Anyone else agree?
This whole Pole Vault Summit thing has really set me off.
As Becca has just posted, it is considered a violation for student athletes to attend clinics set up by the pole vault summit due to it being regarded as seeking "outside coaching".
This year that rule was not enforced in all conferences except the Pac-10. The Pac-10 notified the schools that it would intrepret this rule to the letter and any athletes found to attend a clinic would be in violation of the rule and face to be reprimanded.
Other conferences did not eforce this rule this year, but it sounds like the NCAA will be enforcing this rule from the national level from now on.
What is the sense of this rule? The pole vault is one of the most dangerous sports in the NCAA, and any opportunity for athletes to learn more about the vault from the worlds best coaches will increase safety for everyone. But the NCAA has their heads so far up their a** and is so anal about enforcing the smallest rules, that they are making a big issue out of something that should be welcomed with open arms.
Meanwhile the NCAA loses focus of its goal......
This brings me to my main point. What is the focus of the NCAA? To promote the excellence of student athletes on and off the field? In your dreams. Its all about the $$$$$$. Anybody watch a BCS bowl game? Each institution is involved pockets $25 million. The NCAA a whole lot more off the top. Anybody watched March Madness? Imagine how much money is made on that for the NCAA and athletic departments around the nation. I wish I had the number but its a lot. Teams and players are now walking advertisements for one sports apparel company or another. What happened to amatuerism? I don't care whether they're making money for themselves or not. If they're making money for someone or something, they're professionals. But we were talking about excellence on and off the field. Guess what the graduation rate is for D-I basketball players is?
Under 35%.
Excellence off the field? I think not. Does the NCAA care? They may say they do. But do they act like it? Hell no. If they really cared there would be sanctions against teams that don't pass a certain graduation rate. But they'll never do this? Why? $$$$$$$. And they say its not about the money. Bullcrap.
Anyway, if you've made it this far thank you for listening to my ranting and raving. Here's my final point. It pisses me off how the NCAA is so anal about all these bs little detail rules like attending a clinic at reno or sending volunteer coaches to an exhibition meet. Meanwhile they are losing complete focus of the point of they're organization because they are having some much fun doing double back flip gainers into the piles of money they have made off us, the hard working student athletes while they enforce all of these stupid little rules.
I'm done and even more pissed than when i started.
