Demonization of Longar continues

The demonization of OU’s Longar Longar continues. The NCAA, in a self-admitted unprecedented move, granted an extra half year of eligibility to Texas Tech basketball center Esmir Rizvic, whose eye socket was fractured by a Longar elbow last January.

Rizvic gets the extra half year in the 2008-09 season. Longar is a senior this coming season, so even after Longar is gone from Soonerland, his legacy will stay in the news.

Longar was not so much as even called for a foul in the game at Lubbock, but Tech coach Bobby Knight campaigned for sanctions against Longar, and then-Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg capitulated. The NCAA committee hearing Tech’s appeal has indicted Longar all over again.

Good for Rizvic, who was an innocent bystander on both Longar’s elbow and Knight’s politicking. Those who say the NCAA never thinks of athletes are wrong. The NCAA has a solid track record of looking out for athletes, and this is a good example. But it sure seems like a can of worms. What’s next? An extra half season for a linebacker who gets clipped and tears up a knee? An extra half season for a hitter who gets beaned?