At 06:34 AM 2/14/97 -0500, Jack Hart wrote:
>IMHO
>Nobody else in our conference had a compliance Department any better than
>Maine's during the ten years the NCAA investigated.  Ten years from any
>college's past would bring up at least as many violations of the same "Oh
>gosh, I didn't know" quality, the majority of which did not involve the
>student athletes that have been most affected by the penalties imposed.  Does
>anyone else see the basic inequity and damaging flaw in the NCAA's
>enforcement policies?  When will the president's of the NCAA schools band
>together to secure justice for the very people they are supposed to be
>protecting?
 
First, and forgive me if I'm reading into this too much, but the tone I get
from here is that everyone else was doing it, so why should Maine be penalized?
 
Even if this isn't what Jack means, clearly some people still believe that
Maine did nothing wrong, or nothing different than anyone else in the
league/nation.
 
Ten years ago a lot of things were different in terms of Maine, compliance
and other schools.  The fact remains that Maine did not do a good enough job
improving their compliance system as time went on.  Some schools more than
likely improved theirs before Maine, perhaps others have not.  It was up to
Maine to make improvements as time went on, they did not.  What other
schools have done don't impact poor decisions made by people associated with
this program.
 
Even if everyone had the same compliance system, that doesn't excuse
anything that Maine did.  Maine made mistakes, from the top on down to the
players who donned the blue and white and even some boosters.  There is no
sense to point fingers and say it is the fault of compliance or Walsh or
Plozack.. etc.
 
It might not be pretty but Maine fans need to understand that their school
made mistakes and messed up.  They got caught, maybe other schools do
similar things, but they haven't been caught yet.  That doesn't excuse Maine
in any way.
 
Which leads me to my next topic for discussion.  Jack suggests that the
NCAA's penalties are unfair.. not in relation to Maine but in general.
 
I am inclined to agree on some levels, but I ask you all this question:  How
do you sufficently punish a university?
 
Do you fine them heavily?  Where does that money come from.. likely from
academics and not from athletics which you are trying to penalize them for.
Remember that the NCAA's penalties apply to Maine just as they would to
Notre Dame in football, North Carolina in basketball or Nebraska in football.
 
Athletics have become such a huge part of these universities that fines are
going to be absorbed by other departments, or staff, not by athletics.  It
will almost be like slapping these guys on the wrist.  In essence, if you
cheat all you have to do is fork over a few bucks.
 
A national title can be worth a lot of money to a school.
 
This is a good topic for discussion, how do you penalize an institution?
 
Step back when looking at this, because if Boston University or New
Hampshire were guilty of all the things Maine was, most everyone here would
want at least all the penalties we've received.
 
>Does anyone else find the air different this morning?
 
Not really, unless you consider the air stale.
 
I don't think the air will really change till a new NCAA Champion is crowned
and focus turns to next season.
---
Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])