Steve Sarkisian And The NCAA Athletics Quagmire: A Call to Action for Accountability and Transparency

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The Steve Sarkisian saga continues to roll along as we head toward Christmas and New Years.  The latest chapter involves a lawsuit filed by Sarkisian and his legal team against USC asking for $30 million dollars in damages.  How much of that $30 million Sarkisian gets remains to be seen.  My guess is lawyers from both sides will get together and come to some sort of financial agreement that works out for both parties.  Oh and the last time I checked, having a problem with alcohol does not count as having a disability in my book.  This is coming from a person who has an actual disability, so give me a break please!



By now, we're probably all familiar with the speech from four months ago at a USC pep rally that caused trouble for Sarkisian.



The bigger issue I want to focus on here is that going forward, athletic departments at any academic institution, big or small need to do a better job at looking closer at the individuals they hire when conducting background checks.  I realize that having issues with acoholism isn't something that should not keep an individual from being hired for a certain job position, but common sense would probably tell us that it certainly wouldn't look good to prospective employers who no doubt want to hire the best candidates for any job openings.

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In USC's situation, I really have no idea what USC Athletic Director Pat Haden considered as essential job requirements when he ultimately hired Sarkisian for the USC head coaching position two years ago, especially since it's been well publicized by now that Sarkisian's issues with alcohol date back to his time as head coach for the Huskies at the University of Washington.



From Sarkisian's perspective, he will most likely be given a second chance to coach at some other university or possibly the NFL because we've seen coaches come and go in both the College and Professional ranks over the years.  All I know is that if I were in charge of the hiring process, Sark would have to get his personal life in order first before I would even consider gim him that second chance.



Tim Musick
Copyright 2015
All Rights Reserved.  

Northwestern Football To Unionize?

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The Northwestern Football union ruling last week could signify a monumental to the future landscape of college sports.  Either way you look at it, the issue of whether or not to unionize in college athletics is definitely not so cut and dry.

On the one hand I feel that college athletics, particularly in Division I, has a definite business aspect to even though the NCAA seems to do everything it can to dispute such a viewpoint.  Most recruits are brought into a college for what they can provide on the playing field while a proper college education is pushed to the side in most cases.  Another thing is while former Northwestern player Kain Colter has said the main desire with unionizing is due to medical concerns for players, I find it hard to believe that's the only motivating factor behind the union movement.

As the days have gone by since this news first broke, I have done a lot of thinking as to whether this would be good or bad for college athletics.  My initial reaction was that a union in college athletics would be a good thing overall but now I'm not so sure.

No matter how you or I feel about this movement, I think there will be a time when unions are a part of college athletics in the future.

Tim Musick
Copyright 2014
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March Madness 2014 Is Here!

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For all you college basketball fans out there, the real fun has just begun.  Now I know today is officially the start of the second round of the tournament, but to me the first Thursday of the tournament will always symbolize the beginning of March Madness.

My picks for the Final Four are as follows. I have Florida facing Michigan State in one national semifinal and Wichita State facing Arizona in the other semifinal.  I have Michigan State beating Florida and Wichita State beating Arizona to reach the National Championship.

Drum roll please!  In the National Championship I have the Spartans of Michigan State coming out on top beating the Shockers of Wichita State.  This is a departure from how I usually fill out my bracket because I tend to go all chalk with my picks.  I just don't think Wichita State's magical run will be enough to finish with a perfect record at the end of the tournament.  I also fill out only one bracket for the whole tournament.

In any case, by the time we get to Arlington many brackets will have probably been busted (mine included), but as is the case each year, we look forward to those big upsets where a 13 seed beats a 4, a 12 bests a 5 or by some miracle a 16 ousts a 1.  Good luck to all of you and enjoy the Madness that March has to offer.

Tim Musick
Copyright 2014
All Rights Reserved.

Proposed 10-Second Runoff Rule In College Football Tabled

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When I first heard about this proposal, I had that proverbial palm of my hand to the face moment.  This new rule is just so stupid and idiotic!

