College Sports Brings out the Cynic in Me

I admit it, I'm a cynic.

I'm particularly a cynic about college sports at the highest level, but I think I am perfectly justified in that case. My assumption is that colleges will do anything to win and they are often aided in that endeavor by local authorities-- Penn State of course being the classic case -- but there are many, many other examples.

Which brings us to this example:

As the state attorney's office weighs whether it believes it has sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, the family of the woman who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in December 2012 issued a second statement Friday night, saying the woman was raped by the Heisman Trophy candidate. 

Responding to earlier claims by Winston's attorney that he had consensual sex with the woman, Patricia Carroll, the family's attorney, said in the statement: "To be clear, the victim did not consent. This was a rape."  

On Wednesday night, ESPN.com reported that a DNA analysis completed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed that DNA provided by Winston matched the sample taken from the underwear of the woman. According to the DNA analysis report, a copy of which was viewed by ESPN.com on Wednesday, the Florida state crime lab determined the chance of the DNA in the woman's underwear being a match for someone other than Winston was one in 2.2 trillion.

To be clear, it is very possible that the accused is totally innocent. False rape charges are not at all rare.

However, Florida State's rules say that a player charged with a felony must be suspended from the team. What causes the inflammation of my cynicism gland is that the investigation has taken so long. If he had been charged relatively soon after the alleged rape, he would have missed spring practice at least and might have missed a good part of the season, given how slowly courts often move. So my cynical assumption is that Florida State (with the assistance of the local police) have stalled the investigation in hopes of making it through the season before losing their Heisman Trophy candidate.