Many national and local columnists have blasted the ruling by District Judge Ken Curry to grant an injunction against the NCAA that Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby is eligible to play despite having bet on his own team, with ESPN’s Dan Wetzel calling the move “ridiculous, short-sighted and illogical.” The NCAA “was not merely 100% justified” in deeming Sorsby ineligible, but 100% “obligated to ban Sorsby from further eligibility pursuant to its rules, precedents and, most of all, common sense.” You can “oppose and despise” the NCAA for “everything it does ... except this.” The message “is clear: The NCAA is now the only known sports governing organization on Earth that has been barred from punishing someone for betting on their own team” (ESPN.com, 6/8).
RENDERING NCAA TOOTHLESS: In Omaha, Tom Shatel wrote the NCAA “took another hit” on Monday -- perhaps the “most damaging loss in its storied history of governing college sports.” Sorsby has “admitted to making thousands of bets” on college football over the past four years. That is a “clear violation” of NCAA rules. Shatel: “What does that mean now? ... College athletes know they can gamble on their sport without the fear of serious consequences” (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 6/8). USA TODAY’s Blake Toppmeyer wrote this court ruling sends this message to athletes: “If you’re going to bet on sports as a college athlete, don’t just do it once or twice. Become a gambling fiend, and the NCAA can’t touch you.” This is “much more damaging” to the NCAA than a court “granting an athlete an extra season of eligibility.” Toppmeyer: “This opens a new line of defense for college athletes everywhere” (USA TODAY, 6/8).
SYMPATHY FOR THE NCAA? THE ATHLETIC’s Stewart Mandel wrote the decision is so “egregious” that it may mark the “first time in college sports history in which 99.9 percent of the country sides with the NCAA.” The NCAA’s gambling rules are “supposed to be a deterrent for potential future offenders.” Curry just gave them a “flashing green light” (THE ATHLETIC, 6/8). CBSSPORTS.com’s Chris Hummer wrote by overturning Sorsby’s suspension, Curry “didn’t just ignore NCAA rules,” but he “picked up the rulebook, set it on fire and watched it burn with an almost bewildering forcefulness.” It is a “precedent-setting ruling that forever alters NCAA enforcement on a core principle of sports” (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/8). THE ATHLETIC’s Matt Baker wrote if the NCAA “no longer has authority” over one of its key functions -- enforcing rules regarding the integrity of its events -- “what does the NCAA have left?” (THE ATHLETIC, 6/8).
YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME: In Fort Worth, Mac Engel wrote the “safest play” in college sports is to “violate the NCAA rule book and then just sue should the sanctioning body dare try to punish you” (Fort Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 6/8). In Cleveland, Stephen Means wrote this message “is simple: You can do whatever you want.” All you need is a “gullible hometown judge who’s willing to tell the NCAA that he doesn’t care what it thinks” (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/8). SI’s Bryan Fischer wrote there are “no rules anymore in college sports -- as long as there’s a favorable local venue to garner an advantageous ruling in which to render those bylaws as bygone.” It is simply “no longer an embellishment to say the enterprise is the Wild, Wild West” with a patchwork of “vague governing principles.” It truly is “anything goes” in the world of college athletics (SI, 6/8).
TAKING MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS: USA TODAY’s Matt Hayes writes one “potential way out” of this situation is for the CFP to “immediately declare Texas Tech ineligible for the CFP.” Hayes: “Go ahead and play him. But your team won’t play in the CFP. The integrity of the playoff supersedes all.” A source said Monday night, “It’s going to be looked at” (USA TODAY, 6/9). In New Orleans, Scott Rabalais calls it an “absurd decision” and writes, “This is the most disgusted I have been over a legal decision in 34 years of covering college sports.” Rabalais: “If a judge won’t make a sensible ruling, if Texas Tech won’t police itself, then it’s time for the rest of college athletics to do so” (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 6/9).
