The Corner of Controversy and Criticism- 8/9/2018
This weekend on the corner we dive into rule changes, regulations not being followed and asking the question if breaking the law could be a staged event. Recently, the NCAA has some proposed rule changes that will allow any player not drafted or signed to return to college. All the sources I’ve read give me a sense that this is a shock to the NBA and the USA Basketball program. The NBA differs from the NFL because in the NBA you only have two rounds where in the NFL you have seven rounds. After all the controversy with players and their families taking money this is the best move the NCAA could have made. I think this really hurts NBA’s Developmental League more than anything. Usually if a player goes undrafted a team will sign them to a developmental contract. I think this gives players more of an incentive to stay in school and get an education. Going forward I will be very curious to see how many players declare for the draft or wait a year or two when they know their stock as a player is at full value. I have always thought College Basketball is a great place to become a better player. College Basketball has always been more competitive, more intense and has more high pressured situations. If you don’t believe me just watch March Madness. I will stand firm in my belief that March Madness is more competitive and tougher than the NBA Playoffs. With all those factors I could see the NBA Developmental League take some huge losses, but only time will tell to see if that happens.
The NCAA has also been in the spotlight again thanks to controversy in College Football. Ohio State Football Coach Urban Meyer has been put on administrative leave for lying about one of his assistant coaches being investigated for domestic abuse allegations. I have to ask the question to the college sports programs and that is when are you people going to learn that covering up domestic abuse, sexual abuse or any other form of misconduct is pure stupidity? Have people not learned from Joe Paterno, the people who protected Larry Nasser or the issues that Baylor had in the past? Sports in general are not above these issues and should not be taken seriously. College Sports are worth millions but that money is not worth the hurt and pain that these people go through. I find it comical that a rally was held in support of Urban Meyer that included only 100 people and last a whole 20 minutes. This makes me believe that the majority of the campus does not fully support him and wants an example to be made of him. I also find it comical that Ezekiel Elliott’s dad was there considering all the issues he’s had since he’s turned pro. Multiple media outlets have said that Ohio States investigation into this will last up two weeks. After that we will find out if Meyer held accountable for his actions or will the Ohio State protect him?
Speaking of being held accountable it was announced on October 6th that Conor McGregor would be making his return to the UFC after his incident at the Barclays Center. McGregor went to court over the Barclays Center incident, but he basically got a slap on the wrist with his record being clean with no criminal charges. This really leads me to believe that part of this was staged and behind closed doors that is what they told to judge behind closed doors. The only reason I have that belief is that if anyone else would have done what McGregor did they would have faced serious jail time without a second thought. I think the incident was staged but it went terribly wrong due to the fact that Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg were injured. If this were real you would have to think Chiesa and Borg would file a civil lawsuit against McGregor for the injuries that were caused. The only others options are that they settled out of court or they were to keep quiet by Dana White. There are a lot of suspicious things here to make me think that this whole story was to create buzz for McGregors fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Obviously the UFC, Dana White and all the parties involved aren’t going to come out and say this thing was scripted. If they did they would be looked at differently then they are now. They are doing WWE better than WWE does, because they are making everyone believe what happen was real and intentional. On October 6th, McGregor won’t have to fight Mayweather or cause a scene at the Barclays to get the attention he wants. He’s going against one of the most dangerous fighters in the world who happens to be undefeated in Khabib Nurmagomedov. If he loses this fight then all of this has been for nothing except for a great paycheck.
It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in the sports world but it’s about to get crazier. The NFL preseason is starting up and in about six weeks from now we will be talking about the NBA and NHL starting up again. October is always a fun month because you have MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, College Football, and NASCAR all going on. If you like controversial topics that need to discussed keep on the lookout, because I am sure there are going to be plenty of them. Until next time, be safe, be strong and remember that Controversy Doesn’t Come Without Criticism.
