Splicetoday

On Campus
Jun 06, 2008, 05:21AM

Less Funding for Delinquent Athletes

This editorial for the Daily Illini breaks out some pretty damning numbers to make a case for increased background checks for athletic scholarships. Big state schools like Urbana-Champaign are potentially accepting "millions in booster money" for "national notoreity," raising questions about whether athletic programs constitute a business or an extracurricular activity.

Recruiting is the lifeline of a good athletic program, but how important is keeping bad blood out of the system?

Last week, former Illinois linebacker Erique Robertson was sentenced to 43 days in jail after unlawfully firing a .32 caliber revolver outside a Champaign bar. This comes just a few months after several players were suspended for a game for their alleged involvement in a bar fight and a year after Jody Ellis and Derrick McPhearson were charged with felony theft. Both are serving significant jail time.

All this negative attention for our football team has put the Illini in the running for their second straight Fulmer Cup. Created in 2006 by EveryDayShouldBeSaturday.com - a site well known on college football fans' message boards - the Fulmer Cup has been awarded to the college whose "exemplary efforts to recruit the most capable football players results in the most frequent embarrassing and illegal mishaps off or on the field." Currently, the Fighting Illini are seventh in the standings, making a strong push to be the first ever repeat champions. Oskee-wow-wow!

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