Worst sports writer yet?

[OSUMBuckeye]

Found this pasted on hornfans. I think this asshole is just jealous that his beloved tide really was a dirty program when they got investigated.

All right. I shoulda titled my thread here "OSU/NCAA" or something like that. Anyway, here it is. It's by Cecil Hurt at the Tuscaloosa News.

It seems that I might owe the NCAA Enforcement Staff an apology./sDuring the Logan Young trial in Memphis, I wrote that members of the Enforcement Staff “were probably monitoring the case -- unless they were too busy whitewashing the pending Ohio State case."

Well, it turns out that I was right about what they were doing, not that predicting a whitewash took any great insight. But where I transgressed was in underestimating their speed and efficiency. After all, I wrote that in late January -- and the NCAA’s enforcement guys had already wrapped up their “investigation" into Maurice Clarett in time to beat the Christmas rush.

Ohio State, earlier this week, released its official letter of inquiry from the NCAA, and that letter included no mention of Clarett, the star running back on Ohio State’s 2002 national champions and, most recently, a young man who accused the Buckeyes of a long list of NCAA infractions. Instead, the letter focused almost entirely on potential basketball violations, mentioning football only once.

To be honest, that was so predictable that I originally didn’t even intend to write about it. No investigation into Big Ten football ever amounts to anything. The last Big Ten football team to receive a postseason ban in football was Minnesota in 1991. I’ve probably got 25 years or so of college football observation left, and I’m likelier to see Vanderbilt win a national championship than I am to see a Big Ten team get a bowl ban. Just for the record, in the 15 years since it last happened, the SEC has seen Alabama (twice), Auburn, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Mississippi State receive penalties. It’s reached a point, though, where most college football fans just shrug about that inequity. It doesn’t make any difference to Alabama, which has served out the penalties in its most recent probation. It’s just the way things are.

Of course, Big Ten fans will argue that there have not been any penalties because their programs are all pristine. The proof? Well, if the NCAA hasn’t imposed any penalties, they must be clean -- or so the tautology goes. I don’t know about that. I do know that a Michigan booster was paying $600,000 to players in basketball, which isn’t the main sport at Michigan. (The NCAA Enforcement Staff’s original finding in that case, by the way, was that there were only “secondary violations.") I do know that Albert Means’ recruitment was a cesspool and the team that traveled the greatest distance to jump in and swim around was Michigan State. I do know that Clarett was driving a quick succession of nice vehicles while he was playing at Ohio State. So color me skeptical about the “pristine" thing.

Nonetheless, the case wasn’t likely to be column material. That was until someone at the NCAA decided to comment.

Now, an NCAA comment isn’t all that valuable in and of itself. In the first place, it’s probably no better than 50-50 on whether any given NCAA official is telling the truth or not. On the other hand, when someone at the NCAA does deign to comment about a pending case, it is revealing. First, the comment is usually means that the NCAA has been stung by some particular criticism. Second, the comment usually reveals more about the NCAA agenda than the spokesperson intended to reveal.

That’s what you can tell from the words of David Price, the NCAA vice president for enforcement services, earlier this week. Price indicated that the NCAA had tried for nearly a month to call Clarett, and he never called them back.

“Over the course of a month in November and December 2004, phone calls were placed to Mr. Clarett’s reported cell phone numbers, relatives, former legal representatives and friends," Price’s statement said. But the messages left were never returned. In addition, attempts to contact him in person failed."

No kidding, Mr. Price? Your crack staff devoted a whole month to finding Clarett, then gave up because he didn’t return a phone call?

That’s a little different than the years spent pursuing some of the individuals in the Alabama case. Some of those individuals weren’t too co-operative, either, like Lynn Lang, who never said a word to the NCAA until after Alabama’s penalties were handed down. In that case, the lack of an interview was no deterrent. The NCAA just used “confidential sources."

One thing is obvious, and that’s why the Broncos drafted Maurice Clarett as highly as they did. Not only does he seem to be super-strong, since he apparently fashioned the SUV’s he drove in college with his bare hands, but he is also able to become invisible at will. Considering that he was a constant television presence in the build-up to the NFL draft, reporters and others seemed able to find him pretty easily. It wasn’t so easy for an NCAA investigator, though, and the best course for them was just to give up after a few weeks.

Let’s all face facts. The NCAA enforcement staff didn’t find Clarett, or pursue his allegations, because it didn’t want to pursue them. The Ohio State case will drag on for a few more months of procedure, although I will save everyone a lot of time by summarizing the results in one sentence. Someone on the Committee on Infractions (presumably not chairman Gene Marsh, an Ohio State graduate) will say “shame" on the basketball program, then congratulate Ohio State for a diligent self-examination and everyone can say 'case closed" and engage in mutual back-patting.

