Okay this has been bugging me since Scarlet Ninja started pimpin’ Bama just before last weekends game with Indiana. 

I feel the need to enlighten everyone else just as I tried to do in that situation.

How’s it go.  Bout to drop some knowledge?

First, I entered into the conversation when I heard Scarlet Ninja(hence forth SN) discussing how good Bama looked and how they stomped Florida.  Normally, as all of you know I am not one to get into argument …………………………………… I view them more as friendly discussions. (unless you are wrong in which case it is in your best interest to listen to what I have to say) Anyway I digress, SN was stating how “fast” both teams looked……..basically giving in to the ESS EEE SEE myth of their speed.  I won’t go into details about 40 time and what not as it has been exhausted plenty of times, strange how it went from Southern Speed to ESS EEE SEE Speed in less than 5 years.

The main point is to bring light to why this perception is out there.  Its really rather simple.  The NCAA mandates that no more than 85 players can be on a Division 1 football team for a season.  Seems simple and what most attribute the smaller schools such as Boise State to increased levels of play.  Only there are loopholes SEE HERE.  Recently they did enact a 28 per year limit. That still leaves 112 scholarships that need to be brought down to 85 if you take 28 per year for four years.  Okay, this is the tricky part, the proponents will say that you have to do it so that you can count for attrition and or juniors leaving early.  I highly doubt that in any given year you will have 27 of these instances.  To go 28 each year would mean that all would need to graduate and have some leave early every year but all wouldn’t graduate due to leaving early.  This is particularly a problem in the ESS EEE SEE as ALABAMA and LSU are prime offenders.  They continually oversign and then “cut” players who aren’t making it to make way for a new 5 star player they recruited.  One easy way is to give them a medical hardship scholarship, basically say that they have an injury that prevents them from playing football anymore and they can have a different scholarship.  One of the guys who might be given this would be someone like Tyler Moeller.  Instead we as for a medical redshirt(hence keeping Moeller on scholarship and having his number count against the 85) Pretty raw deal if you ask me.  Now its not illegal and is actually a loophole in the system, but the Big Ten has rules against it as well as other conferences not abusing the loophole.  Not our wonderful ESS EEE SEE, damn those who don’t do it they are stupid is the most often response.  It begs the question how many more potential studs can someone find if they offer at least 5 more scholarships a year.  Over four years that is a whole extra recruiting class.  So despite what ESPN and any other media tries to drive home regarding these myths they won’t go to the real reason that it seems that so many “studs” end up on ESS EEE SEE teams.  Imagine if we could have done away with our flop four and five stars ( just to name a few over the past few years – D’Andrea, Zwick, Guilford, Irizarry, Dukes, Rose) and added new guys in to cover for them, no instead Ohio State honored their scholarship and took it on the chin for not evaluating talent as it should have.  In hindsight I wonder how “good” the ESS EEE SEE would do if it operated within the same ethical being?

KAPTAIN