Striking Out

     It is the 2017 baseball post-season. Aaron Judge is at the plate. The first pitch is thrown. The ball races past him--at or below the knees. Strike one looking, as Judge does not move or make an attempt to swing at a ball he clearly believes is out of the strike zone. Sometimes the pitcher follows up with a pitch thrown above the letters. Again, no swing by Judge at a pitch once more outside of the strike zone. Strike two. Which now leaves Judge vulnerable for the breaking ball that is low and outside, or another fastball which is once more closer to his ankles than his knees. Strike three. Number 99 returns to the dugout. Bemused. Baffled. But definitely with the at bat taken away from him by umpires who do not know or care about the properly enforcing the strike zone--which is even more egregious when it comes to a quiet and unassuming kid like Judge.

     And if you dare to complain about a low strike three as veteran third baseman Todd Frazier did yesterday, prepare to be summarily threatened to be tossed from the game by an umpire such as the man behind home plate on Saturday, Hunter Wendelstedt--I could clearly read his lips on the close up of their exchange. Which is Exhibit 1 as to why the umpires are taking control of the games rather than just calling them correctly. Strikes are balls and balls become strikes.

     It is maddening and does not make for great baseball if Aaron Judge is rung up 16 times and is forced to swing at lousy pitches out of the strike zone. How is a budding star with enormous power going to hit long home runs like he did in September, to the tune of 13 homers, when he cannot see pitches in October like he did in September. Or that Greg Byrd, who hit the second most homers in September, looks out of sync because he cannot get good pitches to hit after two strikes have been called. The Cleveland Indians beefed right up to the eliminating strike out of Austin Jackson. Are Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander THAT good, or are they unfairly aided by the inconsistent, showboating umpires. Pitchers and batters stare down the umps, who glare right back at the players as if they are juvenile offenders. Is this how Major League Baseball wants to have the playoffs proceed--with the umpires as the focus and very few homers and too many strikeouts?

     Strike two on my list is the game I witnessed today at Met Life Stadium. The New York Jets put 14 points on the score board versus the defending World Champion New England Patriots. Then the proverbial roof caved in on the home team. Tom Brady, perhaps the G.O.A.T. quarterback, took charge. Despite a missed field goal by All Pro kicker Steven Gostkowski, Brady and his receivers managed to record 24 unanswered points. A lot of the Jets' failure was bad defense by the Jets or missed plays where the Jets could have easily capitalized.

     But, once again the officiating was questionable as to a number of very dubious pass interference calls that went against the Jets defensive secondary. Which kept the Patriots' drives alive or placed them in scoring position.

     Then there was the apparent fourth quarter touchdown scored by New York tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins after he caught a pass from Jets' QB Josh McCown. As Seferian-Jenkins was crossing the goal line, the ball is juggled but he seemed to recover it and complete the play before he hit the ground and out of bounds.

     However, the officials overruled the original call of a touchdown, stating that Seferian-Jenkins did not regain control sufficiently to merit the touchdown and thus he had fumbled the ball thought the end zone sideline. No TD. New England ball, 1st and 10 on their 20 yard line.Ball game over--even though New York would later kick a field goal and have a very slight chance to drive for the tying TD. Again thwarted by a penalty called by the refs.

     I don't know if the TD by Seferian-Jenkins would have altered the outcome of the game. Perhaps both teams would played out the last 5 minutes differently. But the critical calls by this officiating crew--even with the aid of instant replay made a difference as to who won and who lost. Is this what the National Footbal League desires--competitiveness overshadowed by bad officiating? And by the way, FOX analyst Mike Periera, a former NFL referee, said he didn't think that there was enough evidence to overturn the call on Seferian-Jenkins' TD. Wrong.

     My personal strike three involves the University of North Carolina getting a free pass on bogus classes which were tilted towards their football and basketball players. An NCAA investigation exonerated the Tar Heels from any academic fraud dating back to 1997, in an investigation which ran over 7 years--4 of them being very intensive. The Committee On Infractions bought North Carolina's explanation that these paper courses in the Afro-American Studies curriculum were not solely designed for athletes and they were, in fact open to the general population at the University--thereby not becoming an "extra benefit" for the Carolina players who took these courses. And indeed, these courses were overpopulated by student-athletes who padded their G.P.A. to maintain academic and athletic eligibility

     The COI's abject failure to find that anyone besides the chair of department, who would not cooperate in the investigation and thus received the only punishment meted out--a 5 year show cause order, is atrocious. This is from a fan who always liked and respected the teams of Dean Smith, the Tar Heels' Hall of Fame basketball coach. Yet these courses began during Smith's tenure in Chapel Hill, thereby raising some question about how much integrity the deceased, revered and honorable coach may have had.

     The allegations were unprecedented in NCAA history. The apparent cheating was noticed by the NCAA in passing judgment. The COI was severely troubled by the shifting stances UNC took in defending what was going on. But in the end, they could not punish the University because they could not specifically point to a lack of institutional control when the courses were allegedly devised to benefit all who took them, athletes or otherwise.

     Instead, the COI opted to take the University's word that they had not intentionally violated their own academic policies or those of the NCAA; ..."NCAA policy is clear.  The NCAA defers to its member schools to determine when academic fraud has occurred and, ultimately, the panel is bound to making decisions within the rules set by the membership".

     Lots of lawyers billed lots of hours and behind the scenes maneuvering within the UNC hierarchy ultimately defeated the NCAA. The demonstration by the school that its athletic department and the coaches and other staff therein did not have direct involvement with this scam is preposterous. The COI could "infer motives based on the large number of student athletes who took the courses and received high marks. Thus ..."the record, however, does not establish specific, systemic or intentional efforts tied to athletics motives."

     Even at a small liberal arts college like Franklin and Marshall in the late 1960's and early 1970's, there were courses, while open to the general student population, which athletes readily took. The athletes learned about the courses from the coaches, who implored the athletes to take them. I am certain other schools have done this or even what North Carolina blatantly did in Afro-American Studies.

     No one seems to get punished for this greed and avarice. The NCAA defers to its members to self-establish and patrol the member institution, and to maintain academic integrity, especially when athletes are involved. And as such, the NCAA whiffed on this abomination that did exactly what it could do--convey extra benefits to UNC student athletes without getting sanctioned. Is this what the NCAA really wants?

     Given the smell test, and asserting the rules the NCAA set up, this stinks throughout the NCAA membership, who now knows that it can have those cake courses that are academic frauds and open them to the entire student body, who will not be able to partake in these courses because they are so overrun by athletes. For the failure to hold UNC accountable, the UNC academic saga is the final strike on my weekend.