Today, the most odious situation is at the University of Colorado. I mean, as far as we know.
Gary Barnett should be dishonorably discharged for allowing putrid recruiting methods and for saying some of the dumbest things ever to drizzle from a football coach's mouth.
Extinction for this Buffalo.
Recent administrative fumbles have tainted University of Washington athletics, but nasty methods - including using sexual favors and booze aplenty in recruiting swift, strong, gifted teenagers - have been used in varying degrees on campuses across NCAA nation.
Does anybody debate that?
This is not a new stench, only a more visible one. Money under the table, young women in bedrooms and other vulgar bait have been used for generations to woo adventuresome kids who maybe can help fill stadiums or arenas while enhancing a school's regional or national ego.
It went on in the '50s.
Maybe even the '30s.
But now, with an abundance of dirty NCAA laundry fluttering, Division I chief of staff David Berst has appointed a nine-person task force to probe, discuss and suggest changes in recruiting decorum.
In his former NCAA life, Berst stalked universities suspected of rules infractions such as using illegal money and/or assorted other favors to sign and sustain athletes. He was a jock Eliot Ness. This time, Berst's target is not such cheating. This is about lures far more disturbing.
Jeremy Foley, director of athletics at Florida, is chair of the Berst Bunch, working with Reggie Minton, associate executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches; Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association; Arizona State AD Gene Smith, Maryland AD Debbie Yow, Texas women's AD Chris Plonsky, Alabama State interim AD Sonia Price, Vanderbilt professor Virginia Shepherd and Big East Conference associate commissioner Stan Wilcox.
Coaches, recruiters, university sports bosses and - most voluminously of all - overzealous boosters can be prone to whine, "If you think we are bruising the rules and mores, take a look at our rivals. Nobody's perfect, but we at School A do work at it. Can't say the same for School B or School C."
Stop it.
Look in the mirror, not down the street. Universities and their hired hands should care most of all about an institution's integrity, honesty and expansive persona.
Foley said, "In high profile college athletics, there are going to be issues. Schools will have problems. We've had ours. It's not fun. We all must deal with them. Across the country, the uppermost goal must be to do whatever is demanded to keep integrity of universities at outstanding levels."
Myles Brand, executive director of the NCAA, made a ludicrous statement recently that his domain is about "athletics" and shouldn't be considered "business."
Hogwash!
At dozens of schools, budgets are in the tens of millions of dollars.
There can be massive rewards, such as $14-million-plus to play football in a BCS bowl. Teams are heavily compensated for March Madness basketball appearances. Coaches in high demand frequently are paid $1-million and more, top guns now hovering close to $2.5-million a year.
Business, indeed.
Foley, 51, began his run with UF athletics as a 1976 intern in the ticket office. He bopped up the administrative ladder, becoming director in 1992 of an operation that now encompasses 18 sports - 10 for men, eight for women - a glistening array of facilities, including a 90,000-seat football venue, operating with an annual budget of $55-million.
Big business. Big temptations. Big demands.
Foley promises to not stick his AD head in the Florida sand. We will count on the Gator chap and eight committee associates to be tough, diligent, sensible and demanding in quality pursuits.
They will ponder whether the now-allowed five recruiting visits to campuses by high school athletes are too many. I'd like to see three. Other items such as guidelines for coaches and recruiters must be addressed. Some may be too nitpicking, and other areas need muscle. Whatever it takes to help defend against more sickening messes such as the one at Colorado.
Pay attention, Florida State. This is about you, Miami, as well as operatives at Tennessee, South Florida, N.C. State, Ohio State, Nebraska, USC and Idaho and with all the other big-timers.
