I freely admit this post is due to me procrastinating to avoid my daily workout. My workout equipment is in my solarium, which is a nice, bright room which is normally great to workout in. But it also has four large skylights and while they do a pretty good job of blocking the heat from the sun, they don't do what a normal insulated ceiling can do. So I stall. But I'm leaving for Ames late this afternoon which provides a limit to how much I can procrastinate. Anyway here are some random mid-week thoughts while I procrastinate.
- Reggie Bush may have taken money, but he earned his Heisman and records on the field for his play. So why shouldn't he be allowed to keep those records and the Heisman? His athletic performance earn those. Punishment should fit the crime. The crime was violating NCAA rules by accepting money. Why shouldn't the penalty be monitory, or by providing unpaid service back to the NCAA. Or both? If he did something that brings the integrity of the game into question that's a different story. If his accepting money benefitted USC, then they should also be required to repay that debt to the NCAA with penalties. A bigger issue would be that taxes were not likely paid on that money and that should come with penalties.
- Why is possession a crime? Why do we care what people do to their bodies? If someone has a cocaine habit, why aren't they free to partake without risking legal consequences? If there is any punishment, maybe it should be more on the lines of the cost to society. If something is known to cause health problems, maybe those that choose to use dangerous drugs should not be allowed to take advantage of government supplied benefits. If you smoke and get lung cancer, maybe Medicare doesn't have to foot the bill for your care. You made the choice and created a cost burden on society, so why should society pay for your poor choices? If your actions put others at risk, like driving drunk, then there should be penalties for that.
- Regarding the gambling issue, I can totally understand the problem with betting on your own team. It brings into question the integrity of the game. But if your bet is only $5 and you really don't stand to gain much by winning that bet, shouldn't that matter? Is a guy really going to throw a game because of a $5 bet? It seems the punishment doesn't fit the crime. Betting on other sports seems like a stretch also, but even then shouldn't the amount of the bet mean something? Not the sum total of all bets, but the amount a bettor has at stake. It seems there is a transition between entertainment and corruption that should be drawn. Punishment for all, but what essentially amounts to a death penalty for a small bet seems too harsh. Yes, these guys should know better. But fit the punishment to the crime. Or in this case the NCAA violation.
