I don't think the NCAA has given a fuck in the past 10 years or so.
Everyone (except maybe Vanderbilt) in the $EC and half of college basketball does it. Everyone knows it.
And that's the problem. By turning a blind eye for so long, it's become institutionalized. There's almost nothing the NCAA can do about it now short of blowing the whole product up and starting over. I mean, what happens when the NCAA suddenly takes their governing body duties seriously and starts handing down bowl bans and scholarship reductions to every program that's paying players? Who tunes in when Cal and WSU beat Nevada and New Mexico State in the semis to face off in the CFB Championship Game because every other D1 program is ineligible?
They're not fucking up by turning a blind eye to what Oregon's doing now, they already fucked up way back when their punishment for previous rules violations was a toothy blowjob. Just like they fucked up long ago by ignoring the fact that the Alabama football program is very publicly an exotic car leasing agency.
The damage was done long ago, and now the band aid would hurt way too much to peel off. This is just what it is now: NCAA revenue sports are the semi-pros, with only the most retarded fans believing the "amateur scholar-athletes" lip service. Petersen was voted by his peers (the group who would MOST know) as the most honest broker in college football. I'm not naive enough to believe, though, that this means no UW player is getting paid. I think it just means that the UW staff isn't paying players directly or making those kind of promises. Coach Pete can't play head coach and[/i] booster police.
It's just a matter of degrees. Some programs have boosters that'll treat players right, other programs have coaches who will actually sit down across from a player and his family and flash $10K cash ("Coach, you're not even close," was the response, according to some article I can't find anymore). If you believe that the going rate for a 5-star QB in SEC country is less than six figures cash, I hope you wear a foam helmet at all times, as I'm sure that number has only climbed since Cam Newton's dad was requiring that a whole decade ago.
If I were to propose a solution to the NCAA, in an effort to level the playing field somewhat and reduce the "forgone conclusion" that college football has become at the pointy end (read: broaden fan support), it would be this: Make a very public statement that the NCAA revenue sports model is broken, take responsibility (to the point of listing specific examples of overlooked corruption from as many disparate programs as possible), and wipe the slate clean. The system is too broken to punish the past, but new sheriff in town moving forward:
1.) Hire 130 compliance officers (or however many FBS schools there are), and assign one per school, reporting directly to the NCAA. Member institutions foot the bill for this.
2.) Start actually policing and punishing misbehavior.
3.) Place a limit on non-coaching (e.g. recruiting and "QC") staff. This shit is getting out of control.
4.) Stricter and actually enforced limits on class size.
5.) All scholarships are guaranteed four years across the board, not just in certain conferences.
[/TequillaLongRant]
