#FreeGurley
It's been an emotional couple of days in Dawg Nation with the news of Gurley's suspension. I've cycled through a variety of different emotions on the matter, but I've currently settled on anger. Anger towards the asinine ways of the NCAA. I've been asked more times than I can count what my thoughts are on the whole ordeal, (I had 5th graders running in my classroom at 7:20 this morning to talk to me about it.) so now that I've chosen one emotion to focus on (and eaten a whole bag of chocolate doughnuts) I just want to share a few things.
Gurley PRESUMABLY is being investigated for actions related to this rule in the NCAA rule book:
Basically what we know for sure about the situation is a whole lot of nothing. The entire thing is still purely an allegation. All kinds of information is floating around about it right now, and no one knows what the facts really are. Supposedly the guy who is behind the accusations (tattling) is named Bryan Allen, sports memorabilia salesman from Rome (I knew I hated Rome for a reason.), and he wears jorts. SB Nation did a very thorough write-up on him here. Do with this info what you will. Loved the part where he said he videotaped the entire autograph signing session, but conveniently forgot to capture the part where money exchanged hands. Yeah. Right.
The whole thing seems incredibly fishy to me, but I wouldn't put it past the NCAA to do something uncalled for and blatantly unfair, since they wrote in the rule book that they can basically change any rule they want at any time based on what they think of a situation. (Don't even get me started on the Newton/Manziel/Winston stuff.) After all, there's another actual rule in their precious book that says a coach can't drive a player home, even if the player pays him back for gas. SO LUDICROUS.
Yes, I just spent the last hour reading through the rule book. Maybe I'm that dedicated, maybe I'm just crazy. Probably a little of both. In any case, I'm going to try to focus on other things (like tomorrow's game) until an actual decision is reached. And I'm gonna pray. A lot.
Side notes:
Gurley PRESUMABLY is being investigated for actions related to this rule in the NCAA rule book:
12.1.2.1.6 Preferential Treatment, Benefits or Services. Preferential treatment, benefits or servicesBasically he's accused of selling autographs. In other words, making money off his name, just like the NCAA has been doing for the past 3 years. Sounds totally fair. The punishment for said offense depends on how much compensation he received for being himself, and whether or not an agent is involved. If the reports that he received $400 are true, that amount falls under the one-game-suspension range (which I think is still ridiculous, since this rule is on its way out the door anyway). I've also heard that he was paid upwards of $2,000. Greg McGarity released a statement today, and I'm focusing on this specific line at the moment:
because of the individual’s athletics reputation or skill or pay-back potential as a professional athlete, unless
such treatment, benefits or services are specifically permitted under NCAA legislation. [R] (Revised: 1/11/94,
1/14/08)
There is currently a lot of misinformation about this matter in the public domain, and many pundits are offering opinions that are based on incomplete or erroneous information.
Basically what we know for sure about the situation is a whole lot of nothing. The entire thing is still purely an allegation. All kinds of information is floating around about it right now, and no one knows what the facts really are. Supposedly the guy who is behind the accusations (tattling) is named Bryan Allen, sports memorabilia salesman from Rome (I knew I hated Rome for a reason.), and he wears jorts. SB Nation did a very thorough write-up on him here. Do with this info what you will. Loved the part where he said he videotaped the entire autograph signing session, but conveniently forgot to capture the part where money exchanged hands. Yeah. Right.
The whole thing seems incredibly fishy to me, but I wouldn't put it past the NCAA to do something uncalled for and blatantly unfair, since they wrote in the rule book that they can basically change any rule they want at any time based on what they think of a situation. (Don't even get me started on the Newton/Manziel/Winston stuff.) After all, there's another actual rule in their precious book that says a coach can't drive a player home, even if the player pays him back for gas. SO LUDICROUS.
Yes, I just spent the last hour reading through the rule book. Maybe I'm that dedicated, maybe I'm just crazy. Probably a little of both. In any case, I'm going to try to focus on other things (like tomorrow's game) until an actual decision is reached. And I'm gonna pray. A lot.
Side notes:
- There's an actual White House petition to pardon Gurley. Welcome to the SEC.
- I never thought Johnny Football would ever do anything to make me like him. But, here we are.
In conclusion, #FreeGurley, and GO DAWGS.
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