My thoughts on the NCAA coming in after projects by entities like SI

[xxxWalkTheDawg]

Is that it can start to get out of hand and even manipulate college football. Can you see ESPN doing a hit piece on Alabama, LSU, or Georgia even is something falls in their lap? Nope, they have to protect their investment. But what if something comes up about... Say.... Michigan State? ESPN can run a piece or series on Michigan State cheating, the NCAA follows them in, and punishes them. But say Alabama has done worse with solid info and ESPN sweeps it under the rug?

the end result is ESPN is then picking winners and losers when they should be impartial.

There is a lot of talk among OSU folks that there is an OU homer heavily contributing to the SI stories. So when SI is done with OSU, the NCAA lets SI do the work for them and is forced to act. Therefore SI just picked a loser when OU may be as bad or worse.

College football is big business and there are big money fanatics in high places out there. If you can get a player or two from a rival team to talk.... You can bring the program under sanctions while you personally hand your team' recruits cash. I personally don't believe in too many coincidences. And the fact that OSU was chosen to win their conference while playing as good as OU the past couple years makes it interesting if an OU fan is contributing to the story.

And the level of incompetence and Bloat there are at the NCAA, they will be too busy chasing stories than even making it look like they are being impartial.

 

[57stratdawg]

I agree with your premise, but I'll counter by saying while ESPN might have an agenda to protect the SEC, Yahoo!Sports, Wall Street Journal, FoxSports, Sports Illustrated, etc. do not. I'm pretty sure Dan Wetzel of Yahoo broke the Nevin Shapiro/Miami story. Does that mean that ESPN swept it under the rug a few months earlier? Maybe, maybe not, but the story ultimately broke. ESPN was the only news story that really reported much on Manzhiel's autograph gate.

I think the market is big enough to keep this type of collusion from happening.

 

[Heawww]

I don't think there's any doubt there are conspiracies.

I'll be that OU and Texas are in some way involved with this OSU deal, just like Alabama and Florida were ultimately behind Cam Newton, just like Ole Miss and Tennessee were ultimately behind Will Redmond, just like Alabama and Texas were ultimately behind Manziel-gate. Did they do something against the NCAA rules? Maybe, but nothing that is enforceable if people keep quiet. And certainly nothing that all schools don't do from time to time.

Ever notice how the hard evidence is what usually indicts schools like USC, Miami, Alabama, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Ohio State?

I'll bet any of you that within 3 years, there will be be smoke circulating about some improprieties at Louisville. The Kentucky fanbase is just about boiled over with throat cutting hatred and jealousy right now.

 

[AFDawg]

I agree. Media outlets competing with each other means that somebody will always be looking for a scoop. And for every powerful school, there's another powerful school that hates it.

 

[121Josey]

Is that it can start to get out of hand and even manipulate college football. Can you see ESPN doing a hit piece on Alabama, LSU, or Georgia even is something falls in their lap? Nope, they have to protect their investment. But what if something comes up about... Say.... Michigan State? ESPN can run a piece or series on Michigan State cheating, the NCAA follows them in, and punishes them. But say Alabama has done worse with solid info and ESPN sweeps it under the rug?

the end result is ESPN is then picking winners and losers when they should be impartial.

Compare this with politics. The media sweeps things under the rug to protect their politician or issue. But as said above, those people that want to progress in their journalistic careers want to break these stories. We can't hope that the piece-meal, Mr. Magoo investigations of the NCAA are ever going to catch anyone (at least until they take the guilty until proven innocent approach).

Manziel would have never been investigated had it not been for employees of ESPN pushing a story. State got put on probation because DeSinner went on every talk-show he could to spread the news of the cheaters in StarkVegas (while he was the one taking the benefits). The NCAA has shown time and time again that they operate on the waves of public perception.

ESPN is not impartial. ESPN is a FOR-profit conglomerate. Impartiality is just a facade.

 

[xxxWalkTheDawg]

There may be a canceling out effect of sorts with the competition in media, but the stories where there is a lot of digging, effort, and investigation into a story like the one on OSU. If SI just didnt bother, We would have never heard a word. OSU would skate on what they do just like Texas and OU does.

the Manziel story was different for ESPN. Not saying it necessarily wouldn't have reported on it anyway, but they had to jump on board with it. There wasn't a whole lot of digging that had to be done to show Manziel had ran awry this offseason.

now just for the sake of conversation... People get tired of hearing the name Alabama in the BCS champ game and ratings begin to fall and ESPN makes less money. Now for some reason people just love Georgia. ESPN would have millions more viewers if Georgia won the SEC and played in the Champ game. At the same time ESPN has an Auburn grad on staff that is tired of them losing to Alabama. There is a meeting and then bam. The excavation of any information begins. The NCAA comes in afterwards and acts on the case. It don't have to be bad.... Maybe just a pump of the brakes like a loss of scholarships and a one year bowl ban. ESPN then just picked a loser. Even though Georgia does the same thing Alabama does and ESPN knows it.

 

[Hanmudog]

Could SI possibly be risking a defamation suit?

I don't know the details of this case and I am sure OK State is guilty as hell but what if all SI has is hearsay and a few witnesses with no solid proof (Cecil Newton)?

Just looks to me like SI is way overstepping their bounds and making it too easy for rivals to carry out their vendettas without going through the NCAA.

 

[coach66]

Looks like we better invest more in our journalism school*. I think you may

have a point but it appears to me some of this may have to do with these media establishments being fed up with the NCAA not doing their job and they are out to prove it ain't that hard.

 

[Married to a Dog]

Doubtful.

Could SI possibly be risking a defamation suit?

I don't know the details of this case and I am sure OK State is guilty as hell but what if all SI has is hearsay and a few witnesses with no solid proof (Cecil Newton)?

Just looks to me like SI is way overstepping their bounds and making it too easy for rivals to carry out their vendettas without going through the NCAA.

I don't think OSU or the named boosters and coaches want any level of subpoena powers inserted into these issues.