Welcome back to Failure to Monitor, the series about the NCAA and how they’ve been shaped by scandal. Last week, we took a look at the origins of the NCAA, and how the modern organization functions. We saw that it was born out of necessity and that their authority comes from the precedents they set. Today, I’m going to tell you about the first chance they got to set a major precedent. While the first few years of the NCAA’s existence were relatively quiet, the scandals came in fast and hard in the 1950s. And although they doled out punishments to multiple schools, one in particular set the tone for the future: the University of Kentucky. Continue reading
Category: Sports
2021 NFL Mock Draft
I know I’ve said before that I’m not a big NFL fan, but I absolutely love the draft. Continue reading
Failure to Monitor: The Founding
Welcome back to Failure to Monitor, a series about the NCAA, and how its sordid past shaped what it is today. Before we can talk about its past, we obviously have to talk about what the organization is, and how it started. Because with the NCAA, the scandals go back to day one. So join me, as I give you a brief overview of how the NCAA works, and how it started on its path towards domination. Continue reading
Introducing a New Series: Failure to Monitor
So, one of my assignments for my audio production class is to create a podcast series, with an emphasis on the production and mixing involved. I of course chose to talk about college sports and the NCAA, so I’ve gone all-in on it. But it’s an intro class, meaning the mixing is definitely not professional quality. So, in the interest of protecting your ears, I decided to adapt it into a blog series as well. For the next 10 weeks, I’ll be posting my new series: Failure to Monitor. Continue reading
The NBA’s Treadmill of Mediocrity is Getting Crowded
If you asked any casual fan what topic has defined the NBA over the past few years you’d probably get one of two answers: super-teams and tanking. Teams are either stockpiling superstars like they’re toilet paper at the start of quarantine, or they’re hoping nobody will notice that they’ve been playing Shelvin Mack 23 minutes a game. This race to the top/bottom means that the true losers are the teams stuck in the middle. And thus, the “treadmill of mediocrity” was born. Continue reading
Why College Football’s Parity Problem Isn’t a Problem At All
If you’ve paid any attention to college football the last few years, you’ve probably heard one major complaint. “The same three teams win it every year, so what’s the point of even playing?” College football is built on chaos, but chaos only comes from parity. And the claim that the dominance of a handful of teams is bad for the sport isn’t exclusive to football. The Warriors heard the same gripe while they built their dynasty. On its surface, this looks like a sound argument. If casual fans feel like they know who will win then there won’t be any suspense, so they won’t watch. However, hard evidence exists that proves this theory wrong. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the English Premier League. Continue reading
Dear Colleges: Stop Making Students Pay For Tickets
Everyone knows college students are broke. It’s basically a universal constant. Every dollar not spent Thursday night ends up going to something completely unnecessary like a 50-pound bag of rice. Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything, that’s a purely hypothetical example. College administrators know this better than anyone, probably because they’re the ones taking all the money. So why do most schools make students buy their own tickets to football games, basketball games, etc.? Continue reading
The Death of the Mercenary Coach
Every college football fanbase tells themselves the same thing. “Our coach loves being here. This school is his home and he’s committed to us forever.” For most of the sport’s history, this simply has not been the case. The coaching landscape has been dominated by what I like to call the “mercenary coach”. Continue reading
The 10 College Football Moments I’m Thankful For
College football is an incredible thing, and it’s had its share of memorable moments. From the band on the field to Hail Flutie, every generation of fan has witnessed many unbelievable plays. So to show how thankful I am for this sport, I decided to countdown the 10 most memorable plays that I’ve been fortunate enough to watch in my lifetime. Continue reading
Recapping What Really Matters in College Football: Week 10
College football is the embodiment of chaos. If the Joker was a hat guy, he’d wear the NCAA version of Rob Lowe’s NFL hat. Because of this, there is no shortage of dumb stuff happening on any given Saturday. Sadly, the media doesn’t like to cover this side of the sport, and instead focus on unimportant details like “crazy highlights” and “who won the game”. But not this guy. That’s why I promise to bring you the official list of all the stupid goings-on in college football (hopefully) every week. Continue reading
