Over The Pylon

For what it’s worth, and when dealing with Facebook it is approximately worth nothing, this popped up yesterday on someone’s news feed (where friends’ statuses are populated) and they sent it along to us:

Now… if this is true, and that’s a mighty big “if” at this point, it is remarkably good news for Quale, and exceptionally welcome positivity for the Cardinals. Still nothing from the Cardinals athletic department, the NCAA, or the MAC, but it is entirely feasible that those entities are waiting to sort of get their ducks in a row before making an announcement that impacts recruiting, transfers, etc. So could it have happened? Sure. Would Quale likely be the first to know? I would certainly hope so.

Doug Zaleski of the Muncie Star Press apparently has the same readers as we do, as Z addresses the issue in his online blog. Says the Z-man:

I received a phone call this afternoon from a Ball State football fan wanting to know if it was true that Cardinals tailback Quale Lewis had been granted an extra year of eligibility.

I told him I hadn’t heard that, but I would check. And the answer is, no, Lewis has not yet been granted a fifth year of eligibility to be able to play in 2010.

That doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but it hasn’t at this point. Ken Mather, assistant commissioner/media and public relations for the Mid-American Conference, told me today no determination has been made on Lewis or any other football player from the conference who has petitioned for another year.

Mather said it likely will be several weeks, probably extending into February, before the MAC hears whether the players asking for a medical waiver for another year of competition will find out if they’ll be able to play in 2010.

Ball State associate athletic director Joe Hernandez, the school’s athletic communications contact for football, also said today he has no knowledge of a waiver being granted for Lewis or tight end Madaris Grant.

Grant petitioned for a sixth season after missing all but the first few plays of the 2009 season with a torn ACL in a knee.

So, grain of salt aside, this appears to be headed to Positiveville for the Cardinals, which truthfully, is a place none of us who wear Cardinal and White have been able to visit many times this season. OTP’s contacts in the football staff and in the athletic department have issued a tepid “no comment” sort of response, which is certainly different than an outright denial. Grasping at straws? Perhaps. But when the player himself basically issues notice that his appeal has been granted, along with all the other oddities going on, in addition to the notoriety of the team and conference he plays in, it isn’t hard to believe that there isn’t a rush to get this sort of thing out there. And that’s a real shame.

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