The NCAA has once again been caught red-handed, deep in another scandal as of Nov. 5. Files were released in a court case against the NCAA, revealing controversial emails stating that the NCAA was unsure if it even had the jurisdiction to impose sanctions on Pennsylvania State University after former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 out of 48 counts of sexual abuse of minors. In emails following the announcement of the sanctions that would be imposed on Penn State, NCAA administrators bickered back and forth about the actual flaws in t case regarding the sanctions. In a response to an email sent by NCAA Vice President of Academic and Membership Affairs Kevin Lennon to former NCAA Vice President of Enforcement Julie Roe concerning the points of potential flaws in their case, Roe called the sanctions “a bluff.”
The emails continue to go back and forth, stating that Penn State would not question the NCAA’s actuality of jurisdiction because Penn State was, according to Lennon, “so embarrassed that they would do anything.”
The Penn State sanctions were lifted back in September with an agreement to pay a $60 million fine to the NCAA, which would be used as a fund for sexual abuse survivors. In an effort to get all of the money spent in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Sen. Jake Corman uncovered these controversial emails in a file released in court.
I believe the days of the NCAA as we know it are coming to an end. The institution is losing its credibility and jurisdiction with every mishap it has had over the past few years. The NCAA has made self-inflicted wounds that prove it does not possess the ability to properly manage collegiate athletics. With all of its public blunders, the NCAA has begun to provide the facts that are building a court case that will be one day be used against it to dismantle its authority.
Who or how college sports choose to manage the almost $1 billion per year of revenue the NCAA generates is up to whoever chooses to pursue the organization in this inevitable trial. When it happens, college sports will change as we know it.
The final straw has been drawn in the tolerance of the general simplemindedness of these NCAA officials in the rising amount of doubt regarding their intent to represent the NCAA core values of “the highest level of integrity and sportsmanship” as a governing body.