Commentary by Dale Brown,
Former LSU Basketball Coach
If the NCAA really cared about changing the system, they would have an open forum and discuss the issues. We all know about the untouchable sacred lambs that break rules but are never investigated properly by this archaic and dysfunctional organization.
Brent Clark, a former NCAA investigator, appeared in front of a congressional hearing and told them, "I believe that the NCAA enforcement machinery allows NCAA personnel to inflict selective punishment upon institutions."
John Moss, who was chairman for the subcommittee on oversight and investigations , chaired a 1978 congressional hearing on the NCAA enforcement program, which was prompted by allegations of unfairness, inequality, secrecy, and other abuses of excessive power. He stated, "I have been writing administrative law in this House for more than a quarter of a century and I have never seen anything touching this kind of integrity and procedure. It appears that they are more interested in punishment than justice."
Walter Byers, former NCAA executive director for 36 years, was candid and honest when he strongly stated, "Time and circumstances have passed the entire system of intercollegiate athletics by. The management structure has become bureaucratic and irresponsible. I believe they no longer have the right to run a big time national entertainment business, with virtual blanket exemption under the antitrust laws just because they profess a noble dedication to amateurism. Reform will not come from within. The beneficiaries of the current monopoly will not give up a good thing."
I have always felt the NCAA were masters at legislating against human dignity and practicing monumental hypocrisy.
Well-respected journalist Frank Deford said many years ago, "The NCAA as far as I know, is the most successful potent cartel in this country and why it survives without any court challenges is beyond me."
The Gestapo tactics used by the NCAA against some schools is deplorable. Those that break the rules should be penalized. The school, innocent fans, players, and coaches should not suffer. Mike Lopresti of USA today years ago was so accurate when he said, "You measure injustice not by the guilty who are punished but by the innocent who are victimized."
Larry Donald, formerly from Basketball Times, wrote the following about the dysfunctional NCAA, "The principle shortfall of the NCAA has always been that its number one mission has not been to serve its constituents but to preserve its own operation. When the NCAA wins an investigation it justifies its existence."
I do not accept the theory, that everyone cheats in college athletics, so why shouldn't we? Yes, there are some big time cheaters that seem to be immune from any NCAA sanctions. However, most coaches I have known are honorable men.
I have known so many good people in the NCAA office that desperately wanted to see changes in the system and their voices were never heard.
The NCAA has come a long way and I applaud them for that but they still have light years to go and light travels 186,000 miles a second. The NCAA operates under two standards and everyone knows that.
Edmond Burke, 18th-century British author and statesman, warned us that, "Justice is itself the great standing policy of civil society; and any imminent departure from it, under any circumstances, lies under the suspicion of being no policy at all."
I wish I could have done more to have changed the unfair and crooked NCAA enforcement standards. What has gone wrong with collegiate athletics ? It isn't that complex. Greed and double standards of enforcement, it is that simple and sad.
The dictionary describes hypocrisy as a false claim to virtue, insincerity, pretentious, sanctimonious and misleading. To view a paramount example of this on You Tube, just write in "12 Powerful Minutes With Lester Earl" in the search box, exposing the NCAA's manipulative and corrupt investigative procedures. The NCAA has never apologized to LSU, Earl or me for their despicable tactics.
Said Aldous Huxley, a prominent English philosopher and writer, " Facts don't cease to exist because they are ignored." The NCAA has ignored the facts and have been void of any form of seeking the truth or having a conscience. Conscience is simply a moral sense of right and wrong.
Numerous times, I have thought why after all these years am I still seeking justice and the reason is a quote I read some time ago by Martin Luther King. "You died when you refused to stand up for Right, Truth, and Justice."
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