Cathy Hart wrote:
> What it means, David, is that Maine did not have a compliance department
> willing to manipulate the system.  Danny is reportedly taking a medical
> exemption because his father had an eye operation (Mr. LaCouture told me that
> last season, during the sweep).  Apparently that "emergency" situation lasted
> the whole season.  Perhaps it did, but it did not seem to interfere with his
> practice and game time.
 
I don't understand this point.  As far as everyone knows, LaCouture took
his classes in the second semester and was reportedly taking classes in
the summer.  His first-semester withdrawal meant he could no longer
practice and play games for BU.  But once the second semester began and
he re-enrolled, he could play like anyone else on the team.
 
What HAD been a potentially ugly loophole was that he could withdraw
first semester, return for the second and turn pro right after the
season and never get a single course credit.  THAT would have looked
bad for the sport and BU in particular.
 
But that didn't happen so I don't think it's fair in this instance to
knock him and BU.  Non-athletes withdraw and re-enroll just like
LaCouture did. In terms of BU's eligiblity standards, he was in good
standing.
 
> Cal 's ineligibility was due to clerical error.  He was taking the full load
> of courses, but the person keying in the transcripts didn't use the correct
> code.  Cal could only trust what his Administrators were telling him.  It was
> a mistake, but an honest one.
 
This one is really hard to swallow.  If there was a data entry mistake,
then why wasn't this subsequently corrected?  If Cal *wasn't* taking
enough courses because of a clerical error, then there was no way to
change that retroactively. But if he was taking everything he needed
to become eligible, then why couldn't the error simply be corrected?
 
> BUT, IMHO, however "legal" this situation is, it is unethical, and the benefits
> the BU team got from Danny's playing last season cheapen the achievements of
> the team.
 
Had he turned pro and cynically used the loophole and never gotten a
single credit, then you could say that stain cheapened BU's
accomplishments. But since he completed the spring semester and took
summer classes, this charge doesn't seem fair.
 
Dave Hendrickson
 
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