First, to clarify an answer to a question posed by Mike M last
week:  The boosters I referred to were the two boosters who gave
reduced rent to a hockey player; the boosters who paid Walsh,
to the best of my knowledge, have not been punished in any way
by the university.   They may also have been disassociated from
the school, but that has not been made public.
 
For those who apparently missed it the first time:
****   Shawn Walsh was accountable, for all intents and     ****
       purposes, to NO ONE.  The President and AD positions
       had been unstable at UM since the late 1980's (when
       all this started) when Dale Lick left.  Until Fred
       Hutchinson (1992) and Suzanne Tyler (1995)
       were hired to fill those respective positions, there
       was a revolving door in those offices.  And to
       make matters worse, and to repeat something I said
       almost daily two years ago (Good grief, has it been
       that long?):  Woody Carville, then-compliance officer,
       was working in unsuitable office space with outdated
       equipment and on a part-time basis.  Those problems
       have been fixed.
 
To answer some new questions:
  The baseball team goes to Florida/Texas/Louisiana every season
for one month because the money was endowed to them, on the
condition that they use a portion of it on a spring trip.
If memory serves, the money came from Harold Alfond, and he
wanted the baseball team to be the best in New England, so he
wanted the team to start playing real games against quality
opposition while most other northeast teams are in a field house.
The reason John Winkin gets so many good players is because he has
been coaching for five deacdes, has a great reputation, and the
program has gotten national attention (several NC$$ and World
Series appearances in the 80's; plus All-Stars Billy Swift
and Mike Bordick).
 
Mike Dunham-1992 Olympics:  A case where compliance let us down,
but those involved should have known better.  However, it does
raise an interesting question:  Did Janet Evans,
Nicole Miller or other collegiate/Olympians receive the same
kind of stipend?  If they did, why are they still competing
in the NCAA's?  My guess is that they refused the money
because it would make them ineligible...which leads to the
question "Why would USA Hockey lead the players to believe
it wouldn't affect eligibility?"  Perhaps a look at who is
in charge at USA Hockey will offer an answer...
As for the 1993 championship, the way I have read it in the
papers (Bangor and Portland), it is a judgement call by the
NC$$.  Unless I've missed something, Cal was eligible in 1993,
leaving the only ineligible player to be Mike Dunham.  The
fact that USA Hockey gave false information to Mike and UMaine
will be in UMaine's favor, but someone still should have checked.
In light of all the other violations the NC$$ would have a
strong case to strip the title.  The only other Olympians
who returned to UM after the 1994 Olympics were the Ferraro
twins (played both games in a two-game sweep by BU in the
court-ordered HE first round in 1994) and Chris Imes, who
turned down the stipend for playing in the Olympics.
 
"Shawn Tarkanian?"  As disappointed as I have been with Walsh
(but how often do heroes meet expectations when you actually
meet them?) I can't say he's anywhere near as bad as that.
Yes, he has made mistakes, and he'll be paying for them, but
what he has done is on a much smaller scale than "The Shark."
Then again, the entire story has yet to be told.
 
Happy Boxing Day
 
John Forsyth
 
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