I never doubted that would be the outcome. I just never expected the NCAA to admit that it made such a half-hearted effort to investigate. And even I never thought they could apply a coat of whitewash so quickly and so cleverly that even Tom Sawyer would be proud.

[sandgk]

OK - that simplifies matters if telemarketers from the Tuscaloosa News come calling on Southern Ohio for a subscription.

[gregorylee]

Ok, I have said this hundreds of times, and this might be the first time I don't mean it sarcastically...


He is just bitter!

[SanClementeBuck]

This joker has been eating too many fried catfish. He should know there's a huge difference betweem unfounded "I've got an axe to grind" statements from an egotistical player, and in the cases at UAlabam, where violations were egregious, proveable and palpable.

Beeeeg difference, sonny. Y'all come back, hear?

[Sloopy45]

"Just for the record, in the 15 years since it last happened, the SEC has seen Alabama (twice), Auburn, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Mississippi State receive penalties."

What's this a-hole's point? The Big Ten & SEC are the two richest, most powerful, most lucrative and most influential conferences in the NCAA. One recieves preferential treatment while the other doesn't? Give me a break.

Does this idiot realize that its the SEC's own coaches, like Fat Phil Fulmer, who ratted on Alabama & pushed for its suspension? When a big & powerful school within the SEC like Tennessee (aka, the School You Can't Spell Citrus Without) starts pulling strings to get the hammer dropped on 'Bama, then the hammer's gonna fall.

The bottom line is, a big reason the Big Ten & the other major conferences don't get hit by the NCAA is because the schools within the conferences are smart enough not to snitch on themselves & push for one of their own to be suspended. If this moron has a problem with this, then write an article on how immoral & disloyal Fat Phil is. Ohio State & scUM may be rivals, but they have a mutually beneficial relationship: its better for both schools if both schools are on top and raking in the dough.

[gost8]

Is it so hard for these idiots to believe Clarett lied and didn't want to take a chance on tarnishing his reputation any further than he already has. He is in the NFL now and he probably could give a [censored] less if the NCAA called him. It is very difficult to investigate allegations by someone if that someone makes himself unavailable to the people investigating. It is also hard to find further violations in a football program where there aren't any. (Other than the self-reported Smith incident). The NCAA found what there was to find in the football, mens bball and womens bball programs. I highly doubt that the mens team won't suffer more punishment, although I hope it comes in the form of taking away the accomplishments of the guilty parties and not the guys playing now and in the future.

[zincfinger]

Originally Posted by embitterednitwit

I do know that Albert Means’ recruitment was a cesspool and the team that traveled the greatest distance to jump in and swim around was Michigan State.

Which suggestion here is stupider, that the NCAA is afraid to touch a program like MSU but has no problem coming down on Alabama, or that MSU is vaguely guilty of something for having talked to a kid that Alabama bribed to attend their school? Roll Tide!

[gregorylee]

Originally Posted by zincfinger

Which suggestion here is stupider, that the NCAA is afraid to touch a program like MSU but has no problem coming down on Alabama, or that MSU is vaguely guilty of something for having talked to a kid that Alabama bribed to attend their school? Roll Tide!

OK, I just couldn't resist


IT'S ROLLIN' BABY... IT'S ROLLIN'!!!!!

[OilerBuck]

I remember Colin Cowherd recently talking about conspiracies. He said that you should always consider to factors when deciding if a conspiracy claim is legitimate:

1. Who benefits?

I concede that the NCAA benefits from schools like OSU, scUM and PSU going to bowl games and doing well. That being said, this guy shoots himself in the foot when he then compares the Big Ten to the SEC. Why would the NCAA want to sanction their best football conference? It doesn't make sense.

According to his logic, anyone who hasn't been caught is just getting a favor from the NCAA. I think it's hypocritical and extremely naive to think that, if this existed, Texas wouldn't be getting the same treatment. Austin hasn't exactly been crawling with investigators and NO ONE can convince me that a big time college program is squeaky clean. A school that big can't moniter everything, just as OSU can't.

The NCAA gets nothing out of sanctioning the SEC and letting the Big Ten off.

2. Who would have to be involved?

Everyone in the NCAA offices, investigators, informants, school officials, coaches, OTHER schools administrators on boards, conference officials, players...should I go on?

One person decides to come forward with information and they'll make a ton pf money, get publicity and be a household name. You're suggestion that no one in the last 15 years has been bitter enough to try to bring this down?

Even if the NCAA paid off everyone, they'd be in debt so much that the motive to do it suddenly goes out the window because they are losing cash instead of making it.

The next article by this guy will discuss how the moon landing was a hoax.