Integrity in sports has really become an extinct dinosaur. Few organizations have it and even fewer choose to practice it even if they do “have” it. Bob Knight called it like we see it. “We’ve gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that’s why I’m glad I’m not coaching,” he said. “You see we’ve got a coach at Kentucky (John Calipari), who put two schools on probation and he’s still coaching. I really don’t understand that.”
In college basketball, violations mean jack to a coach in transition. So if you’re moving on, c’est la vie NCAA sanctions. Even in college football you read about players being bribed to go to Mega U with job opportunities for their parents, cash arrangements and houses, and sometimes even grades.
In an age where agents have flooded the hallways of our local high schools and college coaches are analyzing youth sports, the importance of honesty and integrity was abandoned as soon as it became a “handicap”–that is, it became harder to maintain and usually meant losing out on the superior recruit. So maintaining integrity is seemingly a hindrance.
With that being said, what can be done? Should the NCAA regulate the one-&-done-r’s? Should the stipulations set forth to inhibit high school athletes from turning pro be abandoned all together? Stay tuned with Domer Domain as we discuss possible solutions to even the playing ground across the nation…and I’m not talking the relaxation of academic standards.
