Musketeer Madness

That's how Ray Baldwin used to refer to them ... really crackd down on recruiting violations this week.
Naw, they didn't hit IU, or OSU ... but they really nailed TSU.
That's Texas Southern University, who hasn't won anything since intergration and all those southern white schools found out how fast those kids could run, and how well they shot.
Course, they had to be forced into it at gunpoint via Liottle Rock.
Anyway, the NCAA imposed a four ... yeah ... four ... year probation on TSU for violations in their ... ready for this .... TENNIS and GOLF programs.
They were also found guilty of not having a complience office (hell, they ain't got no money period for anything.)
Seems as though the former AD hired a tennis coach, told him he could have four scholarships. he recruited four really good ones from South America, but when they got to the Universityb they were told, sorry, no aid. The coach hustled money for them to help pay their tution, room and board. Same with golf. No money under the table, just money to put something on the table.
And places like OSU get permission to pay for their athleties cel phones, campus parking passes etc.
What a crock!

Wise on a rant!

I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy.... or at least that you are not a fan of paying athletes more than tuition/room/board, Owl? Where would you draw the line? One trip to/from home a semester?

Andy Furman, the schmuck, was an advocate of paying $ to the revenue sports kids. I totally oppose that.

I am curious as to where you document cell phones at OSU, I have never heard that. I think that's over the top, though I dont think parking passes to the practice/game faciities is out of line. I would assume the athletic department can control a reasonable number of spaces for players and staff.

The NCAA flexes its collective muscle against the little guys but the big boys can break the rules and get away with a wrist slap.

Carlos,
Sometime in late May the C-Bus Disgrace ran a quite lengthy article on athletic grants-in-aids to osu athletes. Their AD, Gene Smith, in that article told how they pay for cel phones, and that it's legal; and that they pay for parking passes, and that it's legal. He also said that in some cases they pay for hospitalization insurance over and above the school's coverage for athletic injuries.
The parking passes BTW, aren't for just practice/game facilities. These are campus parking passes.
Now, I didn't say I was a fan, or even hinted that I was, of paying athletes over and above RB&T and Fees.
My point was the kids recruited at TSU were give some money to cover those costs, AFTER they were told they had scholarships, and then found out they didn't.
Prior to the coach rounding up some money for them, they were getting food stamps.
I say the NCAA is not an equal judicial organization. Never has been, and never will be.
Also, in the near future I'll clue you in on how BCS school's are putting cash into their athletes hands, and its all legal

<<Their AD, Gene Smith, in that article told how they pay for cel phones, and that it's legal>>

I don't think that's exactly what the article says. It DOES say that--

"An athlete's ability to pay for extras such as a car or cell phone depends on his or her family situation..............Some people think, for example, that schools might be able to pay athletes' cell-phone bills.........
If the athlete moves off campus, he or she receives a monthly room-and-board stipend check of $1,187. Like any other student, no one monitors how that is spent."



