The ongoing saga of Mike Balogun will officially continue into the season as his attorney announced on Monday that the NCAA won't be making a decision regarding his eligibility before Friday. This means that Balogun won't be playing on Saturday night nor will he be traveling with the team.
What baffles me about this is that last week's hearing was taken off the docket because an apparent "out of court settlement" had been reached. What doesn't baffle me is the way the NCAA has screwed this deal up. There is virtually no evidence to state that Balogun played after turning the age of 21 and yet one sworn affidavit after another has been submitted to backup Balogun's statements.
As is usual for the NCAA, the powers that be are showing how out of touch with reality they are. The stubbornness being demonstrated goes well beyond the level of stupidity here which again is typical for this governing body.
Unless we haven't been granted access to all of the information here then this should be a no-brainer. By choosing to stand with hearsay and ignore the actual facts presented the governing body of major college athletics is doing nothing to refute the prevalent mind set out there that the NCAA is a joke.
The thing is the NCAA doesn't care what you think. In fact they don't care what anyone thinks. They are still going to net millions of dollars this year and could care less that their reputation is tarnished more than a Mid-80's SMU football team. There is virtually nothing at stake here for the NCAA but the same can't be said of Mike Balogun who's football career hangs in the balance by an organization that could care less.
A lack of pride in what you're doing often ends with tragic consequences as one begins to be motivated solely by selfish gain regardless of the cost. It appears that this is the direction that the NCAA has chosen to go.