GO FOR 2

Usually I’m the first in line to criticize the NCAA, but now they’ve gotten two in a row right (granted, they were easy calls), and I have to give them some credit. Today, the NCAA denied former Indiana University Men’s head Basketball coach Kelvin Sampson’s appeal of sanctions issued against him more than a year ago. Sampson is now essentially barred from coaching in the college ranks until after the 1012-1013 season. Based on the ridiculously strong evidence against Sampson, you might wonder why he even filed an appeal. Well, he really thought he was going to win, back in January Sampson was quoted as saying:

“They were wrong in every way. If I didn’t think they were wrong, I wouldn’t have appealed”

Let me make sure I’ve got this right. The NCAA has proof that Sampson made more than 100 ‘impermissible’ calls in just one season at IU. He essentially destroyed that basketball program by repetetively breaking rules he knew very well, which all basketball coaches are expected to follow. Why did Sampson know the rules so well? Apart from the fact that all coaches are given handbooks explaining the rules (don’t tell me its too long or complicated, they have legal counsel to help … see, you didn’t know that, did you?), coaches sign contracts with the NCAA, and coaches sign contracts with their school…experience plays a big role as well. Well, Sampson had plenty of experience, it wasn’t the first time he was investigated OR disciplined.

That’s right, he did it before. The University of Oklahoma was the subject of a three-year long investigation which resulted in a finding that Sampson and his staff had made more than 550 ‘impermissible’ calls to at least 17 different recruits. Oh, so the problem isn’t that he didn’t know the rules, its that he just assumed he could keep breaking them. Sampson’s only punishment from the OU incident was that he was barred from recruiting off-campus or making phone calls for a period of one year (roughly 100 illegal calls, in Sampson terms).

So, now Sampson is arguing that the NCAA is punishing him ‘too severely’ by keeping him out of the college ranks for 5 years. Frankly, Sampson is lucky the NCAA is ever willing to take him back (not that any school’s AD is going to stick his neck out and hire Sampson). One of the biggest concerns for NCAA basketball right now is recruiting violations, as one-and-dones and the agents willing to pay millions for their attention cause recruiting violation headaches for everyone. Why would the NCAA ever want to take back a proven cheater in this age of uncertainty? I have no idea. More importantly, why would someone who has been caught red-handed twice try to argue for leniency? I’m guessing equal parts ego and ignorance, though I can’t give you a concrete answer. Either way, I’m glad the NCAA held firm on this one.

Oh, you were wondering what the ‘other one’ of the two in a row the NCAA got right was? See my earlier article on why Florida State and Bobby Bowden will have to finally accept that in COLLEGE, academics are going to come first some of the time, no matter how bad they want to make it all about them.

Michael Jordan’s son Jeffrey walked on at the University of Illinois two years ago, and earned a scholarship prior to last year (his sophomore season). While Jordan played few minutes his first two years, and was in the game primarily as a defensive specialist, he was earning more and more minutes on young but improving Fighting Illini squad.

Today, however, Jeffrey Jordan announced that he will be leaving the men’s basketball team and focusing on his education and earning his degree from Illinois. The Dagger at Yahoo! Sports has more from Jordan’s statement, and you can read it here.

Jeff Jordan. Photo Courtesy of Flickr.com/nssf04 (Creative Commons Licensed)

 This may seem like a huge surpise to some people , given that Jordan is the son of an NBA legend, and was good enough to earn a scholarship at a Big 10 school. However, Jordan said that he needs to focus on life after basketball, and you have to give the young man props for that. Jordan is smart enough to know that basketball won’t be his life the way it was for his dad. Even if Jordan improves and plays more minutes over the next 2 years, its most likely that he’ll never play anywhere other than Europe at best.

Knowing that basketball won’t be his future, Jordan is making the right move by focusing on his education. It’s also a pretty gutsy step, given that His Airness casts a big shadow. While MJ has shown in the past that he’s a supportive dad, the pressure is really coming from somewhere else. Every basketball fan wants to see the second coming of MJ, and as soon as someone with the last name ‘Jordan’ starts balling, people expect a lot. But Jordan wasn’t worried about letting down fans, or what would happen to the family name, he just did what he knows is best for himself.

Bravo.

The College of William and Mary changed the moniker of its athletic teams from the relatively inappropriate ‘Indians’ (But Redskins is just fine…?) to the much more kosher ‘Tribe’ more than 20 years ago. However, it was only 3 years ago that the NCAA decided that while the nickname was ok, the Native American themed mascot and logo needed to go. So, now the search is on for a new mascot. Something fierce, something intimidating….

ITS TERRIFYING!! Photo Courtesy of Flickr.com/calliope (Creative Commons Licensed)

OH MY GOD, IT’S ASPARAGUS, RUN! You starting to see the mistake here, William and Mary? According to the Associated press, the asparagus stalk is one of the choices being considered by the school’s president, who will ultimately make the final decision.

What’s worse than suggesting a vegetable as your mascot? Having a God-awful rationale. Apparently supporters of the asparagus are pointing out that if served with cheese, it would represent the school’s colors (sort of). Apart from tasting really bad, this combo is also going to require a second mascot to work. Imagine the half time show at your school’s basketball game when a giant green veggie stalk goes running across the floor being follow by a wedge of cheddar.

Awesome.