Burn It All Down

There was a time a few years ago when I would have been supremely excited about the start of the College Football season. I would have been neck deep in writing preview articles for a couple of sites, trying to figure out what teams I needed to keep a close eye on, and trying to learn the "All Name teams" from each of the conferences.

My desk would have been covered with, and my briefcase for work laden down with, three or four preview magazines, and I would have been readying a picks pool with a couple friends and family.

Now? This year?

The piddly little three game suspension that was gifted to Urban Meyer last night by the Ohio State Board of Trustees might have been the final nail in the coffin for me.

Not that I expected Meyer to be a paragon of virtue; I mean, I wasn't born yesterday. But the depths of the blind loyalty he showed to a middle assistant who was wildin' out in about ten different ways (even if you set aside the allegations of domestic abuse) simply because that assistant was related to a former middling Ohio State coach is baffling.

Yeah, I know; Zach Smith was related to Earle Bruce and Bruce was Urban's mentor. But Earle Bruce was also a coach; I think he would have understood, Urban, if you had to let the guy go for any number of reasons. the fact that he was given chance after chance (even with somewhat 'meh' performance reviews) just boggles the mind.

The fact that he was kept on after multiple domestic abuse allegations against his now ex-wife, Courtney, is even more mystifying. And the excuses that were made for Meyer in the report posted by Ohio State leaves one with even more questions than answers.

But it's not just Urban Meyer.

It's the whole shitshow taking place at Maryland, where apparently it took an ESPN story for the administration there to realize that hey, maybe we should do a deeper dive into how our football program is run and how they managed to let a young man die due to the irresponsible actions of several individuals.

Give Maryland credit though: They are least seemed to show some level of remorse and guilt for their actions/inaction. Or rather, at least some of them have—even if it took over 60 days.

Meanwhile, at Texas A&M, apparently there were issues with the culture surrounding the new program as alleged by a former player trying to transfer to Arizona. Practice schedule violations and extra money being given out to use to host recruits isn't as bad as domestic violence or the negligence that leads to a possibly preventable death. But it's still another dark mark that casts a shadow.

And I haven't even gotten to the stupidity of the rules that have players from North Carolina serving longer suspensions than Urban Meyer will...for the catastrophic action...of selling shoes that they received from the program.

I just can't anymore.

Things just feel so broken and so corrupt across the board. Those in power are given more. Those who are in the greatest need or in the weaker position get ignored, silenced, or punished more severely than they plausibly should. And so much of the conversation becomes noise, circling around a couple of talking points where everyone has dug in their heels on one side or the other and no movement and growth and change can take place.

And sadly, it sounds too much like what is happening in other elements of the country.

I lean towards burning it all down. I've long been an advocate of zero based reform of the NCAA and FBS football. Work under the current guidelines for a couple of years, but form a true working group to rebuild everything from the ground up. Look at anything and everything. Don't just tweak shit; toss it all out. Open up a blank Word document and start anew.

Complete culture change is needed. Where player safety is not merely lip service paid to the guardians and parents of the student athletes, but is something that is actually valued and enforced.

Where respect for women is not just a talking point, but something that is acutally deeply and sincerely believed, internalized, and felt.

Where players are actually valued and respected, and their contributions to the coffers of the schools, the conference, and the networks are recognized and rewarded in more tangible ways.

I know, I know; more pie-in-the-sky, naive thinking. Who needs that in this day and age?

To be frank...I do. And you probably do, too.

Otherwise, we will just continue to wallow in this toxic miasma until everything is swallowed whole.