How many times are fans willing to give the NCAA a chance to get it right? My answer is – no more times.
“Rally ‘round. Circle the wagons. It’s us against the world.”
That very well could be the mantra for the NCAA’s most recent attempt at “reform.” Yes, something good may come out of the most recent attempt by the NCAA–a blue ribbon committee–to fix major college basketball, but it will be a miracle if that happens.
Courtesy: AP
That’s because committee membership shouts anything but “thinking outside of the box.” It even includes—get this—the president of the NCAA. That’s right–the person to whom the report will be submitted.
The problem here isn’t just the NCAA’s problem. It’s an age-old organizational problem. It happens when the frame of reference for change is narrow, embedded in “how we do things around here.”
That’s a reasonable approach when things are going well. But when the winds of reform are blowing—and the need for major change has become public knowledge—troubled organizations often do the opposite of what they need to do. They should open the doors and invite new ideas, new ways of doing things…and new PEOPLE to the table.
But that’s not what they do.
What the NCAA needs on this committee are people–if only a few–who are pissed off and fed up. People who are desperate for this organization to either get its act together or get out of the way (aka go out of business).
It has gotten to that point. And it’s at that point because the NCAA caused it to happen.
Courtesy: KCUR.org
Yes, the NCAA had to do something in the face of the recent FBI probe. But, C’mon! It’s not as though the issues prompting the probe are new. Hardly!
Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports puts the circumstance this way: ”The NCAA has failed to combat a culture of corruption that threatens the credibility of its biggest moneymaker. It has failed to adequately enforce its own rules. It has failed to create a deterrent that is sufficient to scare off the cheaters. And every crook and con man affiliated with college basketball knew it.”
How many times are we willing to give the NCAA a chance to get it right? My answer is – no more times. That’s because I think a modified version of The Peter Principle applies. The Peter Principle happens when a person, who has been successful in lower-level positions, has been promoted to their level of incompetence. In this case, I think the Principle applies to the major collegiate sports system. That system, designed for amateur sports only, has been extended beyond its level of competence. Universities aren’t designed to operate pro sports.
And let’s face it. Major college basketball and football are pro sports.
I don’t think the answer is importing executives from the pros to run revenue-producing collegiate sports. I’ve witnessed the importation of private sector executives in the non-profit sector. Their presence has altered the essence of the for-the-public-good sector–and not for the better. A better option (as I’ve written recently) is for the NBA to take over responsibility for Power 6 basketball. I’d also like to see the NFL oversee Power 5 football. In exchange, those pro leagues should work out a financial deal so that universities have funds to support non-revenue sports.
The NCAA needs a paradigm shift of that magnitude. The NCAA’s most recent move screams why.
“When we cheer for our schools and our teams, we’re also supporting a powerful and autonomous entertainment business that monetizes every aspect of the game, an operation that is not only divorced from the mission of higher education but that often undermines it.” Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post
