Comments on: NCAA Gets Change Out Of Kentucky, But Will It Go After The Rest?

By: rtmsf

rtmsf — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:41:39 +0000

In reply to Andrew. Overboard? Methinks that our friend may have jumped into the Marianas Trench without realizing it.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:40:37 +0000

Wait. Really? Wooden should have gone to jail? Really?

If you go way overboard in trying to make a reasonable point, your point no longer seems reasonable.

By: King Ghidora

King Ghidora — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:41:58 +0000

What this whole charade is about is the NCAA is holding UK to standards they do not hold other program to. The most egregious example is that UCLA won multiple basketball championship while cheating like crazy. Dozens of ex-UCLA players have spoken out about the role of Sam Gilbert in the UCLA world. He provided everything from no show jobs to illegal (at the time) abortions for players girlfriends. Yet when Wooden died he was declared a saint by many and was held up as the most positive role model in all of sports. Hogwash! He cheated beyond belief. His players were paid (making them pros) and there was illegal activity (not just breaking NCAA rules) around the program. Technically Wooden should have gone to jail but instead he is hailed as a hero while Calipari is blasted at every turn both by the NCAA and the media. What a joke sports have become. One player’s father can sell his son’s services to the highest bidder (isn’t that slavery?) but another coach is told repeatedly his star player will be made eligible until it’s too late to replace him at which point he is told that player will never be able to play.

The NCAA is an outrageously crooked organization. RICO comes to mind. At some point they must be made to pay for their sins. If not there will never be a team that isn’t a media darling win anything. It’s worse than boxing and that’s saying a lot. They will not survive as they operate now. The fans will desert them because fans don’t want to see rigged competitions. Until the government looks into the NCAA like they did the steroid scandal the abuses will continue. People need to go to jail. The monopoly of the NCAA should be broken up. There are many billions of dollars at state and we continue to tolerate outrageously unfair treatment. It’s no surprise that Jerry Tarkanian received a huge sum from the NCAA for being persecuted for violations just 20 miles down the road from UCLA during the Wooden era. How much will the next settlement be for? Billions? It’s very possible.

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:33:46 +0000

I have done a little research into the matter recently and found that these inconsistencies apply to more than just coaching victories. The NCAA might say that it wasn’t the media guide that was the real problem, but the celebration. If that was the case I would like to see the angry letter sent to Western Kentucky for honoring their (vacated) 1971 Final Four team (http://tinyurl.com/3p2dljb) just two weeks prior to UK’s erroneous 500 win celebration. I’m sure that celebration mentioned the great regular season they had, but just skipped over the Final Four part since it was vacated.

I don’t want to even get started on banners, so here’s an old Andy Katz article that explains it pretty well (http://tinyurl.com/3gcqc3m). BTW included in those banners that still hang is UMass’ 1996 banner. Calipari can’t have the four wins, but UMass still gets a banner?

Finally, there are retired jerseys. The reason that WKU had the ’71 Final Four vacated was that Jim McDaniels had signed an ABA contract. They went on to retire his jersey, which is fine since he was technically eligible for most of his career, but if they can have McDaniels, why has Arizona been having such a hard time retiring Jason Terry’s jersey.

Frankly, I’m fine with what the NCAA did to Kentucky. The only reason for vacating wins is to stop teams from using the benefits of them in the future. Otherwise, the penalty is little more than an asterisk. So how can they let WKU sell a bunch of extra tickets to honor a vacated Final Four, while Calipari is taken to the proverbial woodshed. They have to do it for everyone.