The only thing worse than the NCAA

The man who ostensibly heads the most dysfunctional legislative body in the country thinks his peers are just the folks to take on another dysfunctional bunch.

Tuesday, Mr. Reid raised that case in order to make his point: The NCAA demands more oversight.

“Jerry Tarkanian made it into the basketball hall of fame,” Mr. Reid said, The Hill reported. “Why didn’t he get in earlier? Because this courageous man took on the NCAA, which has absolute control over college athletes. I would hope as the years go by that we, as a Congress, will take a look at that more closely.”

Gosh, that’s bound to end well.

(h/t John Infante)

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Spring games? Bah, humbug.

I understand that what Florida substituted for its annual spring game left something to be desired, but so do Pat Dooley’s musings on what to do about spring games.

… I’m not sure what the answer is to spring games, which are getting to be less and less entertaining because coaches — understandably so — worry about injuries. Perhaps the NCAA should allow an extra practice as long as that practice involved no pads and was used as a skills challenge of some kind. My friend Marty Cohen of GatorBait suggested they turn it into a carnival celebrating Gator football. That’s not bad. Of course, in the end we all have to realize that spring practice isn’t for the media or the fans, it’s for the coaches.

Yeah, heaven forbid those who turn over their coin every year to support a football program should get a little pleasure out of spring ball.

Perhaps he can explain why a scrimmage in front of fans is more likely to lead to injuries than one played without a public audience.  Because otherwise I can’t figure out why old farts like Dooley always seem to insist that the best option for the sport is one that delivers less to the fans.

If you want the job done right, do it yourself.

Looks like Rutgers is doing some job outsourcing to the Big Ten Network.

Two people familiar with the situation, who were not authorized to speak officially on Rutgers’ behalf, said Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany is expected to play a role in this search, which is why a preliminary list includes two deputy athletic directors from that conference: Sean Frazier of Wisconsin and Greg Ianni of Michigan State.

Rutgers will join the Big Ten for all sports in 2014, and will reap a financial windfall in future years from membership in the conference.

The only thing I can’t figure out there is why the school is being allowed to go through the motions of hiring an AD.  Eliminate the middleman and let Delany put one of his assistants in charge of Rutgers athletics.  Gotta protect that investment, after all.