A special comment on Florida State

◊ Florida State was handed four years probation, reduction in scholarships, and forfeit of wins achieved during the 2006 and 2007 athletic seasons. In all, 10 sports programs at the university will be sanctioned. So what does this all really mean?

This kind of wide-range academic cheating scandal doesn't come along very often. In fact, we've never seen something similar, involving so many different sports programs at one school. The punishments are, well, much more severe than they even seem; and that's saying a lot.

I'm going to focus mainly on the football team, as that is the most visible program at the university, and of most interest to my readers.

Academic infractions usually get treated much more severe by the NCAA. For instance, when Reggie Bush was being accused of getting a free apartment and cash for his family, it felt like the NCAA was doing all it could to sweep it under the rug.

Then, when Oklahoma was nabbed for non-academic infractions, it was forced to vacate all wins from 2005. Later, however, an appeal was won by the Sooners, and their wins reinstated.

Don't count on a successful appeal by Florida State. Oh, they will try, but I really don't believe that the NCAA will budge on their decision. The punishment was a dead giveaway that they're being dead serious about this one.

Only one team in college football history has been punished by The Death Penalty, SMU in the late 1980s.

Before and ever since, not too many program have been whacked with sanctions like the ones Florida State will now have to deal with. This punishment is so severe, you could call it "The Death Penalty-lite."

Then there's the record for all-time wins by a major college football coach. While slim, there is still the chance for a successful appeal to at least reinstate the wins from 2006 and 2007. But that would mean the university would have to have known the students were ineligible to play at the time of the games, which is tough to prove.

However, if those wins are in fact forfeited, Bobby Bowden would lose 14 wins from his career total. That would mean he'd no longer trail Joe Paterno 383 to 382, but rather 383 to 368.

Bowden's current deal allows him to coach until 2010, where after if he stays on, coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher would be paid a few million a year until Bowden leaves. Assuming the wins are vacated, Bowden would absolutely have to continue coaching beyond 2010 to even catch Paterno again.

In a more long-term view, what does this do to Bowden in the end? He was once idolized by every rising coaching star, and feared by all opponents. Now, with his team mired in mediocrity on the field, and disgrace off it, Bowden's legacy is in danger.

History usually views things differently than the people living the situations. I think history will look kindly on Bowden in the end, with this final disappointment as just a small blemish when compared to the greatness of his career.

As much as we all jump to demonize coaches who allow their programs to run out of control, particularly when those programs win a lot of games over the years, it can't be forgotten that coaches like Bowden don't come along all that often anymore.

Does this punishment go to far? No, definitely no. Florida State and its athletic department deserves everything coming at it. But we can't forget that this is not a problem unique to only a few universities.

And that's the sad part, now isn't it? For every Florida State that gets caught, there are about 50 more programs that don't get caught. College sports have become a bloated, self congratulating conglomeration, hell bent on making as much money as possible. The NCAA can't keep up.

It's an unfortunate reality we have to live with. Football, college football specifically, needs help, but no one wants to seriously bring it up. There's too much money at stake.

The universities, athletic departments and the boosters have too much invested to allow their teams and athletes to fail, even if it means looking the other way just when guidance is needed most. In Tallahassee, those who were supposed to be stewards of hundreds of young people's lives just looked the other way.

Unfortunately for 10 Florida State athletic programs, and the athletes in them who didn't cheat, the NCAA saw what no one else wanted to. It's about time.