Argo Playback
A column
Michael Prescott
Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
Over the past month we have had a situation at NDNU that the school and athletic program was hoping would never take place. The cross country team "cheated" to win an event.
Now what is tough to determine is who's to blame for the mess that has been created. Is it the coach's fault because he ran a runner who was ineligible? Or maybe it is the runner who decided to run under someone else's name. Maybe it is the runner who let someone else run under his name.
You must understand that collegiate sports are very competitive and to excel in a sport takes talent and dedication. Being a collegiate athlete myself, I understand the feeling of doing whatever it takes to win. That is why in this situation, students are being pushed to the extreme.
The coach did something wrong and deserves to be punished. It seems he went out of his way to run an ineligible runner and should suffer the consequences. But should his runners who are just doing what he told them to do, deserve to be punished?
The cross country team wants to win, the same as any other team at NDNU. Wouldn't any other team play its best players to win? Of course, but does the fact that this player was ineligible, not because of grades or poor conduct, but because he had not been cleared, deserve punishment from the athletic department or the NCAA?
People, including athletes, need to be held accountable for their actions. There should be some form of punishment for people that bend or break the rules of college sports. Collegiate sports are the most pure form of athletic competition where people play not for money but just for the pride of their school and themselves.
In this situation, the students deserve to be punished but maybe only in the form of missing a meet or a semester, not on probation or suspended for the remainder of the year.
But the worst punishment in this situation has already taken place. The runners will now be known as people who cheated in a collegiate event and now have to live with the fact that their collegiate careers will be tainted forever.
Now what is tough to determine is who's to blame for the mess that has been created. Is it the coach's fault because he ran a runner who was ineligible? Or maybe it is the runner who decided to run under someone else's name. Maybe it is the runner who let someone else run under his name.
You must understand that collegiate sports are very competitive and to excel in a sport takes talent and dedication. Being a collegiate athlete myself, I understand the feeling of doing whatever it takes to win. That is why in this situation, students are being pushed to the extreme.
The coach did something wrong and deserves to be punished. It seems he went out of his way to run an ineligible runner and should suffer the consequences. But should his runners who are just doing what he told them to do, deserve to be punished?
The cross country team wants to win, the same as any other team at NDNU. Wouldn't any other team play its best players to win? Of course, but does the fact that this player was ineligible, not because of grades or poor conduct, but because he had not been cleared, deserve punishment from the athletic department or the NCAA?
People, including athletes, need to be held accountable for their actions. There should be some form of punishment for people that bend or break the rules of college sports. Collegiate sports are the most pure form of athletic competition where people play not for money but just for the pride of their school and themselves.
In this situation, the students deserve to be punished but maybe only in the form of missing a meet or a semester, not on probation or suspended for the remainder of the year.
But the worst punishment in this situation has already taken place. The runners will now be known as people who cheated in a collegiate event and now have to live with the fact that their collegiate careers will be tainted forever.
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