EDITOR'S NOTE: There is no way to make a picture legally safe with that headline, so we'll skip that today.
SEC schedule for NCAA baseball tournament, Monday
There's a chance some or all of these games will move around. ESPNU has been picking up some or all of regional games not originally on the schedule, and I think most of the regionals they were playing on televising on Monday have all wrapped up. Also, there have been Web feeds for N.C. State and Vanderbilt games; keep an eye on Twitter to be apprised of those.
7 p.m. ET
Raleigh Regional: (1) N.C. State vs. (2) Vanderbilt
7:35 p.m. ET
College Station Regional: (3) Ole Miss vs. (2) TCU, ESPN3
The drug problems the SEC has and doesn't have
Let me start off by saying that there's no question that drug use is an issue in college sports because it's an issue among college students generally. And the SEC should have a conference-wide and relatively strict policy. But the generally-solid AP went way overboard with some of the ways it "proved" those points in its takeout on drug policies over the weekend.
First, of course, there's the fact that "the mighty SEC" isn't actually compared to any other conference, which you would think would be a prerequisite for essentially saying some conference schools don't care if their players are a bunch of druggies. But then there is the incredibly flawed comparison the AP does use, which is undermined by its own story.
In the most successful league of the BCS-era, players routinely get third, fourth and even fifth chances before they’re booted from the team; failed drug tests administered by the NCAA result in the automatic suspension. ...
The NCAA said 90 percent of Division I schools have their own drug-testing programs, while the governing body tests some 13,500 athletes a year. Mary Wilfert, the NCAA’s associate director of health and safety, said the NCAA’s testing is focused more on performance-enhancing drugs. ...
The SEC schools’ policies focus more on recreational drugs, with five of the 11 having stronger penalties for anything beyond marijuana. [Emphasis added]
So, you see, the NCAA's policies are different in part because the policies are focused on different drugs and crafted for different reasons. Of course performance-enhancing drugs should draw a heftier penalty if you test positive -- look at the first part of the phrase. Performance-enhancing drugs are a form of cheating, and while there might be some players who would extoll a certain perceived value of marijuana use, no one is going to argue that it helps you get stronger or faster.
Much of the rest of the article runs down the differences among schools in the conference, from the fairly strict to those who give you so many chances you would almost have to be a junkie to get dismissed. But you've got to think that there's a happy medium somewhere.
Think about how many college students in the general population would get busted for marijuana use if they were tested as frequently as athletes. We're not talking about students who are making the kind of grave decision that's going to derail their ability to become productive citizens -- because their peers are doing it and many of them aren't being derailed.
The first positive test is a mistake, and should be treated as such. Give the athlete some minor punishment and move on. After the second positive test, start taking away games and ratcheting up the punishment. Don't forget that college is about teaching -- and it's hard to teach someone a lesson if you get rid of them following the first signs of trouble.
The unnoticed rule change at the SEC spring meetings
With all the hubbub about scheduling and divisional standings and the playoff, nobody noticed an interesting rule that could allow Arkansas and Texas A&M to move their annual game back to Jerry Jones' Death Star while also benefiting Florida and Georgia.
But the Aggies and Razorbacks put competition aside and teamed up to sponsor a rule change that allows SEC schools to host recruits for games off-campus. New legislation was passed by what was described as a "super majority" of SEC officials at the league’s recent spring meetings.
It really only makes sense. (HT: Get the Picture)
This is awesome
(HT: Gator Report)
The Tennesseean asked people if James Franklin should lose his job for the wives joke
Surprisingly, no one said "yes." Not even people who were offended by the comment. Wonder why.