SEC identified as lax on pot smokers

Colleges: Players testing positive for marijuana in the mighty Southeastern Conference do not face the one-year suspension that comes from getting busted by the NCAA.

In the most successful league of the BCS-era, players routinely get third, fourth and even fifth chances before they’re booted from the team; failed drug tests administered by the NCAA result in the automatic suspension.

The finding comes from an Associated Press examination of the drug policies at 11 current members of the SEC. Vanderbilt, a private institution, declined to make its rules available.

All the SEC schools the AP looked at had far more lenient drug policies than the NCAA, though the penalties varied widely.

The NCAA conducts its own drug checks and leaves testing policies to the schools, but the governing body released a report in January saying that more than a quarter of college football players admitted in 2009 that they smoked marijuana in the previous year.

Just how many suspensions for recreational drug use are handed down in the SEC or any NCAA-affiliated conference is unknown because privacy rules prohibit schools from disclosing positive tests. They’re not even required to tell the NCAA.

Associated Press

George’s house on auction block

NFL: The million-dollar home of former Tennessee Titans star Eddie George and his wife Tamara will be auctioned off June 7 – to the surprise of the Georges.

Their accountant tells The Tennessean the Georges have been trying to modify their loan for several months but that they find themselves in the same situation as many American homeowners – stuck with a house no longer worth what was paid for it.

Larry Goodman says he was shocked to learn the auction was set. For the past seven months he has been negotiating to establish new terms for the mortgage. The house was purchased in 2007 for more than $1.6 million. It was listed for sale at $1.1 million this year.

Associated Press