CLEMSON — Is it me, or is college football getting worse by the day?
I do not think it is me.
The latest news is coming out of Texas, where a Texas judge says Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby can play this season after the NCAA ruled him ineligible due to Sorsby’s gambling issues.
Sorsby could suffer “irreparable harm” if he is not allowed to play college football, Texas judge Ken Curry said.
Okay, what about the game?
Allowing Sorsby to play is causing college football to suffer “irreparable harm.” Did we think about that Judge Curry?
College football has done a lot of things wrong in the last few years, but what it has not done is allow someone to blatantly gamble on college football and get away with it. But that is what Judge Curry is doing here.
He is telling everyone it is okay to bet on your team and still play sports. Who needs gambling laws and rules?
We do!
Reportedly, the NCAA is going to file an appeal in the Sorsby case, while several administrators believe conferences and/or schools should file a brief in support of the NCAA’s appeal as part of the filing.
The Big 12 is reportedly having serious talks about not playing Texas Tech this coming season, while an SEC athletic director is saying Texas Tech should be boycotted from all scheduling, regardless of sport.
That is where we are at, and look, I do not blame the Big 12 and others that do not want to play Texas Tech. We are talking about the integrity of the games here. Everything is on the line.
The administration at Texas Tech brought this on themselves when they labeled Sorsby’s gambling as a “mental illness.”
All they did was try to make an excuse for the young man’s actions in hopes that the NCAA would treat it like they would an anxiety or clinical depression case. The NCAA did not fall for it, so Sorsby’s legal team did what every student-athletes does these days when they cannot get their way – they file a legal complaint against the NCAA and get an injunction.
Now, some are warranted, in my humble opinion, and others are not.
Clemson wide receiver Tristan Smith, who is trying to get an injunction on the NCAA’s decision to not allow him another year of eligibility, was in court Monday trying to make his case. Circuit Court Judge Jessica Salvini says she will make her decision later in the week in the Smith case.
Sorsby’s case, however, is just wrong.
I am not attacking Sorsby. He might be a great person, overall. However, he made a mistake, a huge one, one he should not be allowed to walk away from without facing any consequences.
What precedent are we setting here?
How is he supposed to learn, especially since the evidence shows he has gambling issues?
If he does walk away with no ramifications, then we are failing the young man. As someone who has personally seen what gambling issues can do to a family, it is important that you do not enable the individual. They must be held accountable for their actions, or they will not hold themselves accountable.
Gambling is not a mental illness, like clinical depression or clinical anxiety. Those are things people cannot help, something physically and mentally is wrong with them. They do not want to feel that way. They want to feel normal.
Gambling can turn into an addiction. The addict knows what they are doing. They just choose to continue doing it because it makes them feel good.
Addiction is a chronic, compulsive physiological or psychological dependence on a habit-forming substance or behavior. They continue engaging in the act despite negative consequences.
It is a choice, a disease if you will, but it is still a choice.
Depression is not a choice.
Does Sorsby need help? Yes, but we do not need to enable or reward his bad behavior. Or he is never going to get the help he needs, and college football could suffer because of it.