Copyright Star Tribune
We have a very unusual situation occurring in the world of big-time athletics. Commissioner Greg Sankey and the Southeastern Conference are attempting to carry the ethical banner in a disagreement with the now-cowardly NCAA. The formerly autocratic group has caved on many issues in recent times, including not fighting a court decision that allowed junior college athletes not to count those two JC seasons in their Division I college football eligibility. This is what allowed Diego Pavia, Jerry Kill’s adopted quarterback, to spend two seasons at New Mexico Military (a JC), two seasons with Kill at New Mexico State, and what was presumed to be a final season at Vanderbilt in 2024. That was a package deal, with Kill quitting the job in Las Cruces, N.M., and moving to Vandy. It was a fine season for the QB and Commodores coach Clark Lea’s new special offensive consultant, Kill, including a victory over Alabama. And most everyone figured that was it, except a legal mind (was it our old pal, Country Jer?) said, “Why not sue ‘em to void those JC seasons?” Which someone did along with Pavia, so now he’s a sixth-year quarterback, and Vandy is in the top 10 in the country this weekend. The NCAA also was forced to capitulate earlier on its ban on paying athletes, bringing NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) into our familiar sports abbreviations. That’s the one that sent the legislative body cowering into the corner, all the way to the announcement this fall: What problem could that lead to? OK, maybe the valuable left tackle decides to bet on his favorite NFL team — say, the Vikings to cover the point spread last week in Los Angeles — in order to get even with Bruno Sports Gaming. And the tackle’s already $11,000 down (a $10,000 bet and the 10% juice) and now it’s $23,100, and Bruno says, “Let that guy across from you knock the daylights out of your quarterback a couple of times were even.” The NCAA has delayed implementation until Nov. 22, which still will give its athletes and department employees time to bet the Thanksgiving feast of NFL games. Wasn’t that long ago I met a Gophers hooper for lunch at Manning’s to get a column and he wouldn’t let me pay for his hamburger for fear of an NCAA violation. That was ridiculous, of course, but certainly not as dangerous as allowing big-time college athletes to bet on pro sports. You’ve seen the ads on late night TV: Bet $10 on your favorite basketball hooper to go over so many points — and soon you could have $5,000. Or bet strike or ball on a first pitch. It’s simple, harmless. Ask Emmanuel Clase or Terry Rozier about that. To have the NCAA expanding access for employees and athletes to gambling at the same time those scandals are taking place in MLB and the NBA is astounding. Clase was the ace closer for Cleveland, among the best in baseball. His teammate, pitcher Luis Ortiz, was pointed to by the agency in charge of monitoring betting for MLB as having inordinately high betting on first pitches. That led to Clase. Part of the video evidence against Clase apparently was a first pitch he threw to Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. on April 12. Clase was supposed to throw a ball and fired it into the ground 12 feet in front of home plate. End of July, MLB went over evidence, Clase’s locker was emptied out and he was gone. MLB has also has banned him from pitching in the winter leagues. Rozier made bigger news last month. There was previous conversation about his suspicious play in Charlotte in 2023. He was now in Miami, on a four-year, $26 million per contract, when the feds took another look and Rozier wound up getting arrested, landing him an NBA suspension. Stemmed from a night when he made a few lousy plays and then begged out after nine minutes — putting him well under the betting numbers. The highlight for me in the Rozier mess was watching “SportsCenter” hosts on ESPN expound on Rozier being arrested — as well as Portland coach Chauncey Billups as a co-conspirator in ripping off big-stakes poker players. As the issue was discussed as a dramatic disgrace for the NBA, the crawl below carried the “ESPN Bet” point spreads and odds for that night’s contests. Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy will start against the Lions on Sunday, and his teammates expressed the same confidence in him this week that they did in the preseason.
