2008 Woodie Awards
The hearts and clubs of SSU's golf team
Season opening smoothly despite poker scandal
Brent Pearse
Issue date: 3/1/06 Section: Sports
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Neary spent early January in Melbourne, Australia, where he finished second at the Aussie Millions poker tournament and won roughly $520,000, but was notified just two weeks ago that the NCAA had declared him athletically ineligible - not for his participation in the event or his earnings, but for violating NCAA rules regarding endorsement deals by athletes. Specifically, one bylaw states that "the student-athlete may not make any endorsement, expressed or implied, of any commercial product or service."
Neary qualified for the tournament in Australia by way of PartyPoker.com, an online poker room. Prior to that, Neary was required by the site to abide by certain agreements in order to play in this satellite tournament. Upon qualification for the Aussie Millions, Neary agreed to support PartyPoker.com by wearing their merchandise at the event, billed as "one of the world's top multimillion-dollar poker events," which will air on Fox Sports Net in April.
Meanwhile, his hopes of reinstatement remain doubtful because SSU prepared to submit evidence about Neary's experience with PartyPoker.com. Neary apparently allowed the online poker site to record his "identity, likeness, and voice" at the Aussie Millions and to use them as they see fit. This was Neary's violation of another NCAA rule, which states that upon becoming a student-athlete, an individual should not be allowed participation in intercollegiate sports if that individual leaks personal information as means of endorsing the sale of a commercial product or service. University athletic director Bill Fusco says that Sonoma State has reported the first violation to the NCAA and is awaiting its ruling. In the meantime, Neary is eligible to practice.
Despite the hoopla surrounding Neary, the golf team has pushed forward into a new season, with high hopes for the future. The men's squad is training extremely hard to reach the nationals, which would be a historic first. But standing in their way of a milestone achievement are two tough opponents in CSU Bakersfield and CSU Stanislaus, teams that rank in the top four in the nation. The run towards nationals began this past weekend as the men battled at Bakersfield. They will continue tournament play in La Jolla this weekend, March 5-7, against UC San Diego.