Hate the NCAA All You Want, But....

....once the ball is kicked off, you'll be watching.  

Thursday afternoon in March when the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament tips off, you'll be watching.  

Saturday night September 3rd, when LSU squares off against 2010 BCS National Title runner up Oregon and Heisman hopeful LaMichael James, you'll be watching.    

Fans, media, and blogger-types alike can scream and moan all they want about the injustices and hypocritical nature associated with the NCAA (and for good reason).  However, the best way to get your message heard is to hit ‘em where it hurts:  the wallet. 

   

How?

Easy.    Just don’t watch.

Turn the clicker off when the BCS Bowl games begin.  Boycott Bracketology.   

How many of you passionate fans of a particular school or conference, avid sports gamblers, or just plain die-hard football junkies, have enough discipline to boycott an entire college football or basketball season?   Would you honestly be willing to do that?  

If your goal is to see a corrupt system changed, your answer should be yes.  The system will not readjust itself to 'appropriate standards of integrity' as long as the powers that be continue to cash checks that are 9-10 digits long.

The "It's just an amateur game" line doesn't apply to college athletics anymore.  That's just reality.  Not when the University of Texas signs a 20 year contract worth $300 million with ESPN to launch its Longhorn Network.     Or when the BCS took in over $680 million in revenue from their bowl games and sponsorship deals from 2004-08.

The gullible nature of sports fans combined with the realities of underprivileged 18-22 year old young men with families struggling back home at the poverty line, and the greed of conference commissioners and university presidents, will continue to perpetuate the never ending cycle that is ‘fans complaining about the NCAA’s hypocrisy” followed by “fans watching college football on Saturdays”.

How many of you are planning NOT to watch LSU vs. Oregon the night of September 3rd because of your outrage over the scandals at Miami and Ohio State this summer? 

So the next time you’re in mid-sentence slandering the NCAA, stop in mid-expletive and ask yourself “Am I willing to turn off the next marquee college football game on the slate to get back at those greedy NCAA and BCS bastards?"  

The ratings will answer the question for you.