Adidas4I0s
09-12-2006, 12:42 PM
Humanity rulesWORDS WE NEVER thought we would write: Good job, NCAA.
The NCAA yesterday, stunningly, gave
Clemson permission to provide assistance to Ray Ray McElrathbey, a 19-year-old freshman football player who has temporary custody of his 11-year-old brother, Fahmarr.
When we wrote about this last week, we were convinced once the NCAA got its teeth
into it, Ray Ray would be ruled ineligible, Clemson would be barred from bowls until 2070 and the NCAA would feel smugly self-righteous about protecting, well, whatever it protects.
Happily, we were wrong.
Ray Ray shares an apartment near campus with his brother. Their mother has continuing drug problems and their father has a gambling addiction. Ray Ray did not want to send his little brother back to Atlanta to live with their
mother. He wanted to take care of his brother.
Clemson had asked the NCAA for a waiver of its rule prohibiting athletes from obtaining gifts, cash or other benefits not provided to regular students.
Thankfully, the NCAA recognized that
Ray Ray isn't being paid by some fat-cat
booster to keep Clemson Memorial Stadium free of seaweed.
He will, however, be allowed to receive
assistance, such as local transportation and child care for Fahmarr. They had been living entirely off McElrathbey's scholarship. Clemson said it will start a trust fund to coordinate contributions to help pay for living expenses.
We're suckers for happy endings. We hope this turns out to be one.
After a last-place finish...
Words we never thought we would write: Michelle Wie, stop trying to play on the men's tours. It's over. We're huge fans of Wie, but win LPGA events for years and years, and then get back to us.
The NCAA yesterday, stunningly, gave
Clemson permission to provide assistance to Ray Ray McElrathbey, a 19-year-old freshman football player who has temporary custody of his 11-year-old brother, Fahmarr.
When we wrote about this last week, we were convinced once the NCAA got its teeth
into it, Ray Ray would be ruled ineligible, Clemson would be barred from bowls until 2070 and the NCAA would feel smugly self-righteous about protecting, well, whatever it protects.
Happily, we were wrong.
Ray Ray shares an apartment near campus with his brother. Their mother has continuing drug problems and their father has a gambling addiction. Ray Ray did not want to send his little brother back to Atlanta to live with their
mother. He wanted to take care of his brother.
Clemson had asked the NCAA for a waiver of its rule prohibiting athletes from obtaining gifts, cash or other benefits not provided to regular students.
Thankfully, the NCAA recognized that
Ray Ray isn't being paid by some fat-cat
booster to keep Clemson Memorial Stadium free of seaweed.
He will, however, be allowed to receive
assistance, such as local transportation and child care for Fahmarr. They had been living entirely off McElrathbey's scholarship. Clemson said it will start a trust fund to coordinate contributions to help pay for living expenses.
We're suckers for happy endings. We hope this turns out to be one.
After a last-place finish...
Words we never thought we would write: Michelle Wie, stop trying to play on the men's tours. It's over. We're huge fans of Wie, but win LPGA events for years and years, and then get back to us.