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South Park Likens NCAA Athletics To Slavery With The “Crack Baby Athletic Association”

On last night’s episode of South Park, the writers took aim at the hypocritical policies enforced by the NCAA. And yes, it involved Eric Cartman starting something called the “Crack Baby Athletic Association.”

South Park is no stranger to lampooning sporty things. They’ve done LeBron James. They’ve done Brett Favre. They’ve even done Shake Weights. But the show is at its best when it’s critiquing an established group or institution that has some very clear and uncomfortable contradictions. In other words, the NCAA is perfect fodder for Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

At the episode’s most biting and alarmingly spot-on moment, a mustachioed Cartman barges into the office of a fictitious University president (there is a University of Colorado football helmet in the background, but that’s only because the show is set near there). The non-payment of student athletes, or “slaves” as Cartman refers to them, is the topic.

One sign that the episode was on to something? ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas found it quite funny.