Fulmer Cup Update and What If's

It's hard not to say this is funny thanks to Orson, but Fulmer Cup points were awarded today in grand fashion to San Jose St. University! SJSU WR Ellis T. Jones has been a bad boy and has taken the SJSU Fulmer Cup engine from zero to 31 faster than you can say blast off!

Five counts robbery: 3 x 5=15 points.

Four counts of assault with taser: 3 x 4 points=12 points.

One count kidnapping: 4 points. Honestly, we hadn'’t come up with an award for kidnapping, but damn, kidnapping isnÂ’t your average everyday crime. 4 seems right.

This means a shocking, one-man campaign on the part of Ellis Jones III has turned the Fulmer Cup on its head. If this story holds, San Jose State certainly locks down the crown with an unprecedented, heretofore unparalleled THIRTY-ONE POINT ENTRANCE into the Fulmer Cup.

So this had me thinking about how little trouble Big East football players are getting in. Not completely clean, but by comparison, it was a pretty quiet off season. And what if the Fulmer Cup would have been around for the original Big East football conference. The first thing that came to mind is Miami. Do I really need to explain? Dennis Erickson's drinking problems + Warren Sapp's weed problems made for a winning combination on the field, but yeah:

1990, Miami was invited to the Cotton Bowl to play #3 Texas, a team that the week before the game, began to produce a number of quotes (mainly by Texas OT Stan Thomas and Texas DB Stanley Richards) that would end up on Miami's locker room wall. Miami's response was a 5-turnover, 9-sack 46-3 blowout. Although Miami's dominance was marred by amassing 206 penalty yards and taunting Texas at every opportunity. So much so that the NCAA redefined most of their taunting rules (known among some circles as "The Miami Rule") the following offseason.

Virginia Tech also comes to mind. It's hard to get past Marcus Vick and the points he would have provided if he could have stayed on the team. So, in 1996-1997 this policy was enacteded, and it makes for some good reading.

The profile of intercollegiate athletics has risen considerably in recent years. As sports teams garner ever increasing media attention, so too have the off-field problems of athletes been spotlighted for media scrutiny. Virginia Tech has not been excluded from this unfortunate turn of events.

University officials, coaches, faculty, alumni, and players are embarrassed and upset by arrests of Virginia Tech student-athletes. It reflects poorly on the university, the integrity of all athletes, and the program in general. It is utterly incompatible with the character of our university community and completely unacceptable. It detracts from the remarkable success Virginia Tech student- athletes have achieved in recent years on the field and in the classroom. Accordingly, at the conclusion of the 1996 football season President Paul Torgersen asked the Athletic Director to lead a group representing a cross-section of the university to review current department policies relative to student-athlete off-field behavior and develop a series of recommendations that would minimize future occurrences.

Yeah, I guess it has really worked wonders. I wonder how bad things would have been with Marcus if this policy wasn't enacteded. I guess the conversation with Marcus would have gone something like this, "Marcus, you're really pushing your luck buddy. If we hear of you brandishing a gun, molesting underage girls, giving the finger to opposing fans, or stomping on opposing players, we're going to have to sit you down and have another talk."

Last, but not least by anstretchch of the imagination, we present the 1996 Boston College football betting scandal.

Associated Press
NEWTON, Mass. -- Two Boston College players have been reinstated and three others were given additional suspensions by the NCAA for their parts in the biggest gambling scandal in college football history.
The school suspended 13 players for the final three games of the 1996 season after an investigation into gambling on the Eagles football team. One has since suffered a career-ending injury, four were allowed to complete their coursework and three had their scholarships revoked. Of the remaining five, the school said, two players have had their eligibility reinstated, two are suspended for the first two games of the 1997 season and one will sit out the first four games.
The school did not identify which players received which punishment, and a spokesman declined further comment. Football coach Dan Henning resigned at the end of the 1996 season, due mostly to his 16-19-1 record.
Basketball coach Jim O'Brien also left the school after a falling out with the admissions office over the rejection of three recruits just days after the football scandal broke.

Now that has to be worth like a bazillion Fulmer Cup points or something, doesn't it?

I don't know about you, but I feel a whole lot better about the new Big East now.