Notre Dame announced this week that they've launched an investigation into academic fraud related to four players on Notre Dame's football team. While all of this is going on, every other school in the country should launch a similar investigation because this sort of thing happens on every campus in the nation.
Not us, not here, not our campus, said the idiot.
Academic fraud is as much a part of college life as the keg party and the all-nighter. And forget about it being football players or basketball players. One need not be a Division I college athlete, or even an athlete of any kind, to engage in academic fraud. In the long run, I suppose there's little harm done by a little cheating here and there...unless it's your surgeon that passed by cheating. Or your lawyer. Or accountant. Or bridge engineer. Or elected official. Actually, scratch that last one. That's the only profession where practice in fraud comes in handy. That and banking.
I guess it's good that Notre Dame uncovered the potential fraud and is being proactive and corrective. The investigation promises to damage their football program this season, which is all the more reason their proactive steps are admirable.
In addition to investigating and correcting any problems in the present, Notre Dame also vowed to forfeit any previous wins wherein potentially ineligible players participated. This is my only issue in all of this. On the surface, it seems very stand-up and chivalrous to say, hey, we don't deserve these previous wins gained through unfair circumstances.
This happens a lot in situations like this in college football. Teams are involved in some wrong-doing and ultimately give up wins from previous seasons. To that I ask: who cares? Forfeit a whole season's-worth of games if it makes you feel better--and I know how Catholics are about redeeming themselves through repentance, so knock yourselves out. But who cares? What's the point?
A game in the past that Notre Dame won, they celebrated. Bettors won money based on that win. Notre Dame improved their bowl situation because of that win, maybe sold a few extra t-shirts and hats, maybe convinced a recruit to come to South Bend...whatever. What happens to all of that? Can you forfeit that? Can they forfeit the money the school earned from appearing in a BCS bowl as the result of the win? And what of the teams they beat? What if Rice or Air Force, for instance, finished the season with five wins instead of six and was, as a result, not eligible to play in a bowl? Can they go back and get invited to the Independence Bowl, New Orleans Bowl or something similar? No. They can't play in a retro-active bowl game, they don't get any of the recruiting benefits of playing in a bowl or the appearance fees for playing in a bowl or the simple life enrichment that comes with a late-December trip to El Paso or San Francisco.
So who cares? Forfeit the game. Or don't. It won't matter.
I went to the world's greatest party. Man, it was more fun than you can imagine and I partied until I dropped. Oh, the joy and the memories. My life wasn't the same after it. Later, I found out I wasn't invited so I feel badly for even going. That's what your forfeit is. The cow is gone. It's long gone. But, OK, close the barn door if it makes you feel better.
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