the shrewdness of apes

it's been too long since i've flogged the NCAA for anything (stay tuned for BCS-related ranting come November), but in the past couple of days they've given me two reasons to do so. in a nutshell, my problem is that the NCAA allows colleges to take advantage of athletes who produce boatloads of revenue that they never see a dime of, all while being held hostage by ridiculous rules designed to keep them as "amateurs". meanwhile, the NBA, NFL and to a lesser degree MLB, NHL and MLS get free player development. specifically, here's what's been going on in recent days:

Case #1 - Jeremy Bloom was a wide receiver for the University of Colorado. he is also the reigning world champion is freestyle moguls and was a 2002 Olympian. he is training for the 2006 games, but in order to adequately prepare, he needs financial support, which he got by accepting endorsements. as a result, the NCAA deemed him ineligible to play football. the reason? while it would be kosher for him to accept a professional salary for his skiing, accepting endorsements from sponsors crosses some arbitrary line the NCAA has drawn. how they can legitimately claim that this has any bearing on his football career is confusing at best and malicious at worst.

Case #2 - Mike Williams was a standout wide receiver at USC last year as a sophomore. normally, sophomores aren't eligible to be drafted in the NFL due to collusionary rules that prevent teams from choosing players who are fewer than 3 years removed from high school. but former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett challenged that rule in court and had it overturned earlier this year making him (and Williams) eligible to be drafted. Williams understandably decided that going pro was in his best interest (he was a sure 1st round pick) and signed with an agent to prepare for the draft. then a higher court overturned the previous ruling just days before the NFL draft. now Williams could not be drafted, but his relationship withan agent made him ineligible in the NCAAs eyes. so he severed ties with the agent and began taking summer classes (he was academically ineligible, which had a hand in this process), and applied for reinstatement. but of course, the NCAA just turned him down, leaving him in limbo for a year. what does the NCAA stand to gain by keeping him off the field? do they feel as though they need to punish someone who did nothing wrong (meanwhile the kid with the rap sheet as tall as he is gets his scholarship to Miami)? what a bunch of hypocrites.