The Brewing Hurricane in Coral Gables

They probably were fighting over who got the yacht vs. the strip club that weekend.

The NCAA re-emphasized yesterday that the death penalty option is in fact still available for use:

"If that’s an option that the [NCAA] Committee on Infractions believes is appropriate in any one case — it doesn’t matter which one it is — I’m not opposed to them using that. We need to have penalties that serve as effective deterrents so that people who are doing the calculation in their head [as to] whether or not the risks and rewards line up, recognize the price of being caught.” -- NCAA President Mark Emmert

Forget the "atomic bomb" and "the results were so catastrophic that now we'll do anything to avoid dropping another one,” it's 2011 baby. Matt Hinton's musings are confirmed.

I have been pondering though whether the NCAA is naturally drawn to hammer a little harder on private schools, such as the University of Miami, USC and SMU because of lower political risk to the NCAA when taking on a private entity, or whether private schools are naturally drawn to screw up due to the internal structuring of private schools.

Private schools are not subject to states' Open Records or Sunshine laws, allowing an administration and athletic department to filter out even the most mundane information from the media. Private schools do not answer to state legislative subcommittees and are not forced to make an annual song-and-dance for state funding amidst budget cutbacks. The lack of information flowing out of a private university allows small problems to fester into big nasty problems (needing more than Bernie's ultimate problem solver), and the relative financial independence of a private institution results in an equally slow 180⁰ turnaround by not putting out$ide state funding on the line.

The detailed allegations span two coaching administrations, apparent knowledge by the coaches and administrators, and was largely overseen by an athletic director who also had a part in Miami's more recent football scandals, including a drug testing scandal and where 57 players falsified Pell Grant applications to the tune of $220k. Miami's program since its rise to national prominence in the 1980s has been built on a shaky foundation and indeed may be "broken beyond repair."

If I was an obnoxious "The U" singing-football fan, player-dropout, or alleged alum, I would be frightened. In my mind, the modern baseline for sanctions by the NCAA will probably begin with USC's recent sanctions, be flavored with a little bit of 1980s Kentucky basketball punishment, and garnished with everything just shy of a SMU penalty.

How I Spent My New Year's Eve

(Please Note: This is a personal account of the events that took place on my trip to Orlando and they are somewhat off topic for this blog, but I thought it appropriate to share my story.)

As I stated earlier this week, Mrs. Streit and I set out for Orlando from Atlanta at around 8:00 on Wednesday. We had dinner reservations in Orlando that night and tickets in section 212 to see the Dawgs take on Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl the next day. The trip was going fine and we preparing to stop in Valdosta for lunch when our world (figuratively and literally) got turned upside down.

We had just passed the highway sign for Hahira and I was telling Mrs. Streit that it was the home of former Braves outfielder JD Drew. We were in the middle lane (of 3 on I-75 South) when a white semi truck suddenly began coming into our lane. To avoid the truck, I hit the brakes and turned the wheel. We began to skid and I was unable to regain control.

You know how in movies they always show wrecks in super slow motion? Well that is exactly how the next few seconds felt. We crashed into the concrete median and proceeded to flip twice back into the middle of I-75. We landed right side up and once I realized both myself and Mrs. Streit were okay, I got out and looked at the car. This what I saw:

Outside the car

Inside the car

And of course, the semi was gone. A number of people stopped to help as we waited for the police and ambulance to arrive. Miraculously, we both came out nearly unscathed. Mrs. Streit had a cut on her hand and some bruises and I suffered a pretty deep cut just below my elbow. As we were 4 hours from home and our car was un-driveable, we both rode to the hospital in the ambulance. We spent the next 6 hours at South Georgia Medical Center until finally my arm was cleaned and stitched up (it took them about 5 hours to finally work on me as my arm continued to bleed.)

Here I am at the hospital, waiting to be stitched up.

In the end we never made it to cheer on the Dawgs. I watched Stafford lead us back in the second half from my couch doped up on codeine. I am thankful to be alive and am a firm believer in the statement, "Seat belts save lives." Also surviving the crash was the bottle of champagne from my wedding night. Mrs. Streit and I had planned to share it on our first New Year's together and despite being thrown onto the side I-75, it survived.

With the Georgia victory, 2009 is off to a better start than 2008 ended. Make every moment this year count, because you never know when it could be your last.