Scandals galore mar NCAA landscape

Six women have sued the University of Tennessee, charging the school violated Title IX and other federal laws by “deliberately indifferent” actions before and after alleged rapes.

Florida State University settles with a woman who brought assault charges against former quarterback Jameis Winston. The school paid her almost $1 million for something it claimed didn’t happen.

The University of Louisville bans itself from postseason conference and NCAA play when its own investigation supported claims a former basketball assistant hired strippers and prostitutes for recruits and players.

A Texas A&M quarterback who transferred to Houston in December claimed this week there was a Johnny Manziel-type hangover at the school, where many players thought they could do anything they wanted as long as they won on Saturdays.

Ole Miss is being investigated for 28 NCAA violations, 13 against the football team and 9 on Coach Hugh Freeze’s watch.

There’s more, much more, and it goes all the way up into the professional ranks, where guys are generally overpaid and underworked.

If not for Manziel, Cam Newton might be the most disliked athlete in the country this week. Newton let his team down in the Super Bowl when he didn’t dive for a fumble, but at least he didn’t allegedly hit his longtime girlfriend and burst her ear drum.

All of it can be described in one word: disgusting.

Granted, it is not the majority of coaches and athletes who are getting in trouble. For every guy doing wrong there are probably 100 doing the right thing.

Usually, though, the ones who do get in trouble are the headliners, and there are just too many headlines right now.

There was a story last year about Winston that quoted someone from his hometown who had known him all his life. Basically, he said Winston was not held to the same standard as other athletes by his coaches and friends.

That is something that happens all over the world way too much.

The biggest problem is that the issue usually starts at home. Some dad living vicariously through his son. He makes him the quarterback of the peewee football team he coaches. Or the dad makes the kid the shooting guard on the basketball team and designs everything to run through his son’s hands.

Or a mom who likes the attention and the potential.

It is worse if that dad and that mom are married to each other.

Of course, the problems don’t get better in college when you have your coach accused of cheating, or in the case at Louisville the coach saying he’s shocked. He had no idea what was going on.

Make no mistake, “Teflon” Rick Pitino is a great coach. One of the best, but he’s now been part of two embarrassments at Louisville. His affair and now the prostitute scandal.

His claim that he didn’t know makes it worse for the university. He’s paid millions of dollars a year to oversee his basketball program, which consists of 13 players and a few assistant coaches.

Louisville’s own investigation proved the vile behavior was true, and Pitino offered that players were being punished who weren’t involved. He even offered to personally sit out the tournament if the team could play.

Guess what Rick? You already are not coaching in the postseason.

Guess what Rick? At some schools you would be out of a job. You may not have known, but you should have.

Winning isn’t the most important thing about sports, it is the only thing too often. It seems as if building character, self-discipline and self-control have gone the way of sportsmanship, absent without leave.