Illinitalk

That's right...or at least completely revamp it.

The NCAA has turned into nothing more than a political organization that schedules tournaments and merely monitors things they are actually supposed to care about like athletic recruiting. "Monitors" is the key word in that statement. The NCAA doesn't enforce anything...except when it comes to punishing schools because they don't like a flag flown by the state they are located in or the tradition the school employs during halftime of games.

We don't like to get too political here at Illinitalk but when it comes to the government, we believe the best place for politicians to stay is Washington, DC. However, is there any other way to clamp down on the NCAA? We can't think of anything right off the top of our heads, which is why we're kind of excited about a bill the Speaker of the House and the congressman who represents the U of I are pushing.

Read about it here, here and here.

The NCAA ruling regarding the Chief has already affected the Illini tennis team.

It's hurt South Carolina as well: This from Tupper's latest blog:

Then Spencer turned his focus to an available site in Charleston, S.C. But South Carolina is under seize from (Hang on, you’ll love this one) the NCAA, which refuses to allow events in that state until the Confederate battle flag is removed from atop the state capitol.

Apparently the NCAA is more concerned about political correctness than it is about serious things like the Kansas basketball program hiring the father of a highly publicized recruit during his recruitment. Our theory on why the KU basketball program gets off easy? The Jayhawk doesn't offend the NCAA like the Chief does.

If the NCAA wants to teach its student-athletes anything, it should first get back to the basics of enforcing violations evenly across the board and stay out of sensitivity training. Why? There is always going to be something that offends someone somewhere, as George Will points our here.

Actually, I believe the NCAA's actions with the Chief will backfire. Why? Prohibition stokes the fire hotter.

As soon as Illinois officially removes the Chief, all kinds of organizations to honor it will pop up that aren't affiliated with the university that no one will have any control over. By banning the Chief, the NCAA will actually cut off its nose to spite its face and make it into an even bigger deal.

Their best option would be to ignore it. But they're not smart enough to do that...mainly because they are blinded by their own politically correct ambitions.