Word has officially come down from the NCAA that Auburn quarterback Cam Newton is an eligible amateur athlete and can compete for the 1st-ranked Tigers in the SEC Championship game and whatever bowl game they end up playing in. That is good news for Auburn, and even better news for the SEC, which is always looking to maintain their "we are better than everyone else, especially non-AQ teams" egotistical, self-glossed, media-hyped reputation. During the whole period of allegations against and investigation of Newton and his father, I withheld judgment and decided to wait for the NCAA to complete what they were doing. I am fine with their recent decision and I would have been as well had it gone the other way for Cam. With that said, not all is well in the land of college football. Read the Idaho Statesman's story on it here, and I will go ahead and highlight a few parts that I have found to be a little fishy.
From the second paragraph we read:
"The NCAA released its finding in a statement on Wednesday. The college sports governing body had concluded on Monday that a violation of Newton's amateur status had occurred. Auburn quietly declared Newton ineligible on Tuesday and requested his eligibility be reinstated."
Continuing:
"Newton now has been cleared to compete without conditions, after weeks of questions about whether he would be allowed to continue playing."
Wait what? So he's ruled ineligible, Auburn requests it to be reinstated, and 3 seconds later the NCAA says "OK, sounds good. He can play." Just like that, huh? I don't understand. Here is more:
"The NCAA said Auburn and NCAA enforcement staff agreed that Newton's father and an owner of a scouting service worked together to on a pay-for-play scam."
They are aware that this had happened but yet he is still allowed to play?! Sounds pretty absurd to me. Here is the explanation given from Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president for academic and membership affairs:
"Based on the information available to the reinstatement staff at this time, we do not have sufficient evidence that Cam Newton or anyone from Auburn was aware of this activity, which led to his reinstatement."
Then why even rule him ineligible in the first place? I am flabbergasted! Regardless if he is innocent or not, the NCAA screwed up big time, discrediting themselves as well as college football (even more than it already is with the BCS in place). The NCAA makes obscene amounts of money from the SEC and even more when teams from that conference go to BCS Bowl games. They made sure that was going to continue. Here's the part that kills me, if Auburn wasn't a National Title contender then the hammer would have been dropped big time on Newton. Guaranteed. The conspiracy theorists (you know, the guys who wear tin foil on their heads so that satellite beams can't penetrate their brains and read their thoughts) will chalk it up to an elaborate hoax to keep TCU out of the National Championships. I don't want to take it that far, but the NCAA's decision will keep their own pockets full and maintain the system how it currently is; corrupt.
I'm confused as well Cam.
I wish the best of luck to Cam Newton and his Auburn Tigers against South Carolina this Saturday and then against Oregon in the NC Game (especially against Oregon). While you are out there torching defenses with your powerful arm and quick legs, just know that you have contributed to the defamation of something that we as fans hold dear, something that didn't need any more blemishes on its already mangled reputation.
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