In his "final words" on the subject, Greg Ambrose says:
 
"Shawn Walsh and the UMaine athletic department, whether it was intentional
or unintentional, violated NCAA rules.  For those violations, the UMaine
hockey program was put on a  postseason probation and denied a certain
number of scholarships over a two year period.  Despite these violations
and the embarrassment they caused the school (and the sport of college
hockey), the UMaine administration saw fit to punish the coach, not by
firing him, but suspending him for one year.  These are the facts, correct.
Does anyone care to dispute them?
     "The FACT that the UMaine administration did not fire Coach Walsh for
his
transgressions, led me (and several others) to the conclusion that the
UMaine administration was not as concerned with the ethical makeup of their
faculty as they were with the fact that the faculty member in question
coached a winning hockey team. . . .
 "
 
As I read this, Greg has finally conceded, at least as a possibility, what
the NCAA concluded many moons ago after a lengthy investigation--that most of
the violations  that led to sanctions against the University of Maine were
unintentional.
 
 
 
When I read the article in the Globe last Sunday, it was comforting to me
to know (based on the reporting), that UMaine's failure to act sensibly and
responsibly in the Walsh affair was coming back to haunt them.  I never
said, and neither did the Globe, that the 25% drop in student enrollment
since 1989 was due to the Walsh fiasco.  I assumed all along, as did the
Globe, that several factors went into this substantial decrease in
enrollment.  I am glad that some folks pointed these other factors out to
me and readers of Hockey-L.
 
The bottom line in all this is that at least some prospective students and
their families did take the UMaine decision on Walsh into consideration
when choosing a school.  I don't think anyone can disagree that "some" is
the operative word here. It cannot be denied that the whole situation has
not helped UMaine's image.  Agreed?
 
 
 
 
 
has finally conceded, at least as a possibility, what the NCAA concluded many
moons ago after a lengthy investigation--that most of the violations of NCAA
rules committed by Shawn Walsh and others at the University of Maine were
unintentional.
 
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