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#1 |
Il megglior fabbro
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Thanks for this info, Joe . . . I hadn't heard this story. My take? First, if the money is coming out of this CEO's own pocket, there are certain "moral" issues regarding the possibility that this may be seen as bribary, but it really is not much difference than any other major endowment a benefactor might give a particular university. If it is company funds, and does not include any "naming rights" stipulations (thus making it a legitimate business write-off, and thereby affecting the bottom line), your point about the lay-offs and stockholders being cheesed is certainly valid. And as for the amount itself . . . well, $10 million is big bucks to you and me, but split it between all the members of a BCS conference and it ain't such a big deal. But if this man's point is to allow his son to compete in the BCS, there's no guarantee that Memphis can do so even if they are a member. Shoot, when's the last time a Duke or Kentucky has competed in football?
I could see the Big 12 offering Memphis an invite in an attempt to save itself, or I could see the Big East and ACC making a nibble, but at this point I think the Big Ten, SEC, and Pac-10 are busy looking for bigger fish to fry at the moment . . . like Texas or Oklahoma. |
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#2 |
Il megglior fabbro
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After a two-week courtship by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tom Izzo has decided to stay with Michigan State. He could have doubled his salary, and perhaps been a factor in helping the Cavs keep LeBron James on their roster, but he did not wish to abandon his players and program, and stated that he wanted to be "a lifer" with the Spartans.
Good for him. Now it is time for Cleveland to go to Plan B, as in Byron Scott. Failing that, they may move on to Plan C, and offer Calipari a chance to escape a step ahead of the NCAA Infractions Committee . . . again. ![]() |
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#3 |
Il megglior fabbro
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This just in:
Former Seton Hall basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez, fired from that position after losing in the first round of this year's NIT for both his own conduct on and off the court, as well as the conduct of some of his players, has been arrested for suspicion of shoplifting a $1400 men's satchel from the Polo Ralph Lauren shop of the Short Hills (NJ) Mall. Gonzo has already filed a suit against SHU for breach of contract, so maybe he felt that, as long as he was already in a Newark courtroom he might as well have something else to do to pass the time. ![]() |
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#4 |
Il megglior fabbro
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More bad news for Kentucky fans: The coroner in Lexington has reported that former star player Melvin Turpin died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Turpin played for the Wildcats 1980-84 teams . . . which, as you old-timers may recall, might have been the very best period of college basketball ever. (Yeah, I could back that wild assertion up, if needed.)
Condolences to his family and friends, and to the UK community. |
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#5 |
Il megglior fabbro
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And even MORE bad news for Wildcat fans . . . albeit Arizona Wildcats this time. The NCAA has placed UA's men's basketball program on probation for two years, has vacated 19 wins from the 2007-08 season, taken away an additional scholarship from the school (above those already removed by Arizona's self-imposed sanctions), and has reduced more recruiting visits over the next two years than the school itself had proposed. This all stems from former coach Lute Olson's involvement with a booster club and an AAU tournament. Olson himself was not reprimanded by the NCAA because he retired in 2008, and has suffered a stroke.
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#6 |
Suck It
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I'd like to bring the local, non 60 second newscast slant into the Memphis/Fred Smith story.
First of all, it should be noted and stated up front that Fred Smith was born in Mississippi and educated in Memphis. He basically built the FedEx forum, one of the nicest BBall arenas in the country, for the Memphis Tigers and Memphis Grizzlies to play in. He gives millions of dollars to the UM every year. His son transferred to the University of Memphis to play ball and is not good enough to start, not good enough to play 2nd string and my never take the field. The UM has got it's hand out 24/7 to this man and basically looks at him with puppy dog eyes everytime they need big money, like say when Cal fags out and walks to Kentucky. He put up a ton of money to try to keep Cal from GOING to UK, but John was running away from his second final 4-vacating scandal and PLAYED UM and FS like a fiddle, knowing he was not going to stay. To say that he is buying his son's way into whatever these fly by night media dick$ have concocted is a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire situation. Not capping on anyone here that heard something and figured it was a funny thing to say, I am capping on the sports media that fed it to you. If people get laid off at Fed Ex it is because package volume was down in a recession. What a man decides to do with his millions of personal wealth is his own business. One has nothing to do with the other. Last edited by OLS; 07-30-2010 at 12:02 PM. |
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#7 | |
Il megglior fabbro
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#8 |
Il megglior fabbro
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I suppose I could have posted a few other stories, such as Rick Pitino's extortion trial, or U-Miami hoops being investigated by the NCAA for violations, or even Kansas changing its fight song due to the flight from the Big 12 of some of their traditional rivals. But this is the story that struck me as potentially the biggest - and NOT because I'm such a "hater".
