Friday Firings: NCAA Doesn't Control BCS, High School Ref Punishment

This week's edition of Friday Firings focuses on amateur sports, which instead of reminding us of the purity and joy of athletic competition, sometimes showcase greed and stupidity. Two incidents this week demonstrated a little bit of both.

Fire the NCAA Passing the Buck on Football Playoffs - NCAA President Mark Emmert told the Justice Department this week that beyond licensing the postseason bowls, "the NCAA has no role to play in the BCS or the BCS system." Um, what?  We're expected to believe that the NCAA has no control over the BCS, even though its member organizations play in those bowl games?

Emmert was trying to defend the NCAA against anti-trust allegations, and in typical form he tried to explain why any accusations should be directed at the BCS, not his organization. Not only is he throwing the BCS (his partner in crime) under the bus, he's probably lying, too. The NCAA created the BCS and by Emmert's own admission, certifies its existence, so it can't possibly claim lack of control with any credibility. This is also an attempt by the NCAA to say that a lack of playoffs is the BCS's fault, not the NCAA's. If what Emmert said is true, the BCS would have to disband itself in order for a playoff to happen. It seems safe to say that the money-making machine of the BCS isn't going to be shutting itself down, so it is up to the NCAA to pull the plug. But if the governing body won't even acknowledge that it controls the BCS, we won't be seeing a playoff anytime soon. 

The offending whistle.

Fire Commissioner Who Punished Referees for Supporting Breast Cancer Awareness - High school football referees in the Pacific Northwest have been punished for sporting pink whistles for a week in the fall of 2010 in an effort to raise awareness for breast cancer. The Pacific Football Officials Association wanted to wear the special whistles, which were deemed a "stunt," as well as donate their game checks, in support of the cause. But the Washington Officials Association would have none of that sort of do-goodery on its watch, no sir! WOA Commissioner Todd Stordahl said the referees didn't have the authority to wear non-regulation whistles and his governing body decided that an appropriate punishment would be the loss of playoff-game work for the offenders as well as a 3-year probation. If those evil referees do anything else to raise eyebrows while on probation, they could all be fired, according to a report.

It is truly disgusting that someone like Stordahl is so drunk on the puny bit of power he has that he would act in such a mean-spirited way. Pink whistles were a nice gesture that harmed no one, except for perhaps poor Stordahl's ego. "How dare anyone defy the mighty Stordahl! I'll show those refs," he might have thought to himself. What he really showed is that he is heartless, and for that he should most definitely be fired.