Forget It, College Sports are Dead

Over the past five years, it’s been increasingly tough to say that collegiate athletics is in good shape and was operating properly. If there was any doubt, any whatsoever, that college athletics are in a death spiral, it was killed dead today. Not by the NCAA, not by a coach, but a state court in Lubbock.

Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who made more than 9,000 bets worth more than $90,000 in his collegiate career, is eligible thanks to an injunction from Judge Ken Curry, who said Sorsby will suffer “probable, imminent and irreparable injury” if he’s not allowed to play this fall.

What a bunch of horseBLEEP. Yeah, his probable injury is going in the NFL Supplemental Draft and getting taken in the second or third round. Oh, the horror.

This guy was betting on everything. He bet on Romanian soccer games, for crying out loud! And he also bet at least 40 times on games involving Indiana University.

WHEN HE WAS PART OF THE TEAM.

Professional sports hold a very dim view on betting on your league, and betting on your own team means you get the sports version of a beheading. Shoeless Joe Jackson knew about members of the White Sox planning to throw the 1919 World Series but is now largely thought to have not taken part. He was banned for life anyway. Pete Rose, the all-time hits leader? Bet on baseball. Banned.

There are instances in the NBA as well where players bet on their games and were summarily banned for life. You bet on your sport, you’re done. Period.

Unless you’re in college football with a friendly judge, then you can bet all you want and miss games against Abilene Christian and Oregon State.

What a damned joke.

This isn’t like Diego Pavia or Rashaun Agee, who argued that their eligibility should be restored due to multiple injuries or time in the JUCO ranks (or both). This is a player who actively bet on college football, including his own team, and he gets off with a slap on the wrist.

If the NCAA appeals, the case will go to the Seventh District Court of Appeals in Amarillo — where all four judges are Texas Tech school of law graduates.

So screw it.

Johnny Manziel has two years of eligibility left and has nothing better to do. Time to get that MBA and come back to play quarterback. Taurean York wasn’t drafted, so go bring him back too.

If there are no rules, there’s no reason to act like there’s any spending limit. You want Josh Dobson AND John Meredith? Buy them both! Since this is now a no holds barred cage match, let’s go! Spend that cash. Make the cash machine go brrr brrr brrr.

You think those ideas are ridiculous? A judge just ruled that a player who bet on his own sport — his own team — is just a poor widdle boy who needs to play with his footybaw.

Sorsby’s 22 years old. He knew better. He clearly knew better. Since betting on sports is illegal in Indiana if you’re younger than 21, Sorsby had another family member set up an account for him and bet that way. Does that sound like some poor widdle boy who just made a boo-boo?

Of course it doesn’t. This ruling is a joke, a travesty and, even worse, shatters any concept of NCAA authority over anything. It’s done. Finished.

The NCAA certainly deserves a lot of blame for its own demise, since it basically threw up its hands after the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against it in O’Bannon v. NCAA, a ruling that allowed for NIL to take off. We knew the transfer portal was corrupt from the start, with teams tampering and throwing big money at players to get them to leave their current schools — or, in some cases, their new schools. What happened? Zilch.

The NCAA cried, and are still crying, for the federal government to save it. Yeah, right. When’s the last time both houses of congress and the president worked together on legislation that made anything better? As President Reagan said, the nine scariest words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

The NCAA now realizes it’s in a bad spot. But it’s too late to do anything about it. Texas Tech blatantly tried to buy a national championship in softball — they failed — and now they’re trying it in football. Now there are only two ways to stop them from continuing their spending spree: either ostracize Tech (which other Big 12 teams are reportedly considering) or have someone come in with so much money that can bury Tech.

Neither’s a good solution. There are no “good” solutions. This is an absolute disaster and everybody knows it, except for Ken Curry out in Lubbock. But the Good Ole Boy system remains alive and well, so GUNS UP!

Ridiculous. These clowns took the NCAA out behind the barn and shot it. There’s nothing left.

So go weapons free, A&M. You’ve got the money and clout. Show ’em how it’s done. It’s the only real option left.

Thoughts on the recruiting weekend

The big deal from this weekend, to me, was getting momentum back with 5-star linebacker Kaden Henderson. That seems to have definitely happened, and I feel good again about where A&M stands with him. Getting him would be a huge boost for the class, as they’d have a potential MIKE committed. It would also be another major recruiting coup that could sway other big names in A&M’s direction.

The situation with John Meredith and Josh Dobson continues to baffle me. Meredith was in town last week and the coaches are clearly enamored with him; on the other hand, it’s about a 50-50 deal between A&M and Texas for him. Dobson, on the other, would be all in if A&M asked him to commit tomorrow. So Mike Elko and company may have some thinking to do. I honestly have no idea which way this is going to go. They may end up with one or they may not get any if they play it wrong.

After Dontay Tyson committed to Washington Friday, I speculated they might go hard after 4-star WR Damani Warren during his official visit this weekend. Seems like that exact scenario played out and the Aggies and now it’s between A&M and Michigan. He visits Ann Arbor next weekend. And then we wait.

One underrated part of the weekend was the ability to solidify the bond with two 5-star offensive linemen further. Kennedy Brown and Mark Matthews were both in town and they were reminded of why they picked A&M in the first place.

As it turns out, this was probably the last really big recruiting weekend as most of the other targets have committed elsewhere and the Aggies know who they’re really after. We’ll see how it all plays out.