By Jeremy Twitchell
It”s been a rough year for college basketball.
For the first time I can remember in my short life, major rules violations at prominent schools have spent more time in the headlines than the legal troubles of their older, badder brethren of the NBA.
Jim Harrick”s mismanagement of Georgia”s program managed to single-handedly destroy the team”s season. Similar allegations at Fresno State, Valparaiso, St. Bonaventure and other high-profile basketball schools have surfaced, discrediting the league as a whole.
The last few years of college basketball are leading many to adopt a ”Don”t ask, don”t tell” policy in regard to the rules. College basketball is becoming more and more like the Olympics, where rule violations have been swept under the rug for so long that the rug is nothing more than the tip of a garbage heap.
With this public relations nightmare boiling over as the season reaches its climax, you”d think sports fans would be looking for a moral savior to prove that there still is decency in college basketball.
They have one, but the knight is in BYU blue, not Duke or North Carolina blue. Maybe that”s why nobody seems to notice.
When the NCAA announced Sunday that BYU would be competing in a bracket that has games scheduled on Sundays, it didn”t take long for the controversy to begin.
The naysayers wasted no time in coming out to complain about BYU”s position on Sunday play.
You want to start a controversy in today”s world? Don”t do something bad, just try doing something you think is right.
I find it pretty ironic that fans can bemoan the sad state of affairs in college ball one week, and then the next week belittle a school for standing up for what it believes in.
I don”t blame the NCAA for the mistake, because that”s just what it was – an innocent mistake.
Or if you want to talk conspiracy theories, maybe the NCAA put BYU where it did because it knew BYU would stand up for its beliefs, and it desperately needed somebody to set a good example. But that”s a whole other column.
But with that said, I still do have a beef with the boys in Indianapolis. After the mistake was brought to the NCAA”s attention, the nameless group of faceless guys in suits known only as “officials” decided that BYU would only be switched to another bracket if the Cougars could reach the Sweet 16, where the controversial Sabbath-day game is scheduled.
In other words, the NCAA”s attitude is ”Well, we don”t think you”ll get anywhere, so we”re not going to worry about it.”
As a BYU fan, naturally I want to see the team win. Call it bragging rights, call it shameless, vicarious achievement of unfulfilled dreams, call it what you want. I want my team to win.
But the NCAA”s attitude has added another dimension to my hopes. I want BYU to win so they can stick it to those guys in the suits and leave them with a full-blown mess on their hands. That oughta learn ”em.
I”m going to level with you, sports fans. When I decided to come to BYU, I knew that there would be a lot of things to be embarrassed about.
Many experiences in the last three years of school have confirmed my suspicions, such as newspapers dedicated to stray cats and kids playing in leaves, open debates on the offensiveness of kissing in public and an entire culture that could be summed up in a movie like “Singles Ward.”
But the past two days have restored my faith in the school that Brigham built. They have made me proud to be a student here.
BYU students have often been accused of projecting a holier-than-thou attitude. All too often, that”s a pretty fair accusation.
But this is not one of those times. This is not a matter of the BYU community getting up on a soapbox, it”s a matter of the BYU community upholding its beliefs. I haven”t heard anyone from this campus making a big deal about the decision. All of the attention has come from other sources.
So BYU fans, skip school on Thursday and support the team with pride. BYU can beat UConn, and if the Cougars win, they”ll be on the way to the role of greatest bracket buster in NCAA history. And even though nobody likes a spoiler, everybody loves being one.
Here”s our chance.
