On Thu, 1 Aug 1996, Scott Quakkelaar~ wrote: > it seems wrong that the coach involved with the violations can get off > without any substantial penalty. i can see where a one-year suspension > to coach walsh might be considered a substantial penalty, but he could > go elsewhere and not have to sit out, no? Well, let's get one thing straight. Shawn Walsh probably *could* go elsewhere, and have a better time of things (I am not sure how quickly he would be hired by a Div I college hockey program, but...). I have a growing respect for the fact that he seems to care enough about the program at Maine to stay there. But no one should be saying Walsh got of easy on this one. Besides having his own school putting him on one year leave, despite being prohibited from making recruiting trips (again by his own school), the NCAA just gutted his program, which, i think, is punishment enough for a coach. Even when Walsh gets back to Maine and starts again recruiting for his team, how easy do you think it is going to be? No post season play, a loss of *five* scholarships next year, no television coverage.... Why should any prospect go there? Over the next several years, it is going to be pretty hard to convince good young kids to go to Maine. Walsh does have the reputation for getting solid kids to overachieve (consider 1994-95), he has a very tall order here to keep Maine afloat. For a guy who obviously cares about the program (if not, he could *certainly* go and coach pro hockey at some level), that has to be pretty harsh. In fact, I am not sure of a worse penalty the NCAA could have given him. Force him to resign, so he can get a higher paying job elsewhere, where he is in demand? It seems much tougher to stick it out. And for that, my respect for Shawn Walsh has just risen a notch. By the way, I find it hard to agree to Mike's comments about the upcoming SA's being the ones to suffer the most. Next year, there will be five less scholarships, and the year after that, 2 less. 7 full scholarships not given to kids who ordinarily would have gotten them. Let's see, 44 Div I schools, roughly 30 of them give on average four scholarships per year, for two years, that's 30x4x2=160 scholarships. The loss of seven is almost insignificant. The question I have is, what happens next year if Maine does not have five scholarship spots open up? Will someone's promised scholarship be taken away? Now that really seems wrong, to promise someone money for school and snatch away because of something that wasn't your fault. It seems unlikely, but could happen (in theory), I believe. -Lee-nerd [log in to unmask] "It is not written in the stars that I will always understand what is going on - a truism that I often find damnably annoying." -Robert Heinlein HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.