Good morning, everyone and welcome to your regularly scheduled Wednesday Skull Session.
Another Tuesday, another spring football practice for us to discuss.
The practice updates ranged from the ugly (Braxton getting hit wearing a non-contact jersey) to the I-can't-believe-we-had-the-Walrus-two-years-ago awesome (diamond package).
- About that hit on Braxton – I'm glad Braxton gave the defense an earful. It's good for the defense to know that he's tough.
- I feel terrible for Underwood and his ACL. Best of luck in his recovery.
- Interesting to hear backup OL Pat Elflein's name being thrown around. He's likely a guy that not many have thought about since he signed, but it appears his tenacity has him in contention for starting right tackle and/or guard and backup center spots. This also means that Darryl Baldwin is apparently no longer a contender for that RT spot.
- The diamond featured Hyde, Dunn, and Smith – all big guys. Have to wonder whether Meyer and Herman will experiment with a pivot guy like Hall or Jalin Marshall, or a shifty running back, like EzE or Warren Ball, in there too.
- Just in: Cardale Jones has the ability to play QB at Ohio State. That was never a given, but it looks like he has earned Meyer's respect from Saturday's scrimmage.
BAD BEHAVIOR ON THE COURT. Between Pac-12 referee supervisor Ed Rush's bounty "jokes" against Arizona coach Sean Miller and Rutgers coach Mike Rice using gay slurs and throwing basketballs in practice, it's been a rough few days for college basketball.
In particular, this news of Mike Rice is just terrible:
In several dozen hours of video of Rutgers men's basketball practices obtained by "Outside the Lines," coach Mike Rice is seen hurling basketballs from close range at his players' heads, legs and feet; shoving and grabbing his players; feigning punching them; kicking them; and screaming obscenities and homophobic slurs.
Wait, you mean to tell me Coach Rice did this on camera? Let's get some commentary:
+1 RT @kingjames: If my son played for Rutgers or a coach like that he'd have some explaining to do. I'm still gone whoop on him afterwards!
— Kipp Adams/ESPN (@KippLAdams) April 2, 2013
Wow just saw the Mike Rice videos. Unbelievable.Complete disrespect for student athletes but also human beings. And he still is coaching?
— Christian Ponder (@cponder7) April 2, 2013
HAZELL'S WINNER'S MANUAL. USA Today had a nice little write-up about how Hazell is seeking to revive Purdue football.
Hazell's philosophy is built around three things: (1) Tailoring the system to the players and not vice versa, (2) Having confidence in the program, and (3) winning in November.
It's clear to see Tressel's influence in these three points, even if he goes unnamed in the article. "You win championships in the game of college football in the month of November," Hazell said, like a good Tresselian disciple. I'm sure he was barely holding back a "Beat TTUN," too.
I'd imagine that his second point will likely be the hardest. "We've got to change the way we see ourselves," Hazell said. "That's the most important thing." I'm not sure if Purdue will ever change.
The NCAA and its leader may be in for some trouble EMMERT IS NO SAINT. From a failure to blow the whistle while managing building at UConn to systematic plagiarism for football players at LSU, it appears our dear leader Emmert might not have had such a rosy past.
USA Today uncovered quite a bit of dirt in a special report on how controversy has followed Emmert throughout his career. "Rightly or wrongly, he has a history of dodging blame in scandals that have festered on his campuses, sometimes moving on to a more lucrative job before their full extent becomes known."
In addition to his controversial Miami and Penn State cases as NCAA president and the aforementioned scandals at LSU and UConn, Emmert was also behind costly renovations to the University of Washington's stadium and contract for Steve Sarkasian – all from Washington taxpayers' money.
LEGAL MATTERS. Sports Illustrated did the world a giant favor by providing a primer for the upcoming – and enormously important – O'Bannon vs. NCAA court case.
What started off as a simple suit about players' likeness in video games has transformed into a case that will likely alter the status quo of collegiate athletics, if not topple the NCAA entirely. This is fairly extreme rhetoric, but:
If this sounds like a huge deal, that's because it is. Few cases against the NCAA get this far, and the millions of dollars invested by the plaintiffs' attorneys -- many of whom see the NCAA and college conferences as a poor man's Big Tobacco -- ensure this will be a bloody fight
The case escalated in January when a federal judge ruled that the plaintiffs could add current athletes and go after any and everyone who uses the likeness of college athletes for a profit–- yes, that means conferences and networks too.
The NCAA is primarily represented by the Ann Arbor firm Schiff Hardin LLP, so Buckeye fans kind of have their legal rooting interests predetermined.
But what sounds like a clear-cut victory for the players could actually be damaging in the long run, as schools would end up ceding portions of their television revenue in addition to scholarships.
If the class action is certified on June 20, then the NCAA must choose to either fight the case (and potentially lose) or settle outside of court. A loss would be tantamount to bankruptcy for the NCAA, forcing schools to create a new governing athletic agency. Further, it would:
...result in more money for the players, less money for coaches and administrators and less spending on stadium additions and fancy weight rooms. It also likely would require the cutting of some non-revenue sports as departments adjust to decreased revenue.
A settlement would likely result in a super league scenario, dividing the haves and have-nots into groups based upon whether they could afford to pay athletes.
Clearly, this is an extremely complicated case, and there is still no clear-cut best outcome.
GONNA HAVE A LINK PARTY IN MY HOUSE. China has some serious pollution issues... Unfortunately we won't get a prison company stadium anymore... Poor ol' Florida these days... Is #GunnerWatch2013 a thing now?... You know it's a slow news day when everyone talks about this uniform change... "Conference" welcomes Tulsa... Cinderella in college football.
