I dissent from the consensus re: Ole Miss

Ole Miss has been cheating like hell and everyone knows it. But I think people are taking way too much joy out of this situation solely because they want to see Ole Miss take it on the chin. Pretty much everyone admits that cheating happens on a wide scale; the principal criticism of Ole Miss seems to be not that they are doing something uniquely awful, but that they suck so much at cheating that they got caught and therefore deserve what's coming.

But this case only further highlights the obviously arbitrary and capricious nature of the NCAA. Just because people enjoy seeing Ole Miss suffer doesn't change the fact that the NCAA too often behaves like a joke of an organization that is happy to ignore all kinds of problems in organized collegiate athletics so long as their bottom line benefits. People have made nice livings for themselves solely off the backs of the labor of college kids and they've had the gall to claim they're preserving the integrity of "amateur sports."

No one is fooled. Taking pleasure in Ole Miss's downfall here only legitimizes an illegitimate organization that could just as easily nuke any of our favorite programs because we all know this is going on everywhere. There are larger structural problems with college athletics that are being ignored solely because people enjoy seeing a school/team they hate on the receiving end of said arbitrary treatment.

Now, shite like what's going on at Baylor and what went on at Penn State? THAT'S what deserves true outrage, scorn, and sanction (on top of whatever criminal charges may be necessary). But Ole Miss luring players with money and gifts? Like any other school is innocent of this, or like it's even a bad thing. Why should government-funded institutions and corrupt organizations like the NCAA be able to make unfathomable amounts of money, while if these young men, many of who may only be able to play the game for a few years if they are lucky, so much as accept a free meal it's a cause for an inquisition?

There but for the grace of the NCAA go we. I don't care to rely on the NCAA's grace.