COLUMN: Are you ready for some football (and some hypocrisy)?

I grew up loving football. Years ago, if you wanted to crack a bank vault in my hometown, a Friday night when the stadium lights are on would be your best bet.

All the cops would be at the game and no one would notice until Monday morning. If Bainbridge beat Cairo or Valdosta, no robbery could make the front page.   

Things change, sometimes for the good.

For instance, one of the first venues integrated in my hometown was spring football practice. Alas, with Saturday banking and ATMs, the bank heist would have been detected sooner.

Speaking of changes, in 2010 we saw a huge realignment in college football prodded by TV revenue. Football was big business 50 years ago and it is has only grown. The SEC stood pat during the initial expansion foray. Unless the SEC decides to go mega-conference with 20 teams, staying put is likely the best option.

The next big news item was the hullabaloo around sports agents and college players.  Some agents take advantage of kids and use them to make money.

Fortunately, we have coaches Urban Meyer and Nick Saban taking the high moral ground.  Saban likened agents to “pimps” and pots all over America immediately called kettles black. To date, Saban has broken three contracts — LSU, Michigan State and the Miami Dolphins. Alabama fans, fear not, you will be next.

Saban runs for the money like Herschel Walker did when he hit Bill Bates. ESPN.com’s Jemele Hill spoke more profoundly, “I want a lecture from Saban on unethical agent behavior about as much as I want Lane Kiffin to give me a sermon on loyalty.”

Meyer closed his practices to prevent “scumbags” having access to players. Gator lineman Maurkice Pouncey allegedly accepted $100,000 from an agent while on scholarship. C’mon coach, you are just being a showboat. Players are vulnerable to agents because they aren’t blind. They see the palatial digs the megabucks, and the swanky vacations (Hawaii and Italy for Meyer) coaches enjoy.  

Newsflash coach, agents can recruit players because of you and closing practices is a sham.

For the love of Mike, coaches use agents, too, either to shop around for other jobs or to use as leverage for raises. See both the offensive and defensive coordinators at Alabama.

Astonishingly, Saban and Meyer were joined by Ohio State’s Jim Tressel (who can’t beat an SEC team) urging NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to crackdown on agents recruiting players. Are they worried that agents encouraging kids to leave school early is bad for the kids or bad for the coaches?

Say someone can get a big bonus as an early round draft pick, then so be it -- unless you do not believe in capitalism. It is my sincere hope and prayer that A.J Green has a blowout season and leaves Georgia early for the NFL. He would be foolish sticking around and risking an injury.Many of the problems will go away -- especially hypocrisy.

Buz Livingston is a certified financial planner. He operates Livingston Financial Planning Inc. focusing on hourly financial planning and investment management. Contact him directly at 850-267-1068 or at buz@LivingstonFinancial.net.