And in other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.
(Apologies to the readers under 40 who have no idea what that joke means)
Buried in the din of the lead-up to the UNC/Dook basketball game was the news that the NCAA finally got around to ruling on the appeal of permanent ineligibility for defensive lineman Michael McAdoo. And I say finally because the appeal hearing took place on December 14, just over 8 weeks ago. Contrast this to former Auburn QB Cam Newton, whose declaration of ineligibility by Auburn, appeal to the NCAA, and subsequent reinstatement took about 8 minutes.
The circumstances surrounding McAdoo's ineligibility have not been discussed, but UNC athletic director Dick Baddour said, “We appealed this decision because we believed it was unfair and we continue to believe that.” For those who would parse every word coming out of UNC for hidden meaning and subtext, it is important to note that Baddour did not make the same comment about the fairness of the decision and appeals process for Greg Little and Robert Quinn, even though the school appealed those decisions as a formality.
At the end of the day, however, the appeals process is just that - a formality. As Brett Friedlander notes, the NCAA just doesn't overturn its decisions on appeal, particularly the death penalty like the one given to McAdoo and Devon Ramsay. In other words, if I were Ramsay, I wouldn't be holding out hope.
So what does this mean in the greater scheme of the ultimate resolution of the football unpleasantness? Absolutely nothing. The NCAA's wild inconsistency makes drawing any conclusions little more than a parlor game. Meanwhile, the waiting game continues.