I'm not trying to rail against Whitlock personally, I read his stuff from time to time but his most recent article on the ticket scandal at KU brought me over the edge. I think it represents a lot the problem in college athletics, where the problems are being pointed to the NCAA and not the problems at hand. Until the American sporting community cleans up its own mess these issues will continually crop up. Are you willing to completely rethink how we treat sports in this country? I don't think so. You want your college football on Saturday, NFL on Sunday, and your basketball pool to get you some extra coin.
I really was planning to come to TBL today to just joke around and not enter any serious discussions. I have tomorrow off and looking forward to a 4 day Memorial Weekend, but this shit pisses me off. Whitlock goes for the LCD by attacking the NCAA. We should get rid of it? Yes, fantastic idea. I suppose we will simply move to the honor system. He makes Lew Perkins out to be a scapegoat but his article is based on using the NCAA as a scapegoat for a bunch of crooked administrators earning money on the side by hawking tickets. He points to the AAU problems in basketball but that is a youth basketball problem, one that the NCAA was way late into the game trying to control and still cannot feasibly with the power it wields.
I am not lifting the NCAA up as a paragon of virtue, but to criticize the organization for not doing what its membership(who has direct control over it) is cleary not in favor of is an armchair move. What drives sports in America today? $$$$$$, and that’s whether its amateur or not. Hell, 12 and 13 year old softball travel leagues are based off parents shelling out the cash in hopes their daughter can get a free(as in no fucking cost to them) ride to a college.
Money and human nature are at the crux of these problems, not the NCAA. You want to dissolve it? Go right ahead, but see how that tailgate beer tastes in your mouth when you know the starting QB for your school takes 3 credits worth of online classes, gets access to free cars, lives in a mansion and takes cash under the table for a host of seedy undertakings.
The popular phrase is hate the player not the game, well Whitlock just said he hates the janitor with the keys to the gym.
NCAA breeds a culture of corruption [KC Star]
Ticket Scanal Rocks KU [Yahoo]
Thursday, May 27
The Inevitable NCAA Blame Game
Tuesday, April 14
Cuse Is Out Like Flynn While KU Is Rich In Gifts
Syracuse and Kansas met in the 2003 national championship game and even had a rematch this year which the Orange won. Both teams reached the sweet 16 in this year's tournament and both teams would be title contenders next year provided their key players returned to school. Yet this is where the fortunes of these two basketball powers take a divering course.
Johnny Flynn, the high-flying, iron-man, do-everything point guard for Syracuse is reportedly waiting by his mailbox for paperwork to sign with agent Leon Rose according to the Syracuse Post-Standard. Rose represents some guy named LeBron James so I guess he comes with a smidge of credibility. Once Flynn scribbles his name proper on the line his college eligibilty will be up in smoke. Initially first thought to be testing the NBA waters at the pre-draft camps, somebody must have gotten hold on young Johnny's ear and filled with stories of lottery picks and samsonite's full of cash. Having LeBron's agent offer his services is enough for any young man to take the leap. While I am sure our Syracuse alum Concierge wishes Flynn well, but this drops the Orange out of their Final Four hopes for next year. Just how far they fall will be determined what other pieces will fall. Paul Harris was thought to be testing the waters but is no saying that he had not had the intentions of leaving. Devendorf, while he may not be a high first-rounder would be a huge loss to Syracuses backcourt and their trash-talking ability. They do have Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson along with Onuaku and Jackson in the frontcourt and Rautins coming back from the perimeter, but without the dynamic point play of Flynn, Syracuse will definitely have a tougher time next year. [Syracuse Post-Standard]
While things may be gloomy (and probably cold) in Syracuse, the situation is a lot brighter in Lawrence with the news that Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich will be returning to Kansas next year. Collins averaged just under 19 points a game and 5 assists as the Jayhawks' point guard while Aldrich was a force down low all year and recorded a triple double in the NCAA tournament. Bill Self won the title a year ago and won AP coach of the year this year after going 27-8 and getting endged by Michigan State in the tourney. Aldrich has just as much cause to go to the NBA as anyone as his father has been out of work for awhile, but he stated that it was the passion of the fans and the encouragement of his parents that made his decision. With KU also in the running for recruits Xavier Henry and Lance Stephenson, Kansas is going to be heavily favored to cut the nets down in Indy next year. [CBSSports]
Tuesday, November 25
The 'Fullet' Headlines 2003 Championship Game Rematch
Syracuse guard Andy Rautins is sporting a, shall we say unique hairstyle this season. While watching part of the Orange's 89-83 win over #17 Florida in the CBE Classic last night, XM and I noticed the new look. I'm not sure if the above pictures do it justice but it appears to be a fauxhawk on top with the characteristics of a mullet down the back. XM then dubbed it the "Fullet". Rautins had 5 three-pointers in the first half and finished with those 15 points. The win was a big one for the Orange who have taken heat in the past for not leaving the state of New York early in the season and playing a soft pre-conference schedule. It is a stigma that has left them out of the last two NCAA tournaments. Tonight they face #22 Kansas who won the other semi-final over Washington in Kansas City on ESPN2 at 10:00.
Kansas and Syracuse squared off in the 2003 Championship game with the Orange winning 81-78. Gerry McNamara had 6 three-pointers in the first half and Melo of course won the MOP with his 20 in the game. Hakim Warrick had the big block on Michael Lee with the time winding down as Jim Boeheim finally cut down the nets. That was also the last Kansas game for Roy Williams who had an interesting interview with Bonnie Bernstein after the game. Thankfully this match-up provides an opportunity to once again show said interview. Go B-squared, twist that knife, no mercy!
