NCAA provides food for thought

The NCAA is against common sense.

This was one aspect of the NCAA case against the Maryland football program, at least as it concerned two sodas and a hot dog, a birthday cake, and a T-shirt and a cap.

In the NCAA section on etiquette, a coach is not permitted to pick up the cost of two sodas and a hot dog if the recipient of the gesture is a recruit.

So now Maryland finds itself on both the fast track and laugh track of college football after being sentenced to one year of probation from the NCAA.

The NCAA is unyielding on this.

Coaches are not permitted to quench the thirst of a prospective minor leaguer.

“Not even a Coke,” athletic director Debbie Yow says.

The NCAA has been inspecting the soda cans and food crumbs at Utah and Maryland this summer, which has been no easy task, considering the larger-than-life figures of Rick Majerus and Ralph Friedgen.

Neither man is inclined to miss a meal, and that spirit runs deep within their respective programs.

Majerus bumped up against the infractions committee of the NCAA because of his mealtime habits with players.

The NCAA found a hamburger to be an incredibly persuasive recruiting tool.

Or as Majerus put it, “Hey, if I only become a Ute, I’ll be able to go to Crown Burger with Majerus.”

Eating is a growth industry in America, no Utes, Terps or chicken-wing bones about it.

Asked why he came to America, the immigrant said, “even your poor people are fat.”

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