You can read the whole thing here-

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sp ... A1K9U.html

Overall, Owl is simply reinforcing a saying that was common way back when Kentucky was placed on probation for some pretty severe violations--- "The NCAA got so mad at Kentucky it slapped Cleveland State and Kevin Mackey with two more years of probation."
Having dealt with the NCAA over 34 years I can say Owl is exactly right. That body does not dispense justice equally. It has had and always will have double standards which are applied diversely based on the sinner's ability to earn dollars for the association's coffers and the reputation of its coaches for producing winning teams and thus television attractions.
Doubt me? Check how long it's taken for the NCAA to rule finally on the appeals of the Mauk kid at UC. Look back at the case of Texas A&M and despite all the alleged and actually proved cheating that went on there, who got hit with the death penalty? Right, SMU, for its sins which were in many cases less serious than A&M's. How was Bob Knight, who did not cheat, produced winners and whose conduct was disgraceful stay at Indiana for so long? And who's paying at Indiana for Sampson's mess? And why was Sampson even allowed to be hired by IU, considering his dung pile at Oklahoma?
While we're at it, why were the Coiffed One and Richardson at Arkansas able to get off with slaps on the wrist and maintain their arrogance despite proved cheating? They won and were attractive TV draws for the NCAA, that's why.
Hey, I could go all the way back to the conflict of interest in the LaSalle Thompson case that kept him from enrolling at UC because of an alleged violation that was later proved absolutely false. But that would take too long.
If you think Ohio State and other "institutions of higher learning???" don't pay cell phone bills, and provide parking passes that other students would have for their own purchase, you're dreaming.
The smart coaches among the BCS schools have found ways around damn near any NCAA rule on the books and there are so many of those rules--many silly and outdated--even the compliance directors can't keep up with them, Also, what is often deemed a "secondary and/or inadvertent" violation for the larger more powerful programs is deemed a major indiscretion for the Open and Best Ball AT&T-A&M University women''s field hockey team.
But pushed to the walls, most college CEOs will say, "Yes the NCAA has its faults but it's the best we have and they try to do a good job." Right, like the referees who blow calls are "right most of the time and have a thankless job."
Bottom line, the NCAA is a joke in its judging and administering penalties has violated the rules of law most of us live and are protected by. To my knowledge, never has the accused in an NCAA rules violation case ever been afforded the right to be confronted by his accuser.
Then there's the matter of institutional control, a catch phrase that means "If we can't nail your ass for anything else, we can always fall back on lack of institutional control." But then, it's the best we have right now and they do a.....

Q, there's a difference between going on an anti-NCCA rant (which is probably justified) and accurately representing what was printed in a Columbus Dispatch article.

And it's on a smaller scale, of course, but I certainly remember X football players 'fessing up to getting envelopes with cash in them after games, which the players would then spend on weed and liquor. It was pretty funny then, and it still is, actually.

I checked the link, and don't see SMith admitting or bragging that OSU was paying for cell phones. The monthly stipend in lieu of dorm and board seems pretty reasonable to me, and not objectionable, at OSU or Xavier. Similarly, the fund that springs for an athlete being able to get to/from home is exactly what I think is fair.

I've read two reports on the TSU situation, and they at least had it coming, whether it was TSU or OSU. The tennis coach was jerking around foreign athletes with scholarships he didn't have and were not authorized. The softball coach was playing an ineligible player under the name of another athlete. Unless you can show me OSU is doing the same thing and getting away with it, I don't see how this isn't apples and ....widgets?es.

I am NOT an OSU fan, or hater. I do give both Tressel and Matta credit, high profile athletes on their teams don't seem to be getting in as much trouble as say Xavier basketball players, which isn't very much anyway. Don't like OSU because its big or successful or rich...but no reason to presume they are cheating on the existing rules.

Honestly, everyone gets nailed now, there are just too many eyes and ears and the internet to flash rumors and legit stories. Sampson went down in less than 2 years. Major college sports are highly scrutinized. No where to hide.

GW's little pipeline to the high school diploma mills was exposed. Poof, there goes the underqualified students. Hobbs is having to retool and rethink his entire recruiting strategy. St. Bonnies got nailed for Weldergate (that's for Q, he's sufficiently mended not to blow an incision, I know how he hates that -gate thing.)

The great thing about where we are right now is that we've been doing it the right way for years now. Not perfect, but the right way.

Someday, Carlos, we'll sit down over a brew on me and I'll tell and show you some of the things I can't post on a message board. Believe me when I say the NCAA does not dispense justice evenly and without prejudice. Never has, never will. That said, since the NCAA is made up of the colleges and universities as a whole, right now it's the best we've got. But plueeeese don't let me get started on Miles Brand.

<<NCAA does not dispense justice evenly and without prejudice. >>

Welcome to the real world. No judicial system is completely without prejudice, or treats everyone equally. No boss or coach has no "favorities". No columnist is completely without leanings or bias.

So, while we'd probably all agree that the NCAA is a flawed institution, it is also comprised of flawed schools, many of whom are trying to circumvent the rules that are supposed to apply to everyone.