Rambles of a Crazy Coffin

It likes screwing players.

In explanation, they denied (former) Cincinatti quarterback Ben Mauk a sixth-year of eligibility, which I firmly believe he should have gotten. Mauk enrolled at Wake Forest in 2003 and was redshirted, then played the next two years for Wake. In his first game of 2006 he had an injury that practically destroyed his throwing arm, forcing him to sit out the rest of the season while he healed. After the '06 season he took advantage of a now defunct NCAA rule that allowed graduate students with athletic eligibility remaining to transer without penalty and enrolled at Cincinatti. He played in the 2007 season and, once it ended, applied for an extra year of eligibility because his arm caused him to miss the entire '06 season.

The NCAA said, nah, screw you.

Mauk's arm was practically destroyed and had to be rebuilt with a titanium plate, eight screws, and three anchors in his shoulder. If a player loses an entire season (or almost an entire season) due to a catastrophic injury that he recovers from, he should be able to get that season back. But hey, this is the NCAA we're talking about.

In other news, Ryan Mallet's appeal for immediate playing time was denied, another thing I think is crap. Coaches, the guys making millions, are allowed to job hop without penalty, screwing the players in the process, without any repurcussions. If a coach jumps ship, the players at either the new school or the old should be able to jump as well without penalty. Why should they be punished because their coach a) sucks, b) is fickle, or c) gets fired?