To hell with the NCAA

The NCAA has brought more than enough misery to my sports teams, the Lord's teams, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. It ran off a legend in Gene Stallings with the first round of sanctions in the '90s. It ran off a weasely but competent coach in Dennis Franchione. Now, the NCAA has run off country singer Alan Jackson.

According to a story in Saturday's Tuscaloosa News, the Gridiron Bash, a pep rally and concert before A-Day with Jackson, has been canceled because of questions regarding the student athlete promotion of the event. The NCAA itself did not appear to have a hand in ending the concert, but the specter of the NCAA's wrath was enough to scare the concert promoters into indefinitely postponing Jackson's performance.

It doesn't matter that 10,000 tickets had already been sold. It doesn't matter that the Tuscaloosa economy could have gotten a benefit from the concert. It doesn't matter that a large group of UA students would have gotten a chance to see someone culturally relevant play in town. All that matters is that the big, bad NCAA asked one too many questions about the event.

The NCAA was apparently concerned because student athletes, namely football players, could be potentially used to promote the Jackson concert. To the extent that student athletes are still engaged in some level of academic pursuits, they shouldn't be treated only as parts of a money-making machine. College athletics, just like the current NCAA marketing campaign is screaming, should be about students getting an education and having fun on the field.

But let's not kid ourselves. The football players that lace 'em up for the Tide are already vital cogs in a multimillion-dollar empire. The Tide brings in money to Tuscaloosa when fans occupy hotel rooms in the tens of thousands. Restaurants and other local businesses make truckloads of money on game weekends. Merchandising and television rights bring even more money to UA coffers.

The players are vital because their wins and losses translate into money. When the team does better, there's more interest in the Tide. And when there's more interest in the team, the University makes more money. Does anyone seriously think A-Day would have brought 100,000 people to Tuscaloosa last year if Mike Shula had still been at the helm?

So, please, NCAA, don't get sanctimonious with me. Many of your member institutions are reaping the benefits of big-time collegiate athletics. One little pep rally with a concert is not enough to destroy your precious, albeit incorrect, perception of athletics.

If the NCAA's meddling wasn't enough, the way they learned of the concert seals the deal on my anger with the situation: An SEC school ratted Alabama out. Another anonymous SEC school complained to the conference, and the conference thought it was prudent to report the concert to the NCAA.

So we've got the NCAA interfering in matters it fundamentally misapprehends, and we've got some snitch in the SEC. (My money's on Auburn or Tennessee. I've got no serious evidence other than a gut feeling, but they're two universities that suck in general.) And we'll be waiting a lot longer than April 11 to see Alan Jackson in Tuscaloosa. A community has lost revenue, and students will miss out on what would have been a fun experience. The NCAA wins again.

The NCAA has never been a friend of the University of Alabama, and it never will be. I won't go so far as to accuse the organization of having an agenda against Bama, but the NCAA seems make existence harder for the University whenever possible.

Enough is enough. The NCAA can't claim to be on the side of universities or students, so why do we need it? The organization serves only to wreck athletic programs and spread misery to those that run afoul of even the slightest of rules. If the NCAA has the time to worry about whether athletes are promoting a campus concert, the NCAA is misusing its time and abusing its authority.

Ruining a football season or two is one thing. But taking away a concert from a student body desperate for entertainment?

Damn. That's just going too far.

Will Nevin is opinions editor for The Crimson White. His column runs on Mondays.