The College Sports Forum

A former football player for Kansas University has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA because he wants a pregnancy waiver.

Eric Butler has been declared ineligible to play football this year because of the organizations “5 year rule” which states that athletes have 5 years to participate in four years of sport. Butler says that it’s unfair that the NCAA grants 5 years of eligibility to pregnant female athletes but not to male athletes who father children. Butler took a year off after the birth of his daughter in 2001, and argues that he is just as qualified for that extra year of eligibility.

I’m on the fence with this topic.  I don’t feel like Butler needed to take a full year off, but Title IX calls for gender equity between males and females.  So, I don’t see any reason why Butler should not be granted the extra year of eligibility.  If he is granted the extra year, It would be a breakthrough and would establish a tricky precedent. 

Butler’s case took two big hits last month: 

First, the NCAA Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee denied the final appeal by the University to give the defensive lineman an extra year of eligibility.

Later, a judge in the U.S. District Court refused to award Butler an injunction that would allow him to continue practicing with the team while a pending lawsuit is resolved, according to officials in the Kansas Athletics Department.

It seems even if Butler wins the suit he won’t be able to suit up this year.  I thought this case was very interesting, and I think we wil start to see more and more males trying to gain advantages through Title IX.

I know that my blog is supposed to be about college athletics, but today’s lecture had me thinking about the NFL and the worth of franchises.

The New England Patriots are currently worth the second most money behind just the Washington Redskins.  Each and every year, it seems like the Patriots let a key player or players go, but they still maintain dominant in their division and conference.

Over the past couple of years, it’s been Lawyer Malloy, and Ty Law.  However, this year they let Adam Vinatieri and Willie McGinest go, and Deion Branch is in the midst of a nasty holdout that has the looks of lasting atleast halfway through the season.  Is this the year that the Patriots have let too much go?  We will have to wait for the season to answer that question, but I feel like they gave up a little too much this season. 

Vinatieri is, without a doubt, the most clutch kicker in the history of the NFL.  I mean he was the deciding factor in all three of the patriots super bowl wins.  McGinest is a proven veteran who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, and always made the big play when the Pats needed it.  Finally, Branch won the Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl 39 against the Eagles.  With all the money that the Patriots are bringing in, you figure that they could splurge a little and pay their big time players what they are worth.  I just think this year the Pats front office cockiness will work against them, and they will not be successful as years past. 

Rhett Bomar, the starting quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners football team, was recently kicked off the team for recieving more money than he earned for a summer job.  Bomar was working about five hours a week, but getting paid for working a forty hour work week. Bomar’s actions are obvioulsy against NCAA rules, and Oklahoma had no choice but to kick Bomar off the team.

I don’t blame OU for doing what they did.  They had to dismiss Bomar, because he broke a huge NCAA rule. This incident is not the first for Bomar, he has been cited for underage possesion of alcohol twice.  Obviously, Bomar is a problem child and does not get the team concept nor is he mature enough to accept the leadership role that comes with being the quarterback of a big time Div-1 program.

Let’s face it, Bomar broke the rules, but I can’t say I really blame him either.  College athletes bring in all of this revenue to their respective schools, and they do not see a dime for it.  Yeah sure, they get scholarships but that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of a college students’ expenses. College athletics is a full-time job.  Most sports are a year round thing, and players don’t have time to work.  If my boss wanted to pay me for work I didn’t do, I don’t think I could turn it down.  I don’t know many people on this planet that would turn that down.  Especially if they were in the situation that college athletes are in.

Bottom line, Bomar was wrong and he deserved to be dismissed.  This incident, coupled with the two underage posession charges shows that this kid can’t stay out of trouble.  However, the real issue hear is the struggle that college athletes face with expenses.  The football teams make most of the revenue for their schools.  They are the product, and all they recieve is a pat on the back from the NCAA and their athletic departments.  Right now the universities can’t do anything to compensate their players, because it is agains the NCAA rules.  Hopefully, this will change in the future.  

 Just checkin’ in to let you guys know my blog will be all about college sports.  Any issue, for any sport can and will be disguised.