He's Back

Welcome back self. I know, I know, it’s been a long time. I probably don’t have any regular readers anymore, so I guess we can start from scratch.

I have a lot to catch up on. For the record, I would’ve picked Mayweather over De La Hoya and the Warriors over the Mavs. I’ll definitely be blogging about the playoffs this week.

I kinda missed the NFL draft too. I thought Brady Quinn was suspect and I was glad that the Dolphins (my favorite team) didn’t pick him. Teddy Ginn wasn’t the best pick at that spot, but he’s exciting and can make plays. I know he’s small, but I think he can still have an impact. Cleveland will probably suck again this year, and Dallas will have an excellent draft choice next year.

Since I am a Dolphins fan, I’m horrified that the Patriots were able to get Randy Moss for a 4th round draft pick. Our cornerbacks suck, and with Brady throwing the ball, I’m sure Moss will want to play more often. The Patriots have like six or seven serviceable receivers and one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. With their coaching staff and defense in place, I’m penciling them down for 14 wins this year without looking at the schedule.

One of the most interesting things I’ve seen recently though are the latest results from the NCAA’s Academic Progress Report. Some of the hardest hit schools are HBCU’s, especially those in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina.

BCS schools accounted for about 10% of the schools affected. The most prominent of those teams were Arizona’s football team, Iowa State’s basketball team, and Cincinnati’s basketball team, which was notorious for poor graduation rates during Bob Huggins’ reign.

Most HBCU’s don’t have big pocketbooks in general. Those hit by Katrina are probably in a dyer financial situation. They can’t really afford to poor money into academic programs and other things that may hide academic performance. Not to suggest that anybody may be cheating.

This shows that once again, money makes the world go ‘round in the NCAA. They come out with an initiative to penalize athletic factory schools, and most of them get over. On top of that, the schools that sometimes lose money on sports end up getting penalized for being poor.

I don’t know how they can fix this, but they should have mercy on those schools, especially any school hit by the hurricane. Many parts of the region are still in the same shape they were in almost three years ago when the storm hit. If a school is already poor, to have to rebuild from a storm is one thing. To rebuild an athletic program in addition is another thing. To have to deal with NCAA strong-arm tactics is backbreaking and could be fatal to a school’s athletic programs, which could in turn cripple a school in general.