Mauk Jury

[The Ancient Enemy]

WHY WE LOVE BEN MAUK

You know that feeling you have when you are in a relationship that is clearly ending and you don't want to let go just yet? The feeling you get when you agree to put your cat in a bubble with a breathing device because you can't let him die? How about when you eat two sausage sandwiches that you stole from a gas station, and they were so dang good that you didn't even eat the last bite because you knew there'd be nothing left? Well, Ben Mauk is the quarterback for you.

Two songs are running simultaneously through Ben Mauk's mind:

"Hey now, hey now, don't dream it's over" and "Don't you (dun-nun-nun-nah-nah) forget about me."

The dream is dead, Ben. It's dead, it's nailed in a pine box, it is buried, you are never playing football again for Cincinnati. Actually, let me take that back. The Bengals are such a disaster that when they blow that whole franchise up in January, you can probably land a gig as a back-up.

Let me just say that I am actually a fan of persistence. I've dated a few gals simply because they wouldn't leave me alone, and I've won some hearts of my own doing the same stuff. I like persistence, I really do. But there's a point where persistence becomes insanity. You, my friend, are insane.

Seriously, where's the family during all of this? Can no one pull this young man to the curb and explain to him that this bit is getting a little old? I admit I think it's hilarious, but at the end of the day, we're looking at a story about a kid who won't let his old man put his rabies-infested puppy to sleep.

Mauk was denied an extra year of eligibility on five different occasions. He has taken his case to the courtroom. Thursday, Mauk actually testified saying that a foot injury kept him from playing at Wake Forest, and he transferred to Cincinnati. This is where our Hollywood plot thickens: Wake Forest has sketchy or missing evidence as to this injury and it's documentation. The kid is begging for a 6th year of eligibility, despite the NCAA saying you have a 5 year window to play some ball and the hell out of Dodge.

Judge William Hart, presiding over Thursday's courtroom, rejected the NCAA's Wednesday dismissal of the Mauk case. It is unknown when he will rule on whether or not to give Mauk the permanent injunction he requested.

Mauk had a great season in 2007, and combined with the coaching influx, Cincinnati won 10 games last year. Mauk threw for over 3,100 yards and 31 touchdowns. So far for Mauk, he has missed at least one game in the Bearcats' 2008 season. Cincinnati looked impressive, even without Mauk, in last week's beatdown of FCS Eastern Kentucky. They'll need more than a Mauk reinstatement to test Oklahoma this weekend in Norman. In the Eastern Kentucky game, Mauk's replacement Dustin Grutza, who Mauk actually usurped in the first place, threw for 296 and 3 touchdowns. Which of course springs the question of whether or not Cincinnati needs Mauk to begin with.

Oh, the song the rest of us are hearing?

"Don't go away mad, just go away."