Recently, a number of people have arrived at VUhoops.com by typing "Bagel Rule" into their favorite internet search engine. Where they landed was a story from August, when the NCAA was debating a rule change that would allow schools to serve cream cheese and other spreads with the bagels that they routinely provide to athletes. The fact that schools were permitted to give an athlete a bagel, but not anything to put on it, was among the more asinine items of NCAA rules compliance news out there.
Now the NCAA is cracking down on student-athletes Tweeting about things that they like. According to Coast-to-Coast Recruiting, the NCAA is cracking down and warning players not to tweet about their favorite brands. Apparently such a move might constitute an endorsement, despite the fact that more-often-than-not, they are unpaid and unsolicited.
Who hasn't said, casually, "I love Chipotle!"?
That statement itself might be alright according to CNBC's Darren Rovell, but following it up with "Go there," as in, "I love Chipotle, go there," would be a problem. Of course, if the statements are unpaid, it opens a giant can of worms. What other unsolicited and unpaid endorsements would an athlete be banned from?
Could a student-athlete tweet, "I love it at Villanova! Apply here!"? What if they wanted to spread the word about a charity that was important to them? Will there be an exception for that?
The NCAA once again has failed to consider the cream cheese.