---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 1994 17:42:18 -0500 (EST)
From: David M. Josselyn <[log in to unmask]>
To: Steve Philbrick <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Tupper's Report Released: Plosek cleared
 
 
 
On Thu, 17 Mar 1994, Steve Philbrick wrote:
 
(various earlier quotes and comments about Tupper and Ploszek deleted)
 
> Keeping is short.  Ploszek freely admits that it was a "bone-headed move" to
> allow the two (Tardif and someone from the women's track team) ineligible players
> to play that last weekend series.
>
> However, it is primarily Carville's responsibility to tell the coaches if a
> player has eligibility problems.  They both dropped the ball, with primary
> guilt in Carville's corner
>
> --
> REcursive thanks,
>
> Steve Philbrick                   [log in to unmask]
 
I still can't shake the perception that Carville should not be bearing
primary guilt here- and I feel so especially acutely today because the
transactions column here in Syracuse listed that Maine fired Linwood
"Woody" Carville.
 
1. Yes Carville did not notify anyone right away. But he did notify
Ploszek before Tardif played. So there were no further violations in that
period.
 
2. Carville stated Ploszek told him it would be handled. Carville went
away. Neither of them did anything over the weekend, and Tardif played.
Now, it is plausible that Carville would say this whether it is true or
not because clearly his job might be (and was) on the line. However,
Ploszek might just as well say that and deny it later if he had been
trying to "handle the situation internally"-- that is, cover it up.
 
I am not asserting that either man is being less than honest, but rather
exploring all possible alternatives that seem likely.
 
Tupper asserts this was not the case, and that Ploszek was either
"traumatized" into inaction (for a whole weekend, apparently) or he was
trying to get his facts straight. The first is just really ludicrous, and
the second makes no sense, because in a situation like this, more damage
is done by ignoring a potential problem while waiting for confirmation
than by taking quicker action and making an adjustment later. In short,
fact-checking or any other such excuse for delaying taking action makes
no sense because if Tardif had been pulled for two games and then
reinstated because Carville was mistaken, no harm would have been done.
As it is, Ploszek still has his job, Tardif is still eligible (and may
play in the NCAAs should Maine be selected) and Carville is hitting the
bricks.
 
I think it far more likely that Carville might have been intimidated into
inaction, rather than Ploszek being "traumatized."
 
All in all, it seems to me that Ploszek and Carville each bear a more
equal share of the blame here than has been meted out by Maine. The whole
thing is made even more distasteful about the working conditions other
posters have described that Woody worked under: short hours, small
office, small staff, old equipment.
 
To me, that, along with the firing of a 30+ year employee, sends a
message that Maine's athletic department was not serious about spending
the time and effort to ensure that its athletes were in NCAA compliance.
They seem to be trying to shed that image by associating all the problems
with Carville and then firing him.
 
*** "Ah.  This is apparently some usage of the word 'safe' I wasn't
previously aware of."  -- Arthur Dent
 
[log in to unmask]
David M. Josselyn
aka "Argus"
 
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