PoleVaultPower.com

NCAA sucks. 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.

And I am officially an Oregon Ducks fan.

Behind you 100%.

Oh and one more thing:

Bylaw 11.7.1.1.1.6 : The NCAA can kiss my a**.

nice job, and you are very true, and the NCAA rules are totally ridiculous and make no sense to me at times also, if they take reno away from college athletes they will be starting a big revolution

I agree totally! Our state HS League is pretty messed up too!

Seams almost like they really dislikle pole vaulters for some reason

This "new" thing is making me really glad I'm not under their jurisdiction anymore.

This has nothing to do with the Pole Vault situation at Reno, but it's a good article below about how the NCAA works -- as a business -- since that's what it really is.

The NCAA is far from bliss
By Jason Whitlock
ESPN Page 2 columnist

The NCAA's rules and regulations, coupled with its dogged, single-minded pursuit of TV money, forces its football and basketball participants to be corrupt. It's impossible -- some coaches would say "morally impossible" -- to play by all of the NCAA's rules.

Coaches feel handcuffed by rules they believe prevent them from being real mentors to their players. Coaches feel compromised by the fact that to compete -- to avoid getting fired -- they must recruit players they know won't make a legitimate effort in the classroom. And many coaches feel guilty about acquiring great financial wealth without being able to share it with the young men who make up their "basketball family" and do much of the work.

How can a good man earn $500,000 a year, and yet be prohibited from helping when one of the players he's recruited, developed and nurtured comes to him, crying about his mama being booted out of her apartment because she can't pay three months of back rent? He can't tell the player to get a part-time job. That would interfere with practice or study or even NCAA rules. If the coach does nothing, he risks a distraction that could cost him the full attention of the player -- and/or a rejection of the coach's "we're all family" message. The way the system is currently set up -- all the money, the rampant recruitment of non-student-athletes and mercenaries -- a coach has to subvert the rules simply so he can sleep at night.

The NCAA is rotting on the inside. Its form of athletic governance is outdated and isn't supported by its participants. The quick solution would be to cut the "student-athletes" in on the pay. That won't work. You pay Carmelo Anthony, you have to pay Diana Taurasi. You pay Taurasi, you have to pay the 10th woman on Ball State's team.

Given the money that's being made, there's really only one viable solution. College presidents should admit that Division I football and basketball are minor leagues for the NFL and NBA and entertainment for students, alumni and fans. D-I football and basketball have virtually nothing to do with the academic experience. The presidents need to quit making the coaches and athletes go through the academic charade. This is where the corruption and the cheating begin. The Bliss virus spreads from here.

More:

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/whitlock/030821.html

I believe that article hits on a lot of very legitimate problems we see with the NCAA. I believe there are many more than the ones described in this article, but it illustrates some very well.

However, I do not agree with the solution the article provides. If you read the article in whole at the link, it suggests that student athletes become paid professionals. While I like the idea of reciving a $5,000 check for scoring 6 points at nationals, I think it is totally wrong.

I still believe in the amatuerism and importance of academics in the college athletics setting. I feel things should be moving the other way: sanctions brought against teams and institutions that make a mockery of the term "student athlete". Coaches need to be provided with an incentive NOT to recruit an athlete who has no interest in succeeding in the classroom. Why don't we nail athletic departments in the only place they seem to care; right in the CHECK BOOK.

I love being in the NAIA.

This may fuel the fire, but in the past football season, I have personally witnessed our football team be given two brand new pairs of sandals, countless pairs of recreational shoes, mp3 players, and about once every one or two weeks, restaurants from around town send in 100 or so pizzas so each player can have a large cheese pizza after practice, and thats only what I have seen in my time in our coliseum. And they are worried about vaulters getting "outside coaching"? Give me a freakin break.

i've also been looking into some of the NCAA practices. one thing i found that was surprizing was that the NCAA allows football teams to have 80 scholarships, but they can only suit up 60 players on game day. this means that an athlete on full scholarship could never play a game. there are what around 30 positions in football, not including special teams, right? well, track has 17 events and only 12 scholarships. now, i understand that football makes A LOT of money, and track, well doesn't; although, i didn't think that was the point of collegiate athletics. apparently i was grossly mistaken. why is the NCAA a business? maybe if intercollegiate athletics were run by a non-profit organization, then many of these problems could be squelched. i guess that's the dreamer in me, but it seems like a non-profit org would be a lot less bias- what do y'all think?

along with what has already been mentioned, i have noticed that the NCAA's skewed practices are trickling down to high school organizations. in my state alone, all minority sports schedules have been cut by 5 weeks in the past 3 years, while the football season was lengthened... becuase that makes sense. here's my track schedule:

monday, feb 21- first day sanctioned meets are allowed
friday, april 29- state.

that's 2 months. football is 3 months long. neat.