Mark Twain’s advice should be ringing in Bill Hancock’s ears right now.
… On the Sugar Bowl benefiting from Ohio State’s suspended players being able to play in the game: “I think even if those players had not played, the stadium was almost full and I think it would have been even if they hadn’t played. I think the national interest in the game would have still been the same. I just don’t buy that there was any benefit to the game significantly or to TV or to college football in general from them having been there as opposed to not playing.”
Delusional or cynical, take your pick.
Get The Picture 
If those guys hadn’t played about 90% of the TVs would have been off by halftime rather than everyone staying up late to see the outcome… because Arky would had it locked up.
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+1
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Then… why did they play?
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So if the NCAA dropped a bombshell tomorrow and declared Cam Newton ineligible again, Hancock would be totally cool with that, right? I mean, he’s just one player, and this is the national championship game we’re talking about. Small potatoes!
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Compliance and setting examples. Like we need more money just like you players. We sell you like you sell your rings. Honesty, intergrity, sound judegment, and leadership…well hell…that is not something the NCAA and the certain colleges and confernce leaders understand. That is why CMR should just do it…ask for foregiveness and play dumb rather than ask for permission. Sorry, but I want to keep my job and pay for food and sheler for the missy and children. And you compliance people with your hype and words can just go to hell.
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E. Gordon Gee should also have it ringing in his ears:
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5998053
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The NCAA, ESPN, and its advertisers ca$hed in big time. The conferences just gained more negotiation leverage for their next TV contracts.
The fact is the general public doesn’t care about enforcement of the rules. They just want to see the best players.
Now don’t act surprised when the Ohio State players go pro.
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Sports_TV_52/Sweetest-of-Sugar-Bowls-for-ESPN.asp
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What is their penalty if they leave?
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There is no penalty.
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They made a pinky promise with the Sweater Vest…you know that is binding…
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I wonder if Ryan Mallet thinks that Soloman Thomas had an impact on the game?
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Why doesn’t the NCAA just quit making any rules. Drop the marginal FBS programs back to FCS and let the big boys duke it out without any rules. Back to the day of Bear signing 150 players not because he wanted them but because he could keep everybody else in the SEC from getting them. Back to the good old days of Jock Dorms so the coaches could actually know who was out late and drunk before the cops had to tell them. There are just too damn many rules and with more rules there are more rule breakers. The NCAA is only doing what the state and Federal government does all the time, making rules they won’t enforce or selectively enforce. Heck it’s the American way, if you are a great big State school with a mean as hell President and AD then the NCAA is scared of you. If you are a middle of the road program and make a mistake they will destroy you. Don’t hold your breath for the Auburn punishment and wait until the USC appeal is heard before you say that they stoned USC. Besides USC is really a small wealthy private school and as such can’t bring the government pressure to bear as easily as a state school.
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“…let the big boys duke it out without any rules…”
I’m in if we can hide a folding chair in Jacksonville and bash it over the head of any Gators venturing close to the goal line.
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I’m in, too. I’ll be in the upper deck with a tranquilizer dart rifle. I’ll get’m at the 10. They’ll never make it across the goal line.
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What if twenty or thirty schools just ditched the NCAA altogether, played each other and made their own TV contract, created their own playoff system under their own rules? If more than a few of those schools were big time programs people would watch. By year three the NCAA would go tits up.
Is the NCAA like the IRS? Is there no escaping their authority?
More realistic would be for the conferences to DEMAND equal protection under the NCAA’s laws. OSU shouldn’t get a pass. USC shouldn’t bask in the glow of Championships for months or even years before punishment is rendered. Right now, there is a very uneven field. The NCAA seems to be unfair and biased towards certain programs.
Hey, I admit this is silly, but what else to do on a sleety Sunday evening when the wife is a grouch? Entertaining myself here.
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