Chicago Sun-Times reporter Michael O'Brien has had lawyers from Kentucky sicced upon him due to his report that highly-touted high-school power forward Anthony Davis accepted $200,000 from UK to play for them beginning with the 2011-12 season. According to this story, he asked several other schools for 6-figure amounts for his committment to their programs. Those schools may - or may not have - included Syracuse, Ohio State, and DePaul. It is important to note that Davis has yet to declare for Kentucky, or any other school, and there is no "smoking gun" here. And UK has, of course, vehemently denied the allegation. But it is also interesting to note that, when asked about the report, the young man's father replied by saying "Thanks for ruining my son. Thank you very much.", and declined to respond further. Make what you will of this. Me, I'll wait until the $#!+ hits the Wildcat fans before I comment otherwise. |
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#9 | |
I Cut Like a Buffalo
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#10 | |
Il megglior fabbro
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Oh, I get it now . . . you were talking about yourself. |
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#12 |
I Cut Like a Buffalo
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#13 |
Il megglior fabbro
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So, here's the latest BS for you sad people to believe, actually or not:
Kentucky recruit Enes Kanter, a 6"11" power forward slated to be a part of the upcoming Wildcat team, reportedly received more than $100,000 in cash and benefits while he was playing for a professional team in Turkey over the last 3 years. Nedim Karakas, the GM for Fenerbahce Ulker, has told the New York Times that he has handed over banking and housing records to the NCAA, which is reviewing Kanter's amateur status. A spokeman and advisor to Kanter, Max Ergul, has not denied the accusation, but rather has equated it to being similar to a player who attended a prep school in the U.S., and received a scholarship and expenses. Kanter's expenses seems to have included a $6,500/month salary during the previous year. ![]() Of course, we can take this with a grain of salt. Not only is nothing proven yet, but as we all know, neither Kentucky nor John Calipari would ever, ever cheat. No, not ever ever. |
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#14 |
Il megglior fabbro
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The NCAA has slapped Morehead State with two years probation due to some very underreported contact between boosters and players . . . meaning I don't know exactly what happened, nor when.
Yeah, I know . . . "who cares?" Well, the thing that struck me was that the school avoided more serious penalties and punishment because they turned themselves in and reported the violations to the NCAA on their own. Thanks to their honesty, they will lose only one scholarship and will still be eligible for postseason play. Here is a lesson others could take to heart. However, some won't. |
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#15 |
Il megglior fabbro
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At long last, after a 15-month investigation and several extensions on their imposed deadline, U Conn has finally filed its reply to the NCAA regarding allegations of violations in recruiting, as well as their "failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance" with the investigators. And their reply? Well, I don't know. The university has released no details, with the excuse that the document is extensive and needs to be redacted before they issue any public response. The Associated Press has filed a Freedom of Information request seeking the summary pages of the report, and according to state law U Conn has ten days before they are required to comply.
So it will soon come down to this . . . U can Conn some of the people, but not forever. ![]() |
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#16 |
Il megglior fabbro
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And the hits just keep on coming:
Tennessee head basketball coach Bruce Pearl has admitted he provided "incorrect and misleading information" to NCAA investigators looking into question about Vol staffers making excessive recruiting calls. The university is docking his pay $1.5 million over the next five years, and UT has ceded most of its ability to recruit off-campus for a year . . . all in the hope that these self-imposed sanctions will allay harsher penalties from the NCAA itself. In his press conference, Pearl said "I've made some serious mistakes, and for that I'm truly sorry. I let my players down . . . I will not let you down like this again." He further stated that he had "no tolerable answer" for why he did not tell the truth to NCAA investigators during the course of the 17 months they have been looking into the program. Hey, could YOU keep a lie straight for that long? Besides, it might just be a case of Bruce trying to keep up with the John'es. ![]() |
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#18 | |
Il megglior fabbro
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And that's despite the fact that I held Pearl in some respect before this. |
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#19 |
Il megglior fabbro
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Joe, I checked Wikipedia, and you are absolutely right. During the 1988-89 season, while an assistant at Iowa, Pearl was recruiting a player named Deon Thomas, who was also in Illinois's sights. When Thomas picked the Illini over Iowa, Pearl called him up and recorded his phone conversation, during which he asked Thomas if he'd been offered an SUV and cash by Illinois assistant Jimmy Collins. Thomas supposedly indicated that he had. Pearl turned the tape over to the NCAA, but during the investigation Thomas denied the allegations. A subsequent lie detector test supported this denial, and the NCAA did not find Illinois guilty of any wrongdoing, and went so far as to state that the proof provided by Pearl was not "credible, persuasive and of a kind on which reasonably prudent persons rely in the conduct of serious affairs". The NCAA did uncover other violations, however, and cited Illinois with a "lack of institutional control" charge, and implemented several recruiting restrictions, plus a one-year post-season ban on the school.
According to the Wiki article, this incident led to a blackballing of Pearl by many D-1 coaches, and Dick Vitale referred to his actions as "career suicide" during a telecast. Well, Dickie V was wrong, but it seems that once again Bruce Pearl has shown himself to NOT be a "reasonably prudent" person. Good call, Joe, and thanks for the heads-up. ![]() |
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#20 |
Adjusting to the Life
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I read in a comment on one of the stories about the UT incident, and then remembered a good story on it during this year's tourney.
I like Bruce's enthusiasm for the game, and we all make mistakes, but you gotta watch out when you throw stones... |
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