I can't believe it's been almost 6 months from my last entry and massive MLS/USA soccer binge. This is what happens when work/school/life take over for several months. That and I think I blacked out after that USA-Mexico game for like a month or so...whatever, moving on.

Last week I read three stories that absolutely boggled my mind. And I just wanted to make sure that if I put my thoughts down on paper (or the internet) that I wasn’t crazy. So here it goes…let’s see if I remember how to write these things…

Okay, last week I read several articles based around NCAA student-athletes and their recruiting/transfer processes. Two of them are similar, yet different. Todd O’Brien, a reserve center for the St. Joe’s Hawks, graduated from St. Joseph’s and attempted to gain a waiver to play basketball as a graduate student at UAB. However, one of the conditions of this waiver is that St. Joseph’s must also sign off on the waiver, and for reasons that St. Joseph’s won’t go into for “privacy reasons,” they have denied O’Brien his waiver and it is doubtful that he will play for UAB. The NCAA also denied O’Brien a waiver to play this season which basically means that O’Brien is done as an NCAA student-athlete.

But if that wasn’t stupid enough, I can do better.

Brock Berglund is a former QB at Kansas, who was one of ten players dismissed from the team by new coach Charlie Weis. Berglund was told that he would be competing for a back-up spot behind incoming Notre Dame transfer Dayne Crist, who got a waiver from ND (the same one St. Joe’s wouldn’t give Todd O’Brien) to play immediately and Berglund asked Kansas for permission to talk to other schools about a possible transfer, something all students-athletes cannot do without their school’s permission. Kansas denied his request and also told him that he would not be released from his scholarship, even though Berglund only asked for permission to talk to schools, not actually transfer. Berglund was then booted off the team for apparently missing a mandatory team meeting. Since his dismissal, Berglund has not been granted his release from Kansas.

I have the perfect solution for the NCAA, not that they’d listen to me. Since neither player has been released from their scholarship, I think that both players should be counted towards the program’s student-athlete scholarship numbers, i.e. 85 for football and 13 for basketball. Without knowledge of the Kansas football or St. Joe’s basketball scholarship players on the roster, for the sake of this blog, I will assume they are full. Since we’re already midseason in basketball, if St. Joe’s technically has 14 players on their roster (counting O’Brien), they should be penalized one scholarship for next season. Since Kansas hasn’t finalized their roster for the 2012 NCAA Football season due to ongoing recruiting, if Berglund
hasn’t been released from his scholarship by the end of the academic semester (sometime in May), then he should count towards Weis’ roster for 2012. If Kansas is over their limit with Berglund, they should also lose a scholarship for their next season starting in 2013.

C’mon people, this is stupid. Hundreds of players transfer from schools every year and nearly all of them go off without a hitch. These are young men who are penalized one year of eligibility for these transfers when coaches are fired and change jobs without penalty on a regular basis. A school should not be able to deny a transfer to a player that has graduated or wishes to leave the program during a coaching change. Incoming
freshman de-commit from schools on a regular basis when there is a coaching change. They also can de-commit quite frankly for any reason they want to, which is why I love this next story.

Gunner Kiel, one of the best QB prospects in the country and one of the best names in QB history as well, recently committed and enrolled at Notre Dame for the spring semester. Normally, not that big of a story, but since he had verbal/soft commits to Indiana and LSU in the past
months, he’s been getting a lot of press. Dennis Dodd is sticking up for Kiel, and saying that anyone who questions his commitment due to his number of de-commits is crazy. Couldn’t agree more. And I’m not saying that because I don’t miss a chance to stick it to the NCAA, but because Kiel is free to pick whatever school he wants and should be allow to make that decision without backlash from schools and media. Why ESPN, CBS and other major media outlets waste time on recruiting stories is beyond me, but like the “Hot Stove” of MLB (something else I largely avoid), recruiting season gives college sports writers something to do between bowl season and spring practice besides college basketball.

Look, great for Gunner for picking a school and program that he wanted to go to and I hope he gets a chance to stick to LSU and every
and anyone else at some point during his playing career. As for St. Joe’s basketball team and Kansas’ football teams, I really hope that karma exists. Because these kids are making millions for your schools, the least you could do is put them ahead of your bottom line.

UPDATE -- Jan. 24, 11:10PM -- Former Kansas QB Brock Berglund has hired an attorney in his quest to be released from his scholarship at Kansas. Berglund's appeals meeting with the Kansas Univ. student athlete appeals board on Friday.

There are a lot of upsets every season in sports. Pro, College it doesn't matter. But most of these so called upsets probably shouldn't be called "upsets." Upsets are FCS teams beating FBS teams (or Div. 1-A over 1-AA for those of you who remember). Upsets are ranked home teams losing non-conference games to unranked teams. Everything else, should really just be another game.

But in the cases of big, historical programs like Notre Dame, or Southern Cal, or Florida, every loss is an upset.

And I say that's garbage. Who determine's the favorite and underdogs? Vegas setting the lines? The talking heads on ESPN and CBS? Can a professional team of football players be "upset" by another group of professionals?

Do all big schools automatically gain "favorite" status because they have resources far greater than that FCS cupcake on their schedule?

And most importantly, did UConn really upset Notre Dame on Saturday? History, Vegas and the talking heads will all say yes. I'm saying no. Randy Edsall didn't think it was an upset either. He's a pretty smart guy.

What UConn has done in the last few years since joining Division 1 or the FBS or whatever it's called, they've probably accomplished more than Notre Dame has. In fact Notre Dame has probably regressed and is stuck in the big program's worst nightmare: mediocrity.

UConn should not be the school that "got Charlie Weis fired." What the UConn program and Randy Edsall have been through this season transends football, both emotionally and physically. Yet in every game this season, this young team that lost so much talent last year, has competed to the last minute. In five losses this season, UConn's margin of defeat is three. Five losses by a combined 15 points, most of them late in the 4th quarter.

But on top of everything they've gone through this year, they are one win away from bowl eligibility.

Anyone remember that Cincinnati game this year? They were a two-point conversion away from sending the No. 5 team in the country into overtime. Whould that have been an upset? According to the rankings, sure. UConn handed Cincy it's only Big East lost last season in 2008. They wouldn't have called it an upset. UConn lost so many close games, including three after the death of Jasper Howard, that if left many fans wondering if it would ever come.

But it did, and on National TV to a reeling Notre Dame team on Senior Day. In fact, I don't know if the Irish could finish in the top half of the Big East if it joined today with Navy. The Irish have lost to Pitt, Navy (twice), Syracuse and UConn in the last 3 years, and that's only off the top of my head.

If you want to talk talent, look at last year's NFL Draft. On Day 1 (Rounds 1 and 2), UConn had four players selected. Only two schools had that many, Southern Cal and Ohio State, one of which had five. Little UConn put up as many NFL players as two of the game's giants. And Randy Edsall has been doing this for years, turning average recruited talent (according to the talent talking heads) and winning with it. UConn has 3 bowl appearances, two wins and a Big East title (co-champs with WVU in '07) in their first five years of Big East play.

And now Notre Dame is probably looking for a new coach. Brian Kelly of Cincinnati has been mentioned, but he's only a football playoff away from playing for a national title. The Bearcats are very close to having back-to-back Big East titles and are opening a new practice facility.

And what does ND have to offer: Tons of pressure, a smaller recruiting base due to academics and an angry fan base.

Good luck with that. I'll stick to my PapaJohn's Bowl and be thankful for it.