Sorsby and Texas Tech Football

 

I am a Texas Tech football fan. I would like having Brendan Sorsby playing quarterack for TTU next season. I also would like having Patrick Mahomes playing quarterback for TTU next season, but Mahomes could not do it even if he wanted to, because he is not eligible to play college football, having long since moved on to the NFL. Sorsby should not be eligible either.

The NCAA was right to ban Sorsby from the game after he was caught betting not only on college football but on a game or games the team he was on played. His guilt is not in question, and his defense is risible. Excessive gambling is not an addiction. It is a character flaw. But even if one accepts the dubious notion of the existence of an addiction to gambling, there is no way being so addicted would force someone to bet on his own team’s games, given that there are thousands of other things on which to bet. So the claim of addiction is irrelevant to the thing Sorsby did which caused him to be banned.

Texas Tech should do the right thing and announce that it will follow the NCAA’s decision and not play Sorsby during the coming football season. The ethical reason for this is clear. Sorsby is guilty according to the rules of the NCAA (and according to ordinary fairness and fair play), and TTU as a member of the NCAA is obligated to follow its rules (and should practice ordinary fairness and fair play). For those who do not worry about that, there also is a strong pragmatic reason for benching Sorsby permanently or kicking him off the team. If this is not done, TTU athletic programs will be treated as pariahs by other programs in the Big 12 and around the country, and will be subject to whatever revenge and punishment the people at the NCAA can come up with for years to come. The short term benefit of having Sorsby is not worth the long term cost, particularly since Hammond may be ready before TTU has a tough game next season.