A part from Steven Godfrey’s Crooked Letters, the definitive story on the NCAA vs. the state of Mississippi and, if we’re being honest, large portions of the entire NCAA. This comes from toward the end:
Every NCAA scandal has one thing in common (hint: it’s the NCAA)
Mississippi is just one of the latest examples.
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Nothing about what happened here has changed anything about the mechanics of college football. There is only one lesson here: Don’t get caught. Ever.
And if you had a rooting interest for or against any person or program or institution in this story you can’t be satisfied.
If you believe the absolute worst about the NCAA — that they’re profiteers of a free labor system who seek to punish anyone who undermines that process all while having the gall to pass off their scam as an educational enterprise — you can’t be satisfied. The NCAA fake cops did whatever they could to shoehorn, manipulate, and omit information to fit a case that was rubber stamped by the NCAA’s fake court.
[Similar sections on some others whom you might consider to be this story’s institutional bad guy, depending on your point of view -- Ole Miss, Hugh Freeze, Mississippi State, or Dan Mullen -- and how nothing really changes all that much going forward for any of them as a result of this NCAA scandal (since Freeze was fired for, well, something loosely related).]
This will keep happening. All of it. Even the NCAA said the culture stretches over decades.
Nothing here has changed. Except, possibly, the life of Leo Lewis. Before the 2017 season, many in Mississippi thought Lewis would declare for the NFL Draft at the conclusion of the year. That didn’t happen. Playing with an NCAA investigation and civil trial hanging over his head, Lewis had his worst year as a Bulldog. Following a redshirt freshman season that saw him record 79 tackles in 2016, he had just 46 this past season. He will return to Mississippi State in the fall, still the subject of a civil suit that could one day take away the honest money he does make from football.
The NCAA would tell you the victim in the Ole Miss story was some common noun like amateurism or integrity. Counter with proper nouns, the names of actual humans:
- MSU linebacker Leo Lewis and defensive end Kobe Jones face legal jeopardy via fallout from NCAA testimony.
- Ole Miss players and coaches miss at least one bowl game that they otherwise earned.
- Ole Miss staffer Barney Farrar fell from the SEC to a JUCO position.
- The NCAA wants Ole Miss apparel store Rebel Rags to lose its core identity.
- And so on.
This is nothing particularly new for the NCAA. The names, dates, locations, and lofty estimates for the cash value of a night’s stay on a futon change, but one thing remains the same in every case: the NCAA attempts to impose order on a system that’s been crooked since literally Day 1, and regular humans then pay for the non-crimes committed by rich people.
More college football
- But wait, there’s more! SB Nation also unveils its first TV show, free for streaming here and on Verizon’s free go90 app, with Apple TV and Chromecast connects for all that stuff. It’s likewise about the NCAA vs. Mississippi. Everybody likes the show.
- A trip down the rabbit hole: what happens to West Virginia if Alabama had hired Rich Rodriguez after all?
- My hottest take on this Alabama transfer drama is that someone should just be chill and let the young man transfer.
- With Vegas releasing season win total odds, it’s time to pick some teams that will (or very much won’t) meet expectations. Bud Elliott lays out 13.
- Is West Virginia both underrated and overrated entering 2018?
- Utah should contend for the Pac-12 South in 2018, but 2019 is the year to really watch out for.
- Stanford, a consistent winner (still weird to say!) needs a bit more than just Bryce Love to win the Pac-12 North.
- FSU defensive preview: a whole lotta talent flying in whichever direction.
- ”Punting is the option we all know and love,” Land-Grant Holy Land writes about the state of Ohio State’s QB recruiting.
- A history of five-star starters who transferred elsewhere is pretty encouraging for Michigan.
- Texas’ AD teases playing A&M at some point. Update the tracker.
- The Shutdown Fullcast brainstorms how to make coaches actually earn their massive contracts for a change.
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