[summary of article deleted]
 
>
>But speaking of the NC$$, why is it that they never informed Mike that
>he only had two seasons of eligibility to begin with?  A letter
>two or three years ago saying that Mike had only two years left
>would have been helpful, and certainly a letter last spring informing
>him that he had no more eligibility could have been sent.  I was
>under the impression that the NC$$ was supposed to monitor the progress
>of student-athletes, and I think that if they see something wrong, it
>would be better for them to notify schools and players in time for the
>problem to be fixed than to wait until the school has committed an
>infraction, and the athlete is caught in the middle.
 
I'm sure others can elucidate as to whether the NC$$ does this or not. From
my perspective, I think they'd have to have an even bigger staff to inform
all athletes at all levels of their eligibility status on a yearly basis.
The NC$$ publishes the rules. As I understand it the schools are
responsible for informing the athletes of those rules and enforcing them.
The individual coaches and eligibility officers are closer to each team,
making this the most logical setup.
 
Without professing any love for the NC$$, I have to say I don't have a lot
of sympathy for anyone at UM, perhaps not even the athletes. Schools and
universities have all kinds of arcane rules and requirements, not just
those that apply to sports. Some apply to your ability to graduate :-). The
school publishes 'em. I gotta read 'em. Nobody's gonna wake me up in the
morning and remind me how many credits I need to graduate or what my core
curriculum is. That's MY responsibility. If an athlete in college is going
to compete and work toward a degree, it is his/her responsibility to do as
much as possible to find out what is required. What seems to go on more
often, in Maine's case, is that individuals have looked away, intentionally
or not, and waited for the NC$$ or others to point out the discrepancies.
(At which point, they begin an internal investigation and "self-report.")
Hockey-Lers will remember this applying specifically to the Tory incident
of last semester.
 
To be brutally honest, I'm just a little tired of pity for Maine. I don't
bear them ill will, but I just can't see how we should feel bad for them
because a university with as successful a program as Maine hockey can't
follow the rules everybody else is supposed to.
 
Dave
(Returning to Hockey East country this January!)