For those of you who may have no idea what I'm talking about, the NCAA Rules Committee recently discussed a new rules proposal in which offenses would have to wait for a 10-second runoff of the play clock before snapping the ball on most plays.  The only exceptions would be in the final two minutes of each half and if the play clock began at 25 seconds.  On most plays the play clock is usually set at 40 seconds.  If offenses were to snap the ball before the end of the 10-second runoff, they would have been assessed with a five yard penalty for delay of game.  

The new proposal would have given defenses a better opportunity to change out its players on certain plays, thereby slowing down part of what makes college football and football in general so great: hurry up offenses. Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun also pointed out that the new rule was being considered in the best interest of player health and safety.   I know there are sports fans who say we need to do all we can to create an even playing field in competition and be proactive in terms of player safety. When it comes to steroid and drug abuse by athletes looking to get an edge over their fellow competitors as well as player health and safety I definitely see your point.  When it comes to potential rule changes that have a seemingly negative impact on the overall strategy of a sport however, give me a break!

Tim Musick
Copyright 2014
All Rights Reserved  

Tim's Two Cents-March 18

Jim Boeheim

March Madness is Here!  Let's skip the pomp and circumstance and go straight to my Final Four picks:

Midwest Region-#1 Kansas Jayhawks

West Region-#1 Syracuse Orange

East Region-#1 Kentucky Wildcats

South Region-#2 Vilanova Wildcats

National Semifinals:

#1 Kansas Jayhawks Vs. #1 Kentucky Wildcats.  My pick: Bill Self and Kansas.

#1 Syracuse Orange Vs. #2 Vilanova Wildcats.  My pick: Jim Boeheim and Syracuse.

National Championship:

#1 Kansas Jayhawks Vs. #1 Syracuse Orange.  My pick: It's an upset special as Jim Boeheim and the Orange are my 2010 National Champions.

So there you have it.  We shall see how it all turns out in a few weeks' time.  It was also exciting to see a couple of upsets already as Old Dominion beat Notre Dame in an 11 versus 6 matchup and Murray State topping Vanderbilt in a 13 versus 4 tilt.  Let's keep the madness going!

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Tim's Two Cents-December 23

While I was watching SportsCenter Monday, they were showing highlights of college basketball action from that night.  There was one game that dominated the headlines.

Kentucky Wins 2,000 Game in It's School's History.  After beating Drexel 88 to 44 on Monday, Kentucky became the first NCAA team to reach the milestone.  That's something you definitely don't see everyday.  For one thing, a program or team would have to exist long enough to have a chance to do something like this.  In professional sports, the Celtics of the NBA, the Canadiens of the NHL and the Yankees of MLB are some of the top winning teams in their respective sports.  To be in the same class as them is something very special.

In terms of the Wildcats season so far, they are among the top programs this season in college basketball.  Their in the conversation quite often when March Madness comes around.  They are having a heck of a season so far under first year coach John Calipari at 12-0 so far.  They have beaten their opponents fairly easily and John Wall is this year's breakout Freshman who is sure to be among the top picks in next year's draft.    I'm somewhat surprised that they were the first team in NCAA history to reach 2,000 victories.  I would have thought it would be someone like Duke or North Carolina.  Looking into the near future, Kentucky will be a top favorite to reach the Final Four in March, along with North Carolina.

Tim's Two Cents-December 20

Yesterday while I was flipping through my television channels, I came across a college basketball game between the Texas Longhorns and North Carolina Tarheels in Texas.  Texas was victorious over North Carolina 103 to 90, but that's not why this game was so noteworthy.  The theme of this was all about location, location, location.  Yes indeed.  That's because it was played at the big behemoth that is Cowboys Stadium.  You heard correctly.  Cowboys Stadium!

Try to picture a basketball court underneath THAT video monitor!

Now I'm used to seeing the Final Four each year at a domed stadium throughout the country, but not a measily regular season contest.  The high-definition big screen videoboard in the center of the stadium towered over everything else and made the court look microscopic in size.  There didn't look to be very many, if any, people seated in the upper deck.  Now I guess the obvious reasons for doing something like this would be to have more people attend the game as well as create more buzz for the new stadium.  God knows they need it with the joke of a team the Cowboys are these days.  For a regular season game, however, I don't think something like this is worth it when I can just watch it from the comfort of my own couch.

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