Some odds and ends as the offseason really starts to set in:
*Nice Little Tuesday in Norman
First, Muskogee’s own Stacy McGee gets tagged for marijuana possession. Then, the NCAA dings the Sooners for some secondary violations.
I can’t remember if I’ve ever written about this before, but I don’t get why people tend to conflate the typical “off-the-field” issues – drugs, bar fights, etc. – and “cheating.” For some reason, people lump the two issues together.
Frankly, I could care less about the vast majority of the disciplinary stuff. Breaking the rules bugs me far worse, even though I realize the NCAA’s principles of amateurism are utterly ridiculous.
Am I alone on this?
(When I made similar comments about this on Twitter earlier today, my buddy Mark Ennis of The Collision Course got after me for supposedly taking Urban Meyer to task last week for all the arrests and whatnot when he was at Florida. Au contraire, my Schnellenberger-worshipping friend, what pisses me off about Meyer’s new crusade against the “garbage” in college football is the hypocrisy of him decrying the professionalization of the sport without acknowledging that he’s part of that problem.)
*Snitchin’
Obviously, workout-gate raises some big questions:
- Who dropped the dime on the coaches?
- Did the snitch refuse to sign the workout log because it was inaccurate or because of some beef with the coaching staff?
- What does this say about Willie Martinez?
No idea on the first two, although presumably it was a defensive back. As for Martinez, if he left a voicemail for a player, that just seems incredibly stupid.
*Hoop Thoughts
Sorry, Sooner fans, but time to prepare yourself for the worst – Texas looks like the best “tournament team” in the country to me. The Longhorns defend really well and have the ability to generate points at just about every spot on the floor. They’re a complete team.
As for a sleeper, keep an eye on Louisville. Don Juan of the john Rick Pitino has his team primed to explode next month.
I also think George Mason will make some noise.
*Attack of the Ivory Tower
Michael Felder of In The Bleachers has an interesting new podcast up with Steven Salzberg of the University of Maryland about the place of football in the university today. Salzberg, a Maryland professor, recently wrote a piece for Forbes magazine arguing that major college football no longer has a place in higher education.
As much as I love college football, from a public policy perspective, Salzberg’s position has merit. I actually think the pay-for-play proposal put forward by John Infante of Bylaw Blog addresses concerns on all sides.
*Couch Potatery
Lights Out is probably my favorite show in the rotation at the moment. I also really like The Chicago Code. Archer is my kind of raunchy humor, but for some reason it has yet to reach can’t-miss status.
Apparently Dane Cook was on Hawaii Five-O the other night, so that’s one show I’ll likely never watch again.
Thought Law Abiding Citizen started with an intriguing premise but fell flat. Watched the first 30 minutes of Surrogates with Bruce Willis and can’t remember the last time I was that uninterested in a movie.