Everything has been going so swimmingly for the University of Colorado Buffalo’s Football team the last few years. What with their 2-10 record last season and the massive controversy that has encircled this program for roughly the last 5 years. So it should come as no surprise to anyone that the Buffs Football program has been placed back on probation. Now, the NCAA usually only imposes probation upon programs for only the most egregious offenses against the notion of amateurism. The egregious offense that the CU is guilty of? Not charging walk-on’s the full rate for the training table that feeds all scholarship players in all sports and is usually between 6 to 8 dollars. What a stunning example of blatantly flouting the clear and concise rules that NCAA imposes upon all who reside within their domain. Basically the Buffalo’s punishment will be one scholarship per year for each of the next three years. They also have to donate 100,000 dollars to a food based charity of their choice. This punishment is absurd beyond thought. First of all why is that even a violation of rules. They were not giving walk-on’s free meals, those kids still had to pay what every other student had to pay for a meal plan. I am not an expert in the difference between a meal plan meal that every other student received, and the training table the athletes dine on, but it can’t be that big of a difference. So what is the big deal here, what is the issue? As far as I can tell this is a not an Office Space grand conspiracy devised by the athletic department to funnel money into a separate account just for kicks. Sure it was a violation of rules, but clearly no one gave it a second thought. Which is strange when you think about the time period involved. 2000 through 2005 which unappropriated nicely the period of greatest scrutiny for the CU Athletic Department. Maybe the punishment has something to do with that, which is completely absurd, but this is the NCAA so anything is possible. Besides, if there was a conspiracy to screw over the NCAA, the place to kick off that scheme would certainly not be with walk on’s and their methods of feeding themselves. The question you have to ask is would any other school guilty of a similar offense be cost a scholarship? If USC, Texas or Notre Dame did the same thing would they lose a scholarship? Not a chance in hell; it just wouldn’t happen there. This offense, which happened over a period of 5 years has to be construed as a, from the NCAA’s perspective at least, example of the dreaded lack of institutional control. Because when I think about an institutions ability to control its athletic department the first place I would look for evidence is about as far away from the training table as I could get. There is no similarity to the events of a few years ago where recruiting visits under Rick Neuheisel’s staff resembled Nelly’s video for Tip Drill. How can anyone construe this to be a major offense. There is nothing about the offense that merits a punishment even close to the one being levelled on Colorado. Losing one scholarship per year for the next three years for that? Unless you are seeking to prove a point and make an example of a program who has, in the past, shown a blatant disregard for the archaic rules of the NCAA. The people in Boulder are livid, and I can really see their point.
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