain incompetent.
My suggestion?
Talk a little more son, there still a little dirt left in that hole.
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