All season long Pac-10 schools playing the Oregon Ducks in football have been "feigning injury" to slow down Oregon's no huddle quick strike offense.The worst example of which was this last Saturday when the Cal Bears blatantly used this tactic in their 15 to 13 loss to the Oregon Ducks in Berkeley. The Versus TV broadcast pointed this out and even showed that the Cal Bears who were "feigning injury" were not hit during a play. Others who watched the television broadcast saw the Cal coaches signal players to fake injuries from the sidelines.
According to the NCAA Football rules 2009-2010 for Coaching Ethics:
Deliberately teaching players to violate the rules is indefensible. The coaching of feigning injury........ Such instruction is not only unfair to one’s opponent but is demoralizing to the players entrusted to a coach’s care and has no place in a game that is an integral part of an educational program.
The following are unethical practices:........
h. Feigning an injury for the purpose of gaining additional, undeserved time for one’s team. An injured player must be given full protection under the rules, but feigning injury is dishonest, unsportsmanlike and
contrary to the spirit of the rules. Such tactics cannot be tolerated among sportsmen of integrity.(Click on the title for link to the NCAA rules.)
From Lary Brown Sports:
At least a half dozen times in the first half a Cal player faked an injury and stayed on the ground after a play in order to slow down Oregon’s offense
In the end all we have is our honor !
Seeing is believing
NOW THIS: TED MILLER OF ESPN
Cal coach Jeff Tedford was asked directly about whether his team faked injuries during the game Saturday.
"People get hurt during games, and in fast-tempo stuff, there's cramps," he said. "That's not the deal. I know that anytime anybody goes down against Oregon, they always think that's the case. But it's not the case."
Tedford is typically a straight-shooter. But not in this case. Defensive tackle Aaron Tipoti's cramp from nowhere that appeared immediately after he took a long look at the Cal sidelines is going to to earn him the Pac-10 blog's Worst Actor award.
We will be watching Arizona and Oregon State !
AND THIS FROM JOHN HUNT OF THE OREGONIAN NEWSPAPER:
However, a source within the Bears football program confirmed to The Oregonian that this indeed was "a big part'' of the defensive game plan against Oregon, although not all Cal coaches were on board with this strategy.
AND THIS FROM GREGG DOYEL OF CBS SPORTS:
I'm here to inform, you know. That's my agenda. And today, I'm informing you that Jeff Tedford is an unethical fraud, a bad leader and an all-around tiny human being....
Tedford wanted to beat Oregon so bad, he cheated. Yeah, cheated. There's a passage in the NCAA rulebook devoted to what Tedford did, and the passage frowns on it. Calls it "indefensible." When you do something that the NCAA rulebook calls "indefensible," well, that's cheating....
The NCAA rulebook is clear on the matter: Faking an injury, the rulebook says, "is dishonest, unsportsmanlike and contrary to the spirit of the rules. Such tactics cannot be tolerated among sportsmen of integrity."
