Welcome to Leningrad, Sooners
Oklahoma football has been ordered to vacate its eight wins in 2005, and what’s next? Rafael Palmeiro’s home runs be stricken from the Baseball Encyclopedia? Richard Millhouse Nixon’s portrait be removed from the White House gallery? The Oklahoma
Land Run be cast out of history books?
Rewriting history to make it fit what we wish it had been is goofy ground, and frankly not all that common in a free society. This smacks of totalitarian Russia, where Saint Petersburg becomes Leningrad becomes Saint Petersburg, as the Russians keep coming to grips with their past.
History can’t be squashed, not in this century for sure, and the NCAA Infractions committee clearly doesn’t understand its industry.
Entertainment.
You can’t turn back the clock. You can’t tell people who paid good money for tickets and who spent precious hours spilling their passion that an event didn’t exist.
This is nonsense. This was not a sanction against
Oklahoma. This was a penalty against Bob Stoops, if he cares about his personal won-loss record, and those of us who chronicle college football history. Not just media, but fans alike.
We will not pay attention to the NCAA’s decree. The Sooners were not 0-4 in 2005. They were 8-4, and they really did play in the Holiday Bowl, and Rhett Bomar really was the game MVP, and Clint Ingram really did make the game-saving interception. You can’t change history, and the NCAA shouldn’t try.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
This reminds me of the uproar that resulted from Brian Bosworth calling the NCAA “National Communists Against Athletes” or similar wording. My question for the infractions committee is: Were you intentionally trying to prove Bosworth correct or are you all really as stupid as this ruling makes you look? Once again the overzealous and fanatical worship at the alter of Political Correctness has revealed a moronic disconnect with reality and common sense. It is no surprise that the NCAA doesn’t understand its industry or its role in that industry. They control an enormous amount of money and therefore weild an enormous amount of power. Unfortunately, for the fans who support the college athletics industry, the NCAA’s perspective is limited to the view from inside their own rectum. Arrogant, elitist, totalitarian hypocrites.
Ah ha ha ha. Comparing the taking of a few games away from some two-bit cheaters to events on the world stage. Ah hah hah ha. Good one.