Our boy Dick Blumenthal is at it again. The now U.S. Senator, along with Rep. John Larson, want Congress to look into the NCAA after UConn's latest appeal for an academic waiver was denied. The two Democrats from Connecticut believe the system used to enforce NCAA standards "often appears arbitrary and unfair."
"We believe these issues demand Congressional attention because the questions regarding fairness for student-athletes have gone on too long - and the reforms that have been made are not yet sufficient," Larson and Blumenthal said in a joint statement. "Over the coming days we will be working together and with our colleagues to shine a light on the way the NCAA enforces its rules and review all possible courses of action to compel reform with the goal of ensuring the welfare of student-athletes."
You'll remember Blumental -- then state Attorney General -- from leading the charge in the Big East's frivolous lawsuit against the University of Miami, Boston College and the ACC seeking "hundreds of millions of dollars" in damages. Two years later and countless man hours wasted and the Big East and ACC settled for $5 million and four Big East-ACC home-and-home series.
Now here's Blumenthal at it again, going to bat for a men's basketball program that couldn't keep up its grades and is now banned from the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Just another example of members of Congress unnecessarily spinning the wheels of the U.S. government, motivated by selfish reasons. How is Senator Orrin Hatch's probe into the BCS going these days? Utah is now a member of a BCS conference, you say? And we're getting a worse college football playoff system than we have today? Oh, then I guess that Congressional probe isn't really needed anymore ...
We all know that the NCAA's enforcement policies are sometimes arbitrary and capricious. So we now need Congress to tell us as much? Doesn't the House and the Senate have more pressing matters to look into rather than telling us something we already know?
Congress can look into the NCAA's enforcement policies and waste valuable time and resources confirming what everyone already knows. OR the UConn men's basketball program can continue to keep up the grades -- they received a perfect APR score this fall, don'tcha know -- and qualify for the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Either way.