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N.C.A.A.’s Double Standard
New York Times ^ | April 8, 2011 | Joe Nocera

Posted on 04/12/2011 9:40:48 AM PDT by GSWarrior

I don’t know about you, but I had a hard time stomaching the sight of Jim Calhoun holding the championship trophy after Monday’s final game of the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament.

Not because it was a lousy game (though it was), but because Calhoun, the pugnacious coach of the University of Connecticut “program” — as the big-money Division I teams are called — shouldn’t have been allowed anywhere near the gym. Just weeks earlier, the N.C.A.A. had sanctioned him for “failing to create an atmosphere of compliance” with its recruiting rules. To put it more bluntly: UConn cheated. Among the punishments meted out was a three-game suspension for Calhoun.

But this is the N.C.A.A. we’re talking about, an organization that bends over backward to accommodate big-time basketball schools like Connecticut that drive TV ratings, and marquee coaches like Calhoun, who, with his $2.3 million salary, is the highest-paid state employee in Connecticut. March Madness was right around the corner, so Calhoun’s suspension was (of course!) deferred until next season, allowing him to coach the team during the tournament.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Society; Sports
KEYWORDS: baylor; calhoun; ncaa; uconn
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To: Saltmeat
My point was that I received benefits as compared to other non-athlete students at my school. But what I got was nothing close to what the bigtime school athletes get. There should be a disparity.

My benefits were relatively small when compared to the sacrifices I had to make, but it was worth it. We got meal money, good gym facilities, physical therapy as needed, register for classes first, and (again) we got to party with the girls sports teams.

21 posted on 04/12/2011 11:02:23 AM PDT by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: thefactor
I have no issue with Calhoun. Money-making sports programs at major universities bring in large amounts of revenue that are used to float other less lucrative sports and programs.

Do you think a business should treat the franchise that makes the most money the same as the franchise that makes the least money?

Then why hand out any sanctions at all? If the only reason the NCAA is harder on non-BCS schools is just to look tough, then it is time to re-think the whole process.

22 posted on 04/12/2011 11:04:19 AM PDT by GSWarrior
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To: GSWarrior
Well, but here's the thing. When this punishment came down, UConn was 8-7 in conference. The NCAA actually thought they would do nothing this season so suspending Calhoun for the first 5 games of next year actually seemed like a worse punishment than doing it this season!

But, of course, UConn went on the best run in history and won it all. Oops! My comment was intended to say that big schools get more benefits, not that they necessarily get punished less. Look at Bruce Pearl and now Tressel. I think the NCAA is going to crush Tressel.

23 posted on 04/12/2011 11:23:32 AM PDT by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: thefactor

Read the article, he did not, his mother did. The coach was AAU coach and she paid back money everytime!


24 posted on 04/12/2011 1:32:09 PM PDT by shoedog
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To: thefactor

Read the article, he did not, his mother did. The coach was AAU coach and she paid back money everytime!


25 posted on 04/12/2011 1:32:17 PM PDT by shoedog
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To: shoedog

Oh, I know that. But the NCAA ain’t that dumb. If he wasn’t who he was, would she have gotten the money? The coach influenced the recruiting. Those AAU coaches are the worst of the lot of them.


26 posted on 04/12/2011 1:39:49 PM PDT by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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