- May 27th, 2009, 12:47 pm
#260104
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/ ... ortCat=ncf
This October, in a game that shouldn't be played because of a contract that shouldn't have been signed, little Delaware State will face Michigan in the Big House.
If you made a list of the 10 dumbest things ever done by university administrators, Delaware State's decision to play Michigan would be Nos. 1-5. It was so dumb that nobody from the school can (or will) explain the anatomy of a football deal that forces it to forfeit a conference game. DSU has to forfeit its Oct. 17 game against North Carolina A&T because school negotiators somehow forgot to rearrange the team's existing schedule.
The lure of Michigan Stadium -- and $500,000 -- was too much to pass up.
OK, that's a tiny bit unfair. They didn't forget as much as they simply didn't do it. But instead of giving up its $500,000 guarantee from Michigan, Delaware State said it would rather forfeit a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game and, in the process, compromise the integrity of its league and its final standings.
"The regrets are numerous at this point on the mistake that was made," says new Delaware State athletic director Derek Carter. "And no question a mistake was made."
Carter had nothing to do with this mess. This was a deal made by, well, who knows? At the time -- and University of Michigan officials say they sent the contracts to Delaware State early last fall -- DSU didn't have an athletic director, per se. Instead, said a Delaware State spokesperson, "the university handled the larger projects, i.e., the Michigan deal."
- By LUOrange
- By ballah09