Their infractions were severe enough, according to the NCAA, to deserve a five-game suspension next fall. Yet somehow the Ohio State Five — quarterback Terrelle Pryor, Mike Adams, Daniel Herron, Devier Posey and Solomon Thomas — are eligible to play in the Sugar Bowl against LSU on Jan. 4. Huh?
Forgive us for even trying to figure out the NCAA’s wheel of justice. But this seems a bit extreme considering Cam Newton‘s father actually tried to sell his son’s services to Mississippi State. Was Auburn involved? There’s no hard evidence it was. But how dumb are we supposed to be? Either the Newtons had a change or heart, they didn’t get the deal they wanted or they just haven’t been caught yet at their current institution.
Yet Newton gets absolutely no punishment from the NCAA. And Ohio State’s players will miss almost half of their 2011 season for cashing out awards, gifts and university apparel. They must repay “extra” benefits valued up to $2,500 to a charity. And, of course, for playing in the Sugar Bowl next week, these same players, including a sixth who was handed a less severe punishment, will be given hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise just for participating. But the NCAA considers those “earned benefits” that are completely legal.
An organization that struggles this much to maintain some sort of consistency with its punishment of student-athletes — as the NCAA so smugly describes kids who go to school and play sports at the same time — deserves all the negative press it gets.
