As regular readers of this blog know, I maintain that the NCAA’s administration of big-time intercollegiate athletics has outlived its usefulness for a long while. On the heels of a shooting incident in Houston over this past weekend that killed one of the area’s most promising high school football players, the NCAA once again proved that it has taken over-regulation to new heights of absurdity:
Just hours after Oklahoma football recruit Herman Mitchell was shot to death Friday in Houston, Adam Fineberg started raising money for Mitchell’s family.
But after raising $4,500, enough to cover almost half the cost of Mitchell’s funeral, Fineberg stopped. An OU compliance officer told him his actions would constitute an NCAA rules violation against the Sooners.
Now, Mitchell’s mother likely will never receive that money.
That money is considered illegal financial assistance under NCAA rules because Mitchell’s brother is a sophomore fullback at Westfield High School in Spring, Texas, and because Fineberg is an OU fan who attends Sooner football games and solicited donations through an OU fan Web site. [. . .]
OU spokesman Kenny Mossman said the an official with the university’s compliance office contacted Fineberg on Monday asking to him halt his fundraising efforts until the OU received a rules interpretation from the NCAA. That interpretation came Tuesday.
“This is not a permissible expense for OU or someone who could be construed as an OU supporter,î said Mossman, an associate athletic director for communications. “We’re not trying to be the bad guys, but we have to play by their rules.î
OU could apply for a waiver that would allow Fineberg to resume his fundraising and allow the Mitchell’s family to receive the money, an NCAA official said late Tuesday.
“We would consider that if the university chose to go down that avenue,î NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said.
All heart, those NCAA folks, eh?
Update: After a public outcry, the NCAA comes to its senses.
The NCAA lets OU’s Kelvin Sampson cheat, blatantly, and then skip to a better job at Indiana, with barely a slap (more a tap) on the wrist.
But this matter is black and white for them?
Unbelievable, isn’t it?
Tom:
It’s okay to disregard the rules so long as one’s heart is in the right place? If you’re okay with boosters giving money in cases like this, do you draw the line at death? How about allowing money to go to a recruit’s family if they need money for an (otherwise) uncovered medical expense? how about if they need a new car?
“It’s okay to disregard the rules so long as one’s heart is in the right place? If you’re okay with boosters giving money in cases like this, do you draw the line at death? How about allowing money to go to a recruit’s family if they need money for an (otherwise) uncovered medical expense? how about if they need a new car?”
That’s why the rule exists, and while we all would think the NCAA would have enough sense as to see the difference and issue an exemption, the younger brother is why this becomes an issue.
So a mother’s burying her son = driving new car?
If someone wants to start a fund to support education efforts directed at improving this nation’s analogical reasoning, let me know where to donate.
The NCAA granted the waiver. The booster is allowed to give them the money for the funeral.