Or, "How I learned to stop worrying and hate the NCAA"

Just when we thought the NCAA couldn't possibly come up with another situation that was more asburd, we get this ruling, saying that even though he inquired about a waiver, Mark Richt still will not be able to (legally) keep his promise to attend the graduation address by Troup County's Chris Burnette.

This situation highlights all that is some of the things that are ignorant and stupid about the NCAA.  Any average moron can understand the situation.  Mark Richt promised this kid that if he graduated as valedictorian, he would attend his graduation to hear his address.  Well, as it turns out, the Burnette didn't make valedictorian, but is still high enough in the class to speak at graduation (where I came from, that means you were in the top 4).  The NCAA's ruling, however, was that unless Burnette were actually the valedictorian, they couldn't grant the waiver for Richt to attend.  Not salutatorian, not speaking at graduation... only valedictorian.

As a matter of fact, while I'm complaining, why would a college football coach be banned from simply attending a graduation ceremony, anyway?  He can't attend on the off chance that he'll make contact with a recruit at the ceremony?  Yeah, I'm sure Nick Saban and Corch Urban Meyers are going to be patrolling all of the high school graduations to try to catch a few extra seconds of face time with those recruits.

How silly.  Just let the man reward the kid by going and hearing his graduation address.  It doesn't take an elitist bunch of know-it-all's perched on their ivory throne in Indianapolis to figure this one out.