Greed Wins — Patsies Hit Pay Dirt

ABC's Stu Schutzman reports from New York: Delaware State’s Hornets pulled off an improbable coup last weekend — they managed to lose 2 football games in one day. The 1-4 Hornets, hot off a tough loss to the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, stormed into Ann Arbor’s Big House Saturday and got their heads handed to them. Their own website said it best — “Hornets No Match For Michigan." The Wolverines clobbered them 63-6. “Well, we came to play an outstanding football team,” said DESU coach Al Lavan, “and an outstanding football team showed up.” That would be the entire Michigan roster, all 80 players got in. “It really went the way we wanted it to,” said Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. Translation — he got to play all his scrubs thereby keeping his starters fresh for rival Penn State next week. But back to the Delaware State Hornets. What on earth was this tiny school (3,700 enrollment) doing playing powerhouse Michigan on national TV in front of 106,304 rabid fans in the first place? Therein lies a tale. “If you made a list of the 10 dumbest things ever done by university administrators,” writes Gene Wojciechowski on espn.com, “Delaware State’s decision to play Michigan would be Nos. 1-5.” Although no one at DESU will own up to that decision.  “The regrets are numerous at this point,” says the current DSU athletic director Derek Carter. But Carter wasn’t at DESU when the deal with Michigan was sealed. In fact there was no AD at the time yet the University funnels all questions about the deal to Carter. Carter says he is “unclear who is responsible.  But at the time of the deal one thing was clear — the Hornets already had a MEAC (which is short for Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) game on their schedule with North Carolina A&T which they forfeited (their other loss last Saturday) to play Michigan for a big time appearance fee. “Delaware State sold its soul and it’s conference out,” writes Wojciechowski, “For $500K.” Yup, DSU got 500 grand to play patsy for Michigan allowing Wolverine star players a mid season break while still racking up a big win. Shame on Michigan and shame on Delaware State. But they’re far from the only schools to engage in this sort of intercollegiate commerce — so shame on the NCAA for allowing it.