Before the 2011 football season ever began, it was marred with controversy and rules violations. 'Mr. Clean' Jim Tressel, one of the most respected and well known coaches in college football admitted to numerous NCAA violations that inevitably cost him his coaching job. These events would only tip the iceberg and eventually a whole slew of programs and their players would come under fire for rules violations. Oregon would be one followed by the Miami with the revelation that, for ten years, their players had been receiving impermissible benefits via rogue booster Nevin Shapiro. The length of time involved and the amount of money involved, led Miami to self-impose sanctions which included several players being suspended for up to six games and a forfeiture of any bowl appearance on the year. South Carolina even faced the music on impermissible benefits though it was as prevalent in the media as some of the others.
As if the college football world hadn't seen enough negative press, the hits just kept coming. Arrest after arrest seemed to permeate the college football world and edge its way into the top spots on news broadcasts. In March, Auburn athletics was highlighted when four players from its football team were arrested on charges of armed robbery. The players were released from the team by head coach Gene Chizik, but it would not slate the media frenzy that ensued. In June a player from New Mexico was arrested for a wardrobe malfunction! Okay, so it was a little more than that. The player in question was arrested while attempting to board a flight in San Fransisco. He was asked to remedy his 'sagging pants', something that is prohibited by the airline, and when he refused the plane had to be vacated by the 150 passengers and the youngster was then arrested for suspicion of trespassing, battery of an officer and obstruction of a police investigation. *Bet he wishes he would have just pulled up his pants!* Alabama saw the arrest of one of their newest recruits while he drove on campus without his headlights on. The player was consequently arrested for possession of marijuana. Speaking of marijuana, LSU saw two of its high profile players suspended for testing positive for a marijuana substitute that has been outlawed in most states known as 'Spice'. Probably one of the most highly publicised stories in college football was the LSU players who were accused of, and later arrested for felony assault. In a nutshell, several players were accused of jumping some men in the parking lot of a local club at two in the morning. The disturbing nature of the crimes and the injuries that were sustained by the victims, prompted police to issue warrants for two players , one of which was their starting quarterback. The men plead guilty to reduced 'misdemeanor' charges in court, paid their fines and were on their way, but not before missing the first four games of the season under heavy scrutiny. Here's a real shocker for you... I in every 14 football players in the Top 25 teams has some sort of criminal history!
If I say to you "Scandal" the first thing that will probably pop into your mind is Penn State. Panning out to be one of the biggest scandals in college history, the story broke with a vengeance and the world was in shock. Jerry Sanduski, former assistant coach charged with sexual assault. Now if that was all you read, it would be enough, but what made it even more unspeakable... Jerry Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse of a minor over a period of 15 years. Some of the assaults are even alleged to have taken place on the Penn State campus. This was the worst I have ever seen in the college football world, but I had to admit, this wasn't a 'football' issue, this was about neglect and endangerment and just some all around sick and disgusting things that happened to kids who trusted. (Allegedly) And please don't find me insensitive for using the word allegedly, this is STILL America and we are INNOCENT until PROVEN GUILTY. Of course I will give my opinion on the 'alledged' sexual abuse... People who hurt children and small animals have a special place in Hell set aside just for them... just my opinion. As if the sexual assaults weren't enough to send the college world into a tail spin, then came the classless move by the board at Penn State, who lovingly sent a messenger to Joe Paterno's home to deliver the message... 'You are fired!' Say what you want about Joe Pa, but the man is an iconic part of the sport I hold near and dear and his firing was NOT handled well. It has raised a lot of questions and in the past week are so, Penn State Alumni are raising their voices and crying out for something better. Let's face facts here, a lot of people fell short on their job and kids were hurt because of it, but it's hard for me to feel sympathy for people that celebrate a man on Saturday and throw him to the wolves on Monday!!
If you are a fan of either of the teams from Alabama then you too saw scandal and controversy this year. Who could ever forget the 'infamous' Harvey Updike call to the Paul Finebaum show that stirred up the hornet's nest that IS the Auburn/Alabama rivalry. An Alabama fan set the college world on its head when a call to a popular radio show netted a fan claiming responsibility for poisoning the fable 'Toomer's Corner Oak Trees'. The hatred bet\ween these rivals played out on every national news outlet and on websites like Twitter and Facebook, but there was another side to this story... a human side. A group of Alabama fans banded together and formed Bama For Toomer's, a facebook group that swelled to 50,000 followers in a few short days and saw thousands of dollars donated to Auburn fans to save the landmark Oak trees.
On April 27, 2011 an F-4 Tornado leveled a three mile wide path through the heart of downtown Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Fifty people lost their lives and hundreds were injured or lost their homes. In another show of humanity, the fans from the University of Auburn rallied in support of Tuscaloosa and made extensive donations of food, water, clothing, money and time to aid in the recovery process. Two teams banding together in spite of the game and because of the game.
NCAA college football has seen its share of headlines over the year for arrests, scandals and general bad behavior, but it has seen other things also... Things that are much more profound and moving. At the end of the day, 2011 has been the 'Year of the Headlines' some bad, some horrible, some tragic and some that made me proud to be a fan of college football. I was proud to be a part of something so much greater than myself, something that sometimes bridges the gaps we see between ourselves and our teams. What will 2012 hold?? I have no idea, but I can't wait to find out!!!
CK
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