(Image Source: USA Today)
 

BY MADISON MACK

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

You're watching multisource sports news analysis from Newsy.

Are scandals destroying College Football? That’s what many in the sport’s media are asking.

According to The New York Times – 10 major college football programs have been investigated or punished by the NCAA in the last few months. A writer for USA Today puts it this way.

“Once upon a time, there was a sport called college football. And it was good. There were marching bands and bright Saturday afternoons. An innocence to the festivities, if only pretended … Now? Another day, another scandal, Take a whiff. What we have here is a sport with the aroma of a landfill. Tight ends and tubas and trash.” 

The University of Miami is the most recent University to come under investigation from the NCAA after a donor admitted giving 72 Miami players cash, gifts and prostitutes over the span of eight years. Also recently on the list- Ohio State -- and before that -- Boise State, USC, Auburn, and Oregon.

With the steady stream of major violations – a writer for The Boston Herald says the NCAA rulebook makes no sense anymore.

“There is nothing in that antiquated rulebook that can adequately address the problems that modern collegiate athletics is dealing with. There is nothing in the current culture of big-time college sports that can cope with its blatant fiscal hypocrisy or superficial and misguided justice system … Death penalties, scholarship reductions, bowl ineligibility and all the other so-called crackdowns don’t work.”

And a writer for Sports Illustrated says the NCAA doesn’t seem to have the athlete’s best interest in mind - so why would college athletes respect the NCAA’s rules?

“...they don't passionately believe in the rules. ...This is an organization that requires players to not only miss one or two days of class for every week of the NCAA tournament, but also requires them to miss an additional day just for press conferences and open practices in front of fans. ...It's about marketing. Does the NCAA think players don't realize that?”

Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins tells The New York Times – money complicates the whole issue.

“…so many of the decisions being made are about money … Yet the theme of the whole concept is not about money. It’s sort of a two-sided issue where you’re talking out of two sides of your mouth. You’re trying to make it about money, but you’re trying to make it not about money.”

Finally, a writer for The Providence Journal says the fans have a part in all this too.

“We want great teams, want to watch great players. …We don’t want to see that behind all the cheers and all the cheerleader pyramids, beneath all the glamour and all the fun, this is a business that can be as cold and dark as a loan collector’s heart … it comes down to this: People like college sports? Not really. They like big-time college sports. And most big-time sports always are a dance with the devil.”

'Like' Newsy on Facebook for updates in your news feed.

Get more multisource video news analysis from Newsy

Transcript by Newsy