Lack of NCAA leadership obvious
The NCAA is at it again.
Pick an issue in terms of topics with the NCAA and its pundits and it will likely provide answers that can leave people going in circles.
Whether the topic is the new Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules that will allow student-athletes to profit off of their hard work, eligibility issues or transfer rules, the organization seems to make decisions as it goes.
For several months, more than four, to be exact, NCAA president Mark Emmert has steered clear of commenting on what should happen with sports this fall.
Last Thursday, he (finally) commented on the COVID-19 situation and how it is going to affect the college sports world through the end of 2020.
鈥淭oday, sadly the data points in the wrong direction,鈥� he said in an official NCAA release. 鈥淚f there is to be college sports in the fall, we need to get a much better handle on the pandemic.鈥�
Emmert sure earned his $3.5 million a year salary with that obvious comment.
However, if we look deeper at his words, it further shows that Emmert, and the NCAA, has zero control over whether college football takes place this fall.
It has long been known that the Power 5 (P5) commissioners hold the authority over college football, and they are the ones who will likely lead the way.
The P5 commissioners meet on a Zoom conference call most mornings and are somewhat on the same page, although the Big Ten and Pac-12 jumping the gun to cancel non-conference games so early was a surprise to the other three commissioners.
If there is one move that could help in situations like this, it would be the NCAA hiring specific-sport-centered commissioners who would oversee the their sport and its conferences.
This way, there would be a universal and governing body to set parameters for the conference commissioners to follow.
Emmert鈥檚 comments rang hollow and did not do anything but lead for national pundits to verbally go off about Emmert and his lack of leadership.
This is the same man who oversees sanctions on programs and athletic departments, but he has no say on playing in the fall?
There have been rumblings about the P5 schools eventually breaking away from the NCAA and starting their own sports league.
At one time, those rumblings would never get above a whisper.
But now, rumblings are getting louder and louder and there is no doubt the P5 commissioners are looking into potential options.
This past week, PIAA officials met and announced it was moving forward with fall sports as planned.
It was a smart move on its part so that when the all-but-inevitable cancellation comes down, the heat will fall on Governor Tom Wolf instead of its organization.
With Emmert and the NCAA having no say in canceling fall sports, the organization does not have to worry about the backlash that will fall on P5 commissioners.
Well, no more backlash than it already receives, and rightfully so, daily for its lack of leadership despite making billions of dollars a year on the hard work of student-athletes.
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