* The SEC, as we know, has been embarrassed into doing “something” about athletes–OK, football players–with a proclivity for, and often track record of, sexual assaults. That means looking at tougher guidelines for whom it accepts–out of high school and via transfers.
Two points.
First, given the big-business that is college football, we can’t expect big-time programs, with big-time budgets, big-time expectations and big-time swagger to suddenly get the religion of only recruiting legitimate “student athletes.” Won’t happen. That genie will never be rebottled. Blue-chip predators will still find a place on a college campus.
Second, enough of the behavioral euphemisms, such as “mistake” and “bad decision.” That’s insultingly disingenuous. A “bad decision” is not studying hard enough for a final exam. A “bad decision” is joining the wrong fraternity. A “bad decision” is not sexual assault.
* For those of a certain age, the name Brad Culpepper–as in Culpepper Kurland TV ads and billboards–means high-profile personal-injury attorney. But for a lot of us, there was a gridiron before there was a courtroom for Culpepper. In fact, the former Florida Gator and Tampa Bay Buccaneer defensive lineman has made the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame class of 2017.
* When the Rays played the Arizona Diamondbacks of the National League this week, they were playing, of course, under NL rules–and thus no designated hitter. They were also, as a result, at a disadvantage. Another reminder that MLB has allowed this major rule disparity since its American League debut in 1973. Now virtually every collegiate and professional league uses the DH. But not the NL.
It’s as if the NFL agreed to let conferences determine whether they would permit the 2-point PAT. Or the NBA shot clock or the NHL overtime rules varied between conferences.
The designated hitter is no longer an experiment. It’s been around for 43 years. This is not about baseball purists. If it’s the same game, then the same, standardized rules should apply across the board.
* Rays utility infielder Tim Beckham has shuttled back and forth to the minors the last two years. There’s a reason. The other day I was watching the Rays-Twins game and saw Beckham, given a rare start because of injuries, get a rare hit. Then he got picked off. Last week he cost the Rays with a nonchalant play in the field.
After each such occurrence, I can’t help but hearken back to the 2008 MLB draft, when the Rays took him No. 1 overall–and passed on the likes of first baseman Eric Hosmer of the Royals and catcher–CATCHER!–Buster Posey of the Giants. Yeah, it’s second-guessing, but, yeah, it still hurts because the ripple effects are still so blatantly obvious.