At 10:52 AM 1/15/97 EST, Wayne Smith wrote:
 
>I don't understand the reasoning.  The NCAA allowed Maine to accept the
>TV ban this season or delay it until next season.  Maine picked the
>former since Maine Broadcasting was very cooperative.  But your 2nd
>paragraph above says that Maine in HOCKEY EAST playoffs would be
>televised.  I don't see the logic.  Either Maine is banned from TV this
>year or next.  Which is it?  Maine choosing next year would be dumb,
>IMHO.
 
Agreed.  They are banned from TV this year.  Unless..
 
>Ah-ha!  The implicit connection of TV ban and post-season play ban.
 
Bingo.  Off the top of my head I don't know of a case where an institution
has been banned from TV and not from the postseason.
 
>I didn't see/hear Maine's appeal (did anyone outside of some
>administrators?), but the TV ban has not been reported as appealed.
 
Technically, no.  But it is part of the appeal.  Obviously, Maine included
in their appeal that they would accept the TV ban for the regular season but
should the appeal be successful, that would be lifted for the postseason,
for reasons stated previously.
 
>But jeez, I still think Maine is scheduled to play too many games this
>season :-(
 
They are.  Sue Tyler told me months ago that the NCAA will not let Maine use
exemptions next year and they can this year.
 
So that means that Maine must plan their schedule carefully next year, IF
their appeal is not successful.
 
Now, rule guru's.. which is it.  I've heard that you have to exempt each
individual game (in Maine's case would be 9 for postseason play, 5 for
Hockey East Tournament next year and 4 for the NCAA Tournament), or only one
game for each tournament (1 game for HOCKEY EAST, 1 game for NCAA's).  Maine
is going on the latter, but I've yet to find a definate answer and the NCAA
hasn't returned my inquiries on the matter.
 
>How's this for a scenario ...
>
>   1. NCAA lifts post-season ban
>   2. NCAA declares Maine ineligible for NCAA tournament because
>      of TV ban.
>   3. HOCKEY EAST declares Maine ineligible for HEA tourney because
>      of TV ban.
>
>Why is this not possible?
 
#3 could happen on its own.  If Maine wins their appeal certainly HEA would
look at things, but given they let Maine in last year they wouldn't have
much to stand on.
 
Remember, part of the appeal is the removal of a postseason ban on TV since
(in essence) the appeals committee is saying that penalizing them anymore
than they penalized themself is excessive.
 
It wouldn't make sense for the appeals committee to overturn the postseason
ban, just to make them ineligible because of the television situation.  The
two have to be dealt with together.
 
 
---
Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])