bamatone.net

The UA System Board of Trustees will hear a resolution Friday for the establishment of the Victor Ellis Endowed Scholarship Fund in honor of the late Crimson Tide linebacker.

One source of the scholarship? Ellis himself.

Through his last will and testament, Ellis contributed $33,589.99 to "provide scholarships for worthy, non-athlete students at the University of Alabama," according to the resolution set to go before trustees.

Ellis died of cancer on March 25, 2008. He was 28.

The money was the remaining balance of the fund established by friend and former teammate Ahmaad Galloway through Bryant Bank in Birmingham to help raise money for Ellis' medical care during his illness. In addition, friends and family have contributed $14,731.73 to UA in his memory.

Per conditions of the scholarship recommended by UA President Robert Witt, "Priority of consideration shall be given to students enrolled at UA who are not participating in intercollegiate athletics."

A native of Chattanooga, Tenn., Ellis played for the Crimson Tide from 1998-01, totaling 145 tackles in 40 games while wearing the No. 9 jersey. He was named permanent team captain for the 2001 season.

After graduating in 2002 with a communications degree, Ellis later worked as a regional recruiter in Charlotte, N.C., for UA's admissions office.

Fact #4: Vacating victories is one of the gayest penalties ever created. By definition, a vacated win is a game we won that we no longer get to take credit for, but the team we beat still has to record the loss in their record books. A forfeiture means we give up the win and the other team gets it. But here’s the deal. If you and I are standing in a parking lot, and I beat your a** in front of everybody watching, even if I’m made to come back later and apologize to you, everyone who saw it still knows I beat your a**. While this penalty is a little annoying, big crapping deal.

(Sorry Tennessee, the 41-17 flogging we put on you in 2007 still counts).

Fact #7: The reason everybody cheats is because the rules are impossible to keep in totality. I liken the NCAA bylaws to Jewish law in the Old Testament. With thousands of these man made laws on the books, it was impossible to keep them all. So God (who only gave us ten to keep, by the way) saw that we were too stupid to do even that, and sent His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins once and for all. That’s a big deal, and outside of this article, the only real big deal there is in life. But you get my point.

There is no way you can completely regulate a wealthy booster who lives in another state. Or an athlete who looks for a loophole with a textbook. NCAA, you’ve done things like doing away with athletic dorms which made it easier to monitor players because you said it was unfair to schools who couldn’t afford them, then you have the audacity to turn around and hammer us for not monitoring our players.

I feel like I’m in an argument with my wife here.

Fact #8: ...I’m getting pretty sick of us cooperating and then getting punished anyway. Reggie Bush was living in a beach house worth over $750,000 while at USC, and USC has basically said “Y’all come prove it.” What’s happened? Nothing. You’re sending a message, NCAA. If the real issue is deter speeding, sometimes an officer who shows grace and issues a warning does more good than an officer who goes ahead and writes you the ticket.

The most passionate supporters of Title IX are the overpaid women's basketball coaches who play in front of volleyball crowds and get paid every two weeks as if they're filling Michigan's football Big House.

-- Jason Whitlock