The Florida State controversy continued the rest of the week, so we’re going to devote a second entry to it. The Florida State coach, Bobby Bowden, came out with a statement to the effect that it’s not fair for these athletes to affect victories in 10 different sports. In particular, according to the university’s president, the coaches shouldn’t be held accountable for the mistakes of the students. Why the coaches in particular? Why not “we shouldn’t hold all athletes responsible for the misdeeds of the few”? Because Mr. Bowden is one victory shy of the NCAA’s winningest coach in Penn State. If the NCAA takes away 14 wins from the football team, as originally planned Bowden may not be able to retire soon as the NCAA’s best coach.

At Florida State University, they are in trouble. About 60 athletes cheated on a Music History class and got caught. Not only is that a problem between them and their professors, but also with their coaches and ultimately the NCAA. The organization has become charged with the duty of patrolling academic violations by athletes during the last few years. They imposed a big penalty on the university, taking away victories in at least 10 sports, including possibly 14 in the college football arena. The university is hiring outside counsel to help them appeal the decision, as they believe it is unfair to put the blame for that on several hundred athletes in the country.

It looks like Preston Parker, who is the Florida State team receiver is not completely in the clear yet. He cannot afford to be relieved even after having a petty theft charge against him dropped, and still have remaining weapons charges to keep him occupied and out of the regular Florida State game play. Earlier in the year 2006, he was found guilty of shoplifting. It was said that he stole a $9.99 DVD movie from a rental store located in Tallahassee. To be free from the misdemeanor charges, he recently paid $200 in fine to the court earlier this week.

But that was not the end. In early April, Parker was again arrested in possession of marijuana amounting to less than 20 grams. He was also unlucky enough to be found with a loaded .45 caliber pistol hidden within his car’s dash board. Florida State has made it clear that the weapons charge must be eliminated before he is able to return to the team.