As I’m reading an article on ESPN about the U’s suspension, I could not agree more with the point that Dana O’Neil is making. If you want to read the article, here it is. The article talks about how the penalty that the University of Miami received is historically much softer than any other when talking about the magnitude of the violations.

She is absolutely right.

I am not a believer that just because somebody got penalized less than me for something, it means that the penalty against me should be lowered. Every situation is different and there are different penalties for each offense, but that is not the point. Of course this seems like I am very bitter at the fact that Ohio State was punished harshly and The U was not. 

You’re right. I am bitter. But more than being bitter, I am shocked, amazed and disappointed in the NCAA’s rulings against The U and other rulings as of late. For those of you who haven’t read up on the punishment for Miami, or don’t know the violations, they got knocked a total of nine football scholarships over the next three years, and three basketball scholarships over the same time period for blatantly receiving improper benefits for years by a guy named Nevin Shapiro.

I mean, there was evidence on evidence on evidence that this guy provided that showed how guilty Miami was. Back to when this happened three years ago, almost everybody and their mother was thinking “Death Penalty” for the Miami football team. To quote Neil, the NCAA reported that the investigation contained “18 allegations with 79 subparts and 118 interviews of 81 individuals. The written record included 15 binders of documents, totaling thousands of pages.” A total of 12 athletic scholarships between two teams over the course of three years is what they came to.

What?

Ohio State was docked several football scholarships, money, and the biggest punishment of all: a one-year bowl ban. All of this punishment was based off of exchanges totaling $14,000 spread among 5 players. I don’t like to search for pity in this case, but it is absolutely ridiculous based on these recent events. The thing is, at the time of the punishment I thought it was completely fair. Ohio State cheated the system, covered it up and was penalized for it. We all swallowed our pride and accepted the fact that all we received for going undefeated last season was a street sign temporarily renaming a major road in Columbus, “12-0 Row”.

Fine. The past is the past and last year’s Ohio State team would have gotten smacked by Alabama anyways. But that is beside the point.

Let’s talk about another case that occurred just earlier this year: Johnny Manziel receiving much more than $14,000 dollars by himself for signing autographs… what was his punishment you ask? A team-mandated penalty resulting in Manziel sitting out the first half against Rice. 

The NCAA couldn’t “find any proof” that Manziel had accepted money, even though there is a photo of him signing autographs looking the cat who swallowed the canary. To go along with that, an autograph broker comes out saying that he was paying Johnny fat stacks of cash on the reg for autographs…

I want to let this issue pass over my head but I can’t do it. Miami gets a slap on the wrist for their players getting paid salary by a guy whose now in jail because of a Ponzi scheme. I’m not a fan of being “guilty by association”, but in this case their association with Nevin Shaprio only goes along with the facts. Either the NCAA has some new, shitty investigators or they are deciding to just loosen their control nowadays. One thing that I do know is that a three-year investigation surrounding thousands and thousands of improperly received dollars should not go unnoticed… and it essentially is.

I’m not the one reading the documents and the evidence, but I know enough to put two and two together. Like most of you other math savants, I agree that those do not add up to 12 lost scholarships and a pat on the back reminding them to not do it again!

Maybe it is that I’m bitter about the lack of punishment The U received. Maybe it’s that I’m delusional about the severity of The U’s violations. Or maybe, the NCAA needs re-evaluate the state of their “legal system”, because like Dana points out, I’m sure people like Kelvin Sampson of Indiana and Bruce Pearl of Tennessee are not quick to forget the impact the “legal system” had on them.

It’s absolute bull and everybody knows it. Cheers, Miami.