'It was definitely wrong'--Bliss reportedly wanted to make Dennehy out to be dealer

CNN/AP ^ | 8/16/2003

[ArcLight]

Secretly recorded tapes show former Baylor basketball coach Dave Bliss told his assistants and players to lie to investigators looking into program violations and say a slain player had paid tuition by dealing drugs, two newspapers reported Saturday.

Bliss, who resigned Aug. 8 after the investigation into Patrick Dennehy's death, has admitted being involved in paying players' tuition and acknowledged the attempted cover-up to both the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which obtained the tapes, and to The Dallas Morning News.

"The bizarre circumstances painted me into a corner and I chose the wrong way to react," Bliss told the Star-Telegram. Since resigning, he said, "I have cooperated completely and will continue to do so because I know I have disappointed a lot of people."

[ArcLight]

This is simply vile.

[MEG33]

This is disgraceful.This man lost his way somewhere and has a lot of repenting to do.Loss of job,loss of respect,loss of soul.

[joesnuffy]

Circumstance painted me into a corner

An outside force caused me to be immoral...its not me...I'm basically good....the devil made me do it...the dog ate my homework...

Character coach...Character..somes got it and somes aint

You need to find alternative employment...you shouldnt be coaching...you should be pimping

[jocon307]

"This is simply vile."

Yes, it really is. Like the situation wasn't bad enough. Let's smear the dead guy, after all, he's dead. Incredible.

[dandelion]

It's beyond vile - it's criminal. And I'm beginning to think that maybe "Coach" Bliss had something to do with Patrick Dennehy's murder...

How hard would it be for a instigator - say, a Coach who's got an axe to grind - to get Dotson to do a hit on Dennehy, I wonder?

[MEG33]

I'm not ready to connect him to murder but his actions leave him open to the suspicion.

[ArcLight]

And of course the victim of this horror is a black guy. You just know what Bliss was thinking..."a black basketball player. Everybody knows what they're like. Plant the story that he dealt drugs and I'm home free."

In other words, a nasty variation on the Susan Smith defense. But this takes the old "blame the black guy" trick to a new low.

[EBITDA]

I agree that it would be jumping to conclusions to connect him to the murder. However, it is not far-fetched to think that he was trying to protect his team. Not that he had any knowledge of player involvement in the act, just that, as any modern PR hack would do, he was trying to spin things to minimize damage to his program.

That is the sad part for Bliss. the pressures of trying to build a succesful basketball program at the college level led him into such reprehensible behavior.

[MEG33]

The one who caused the worst damage killed his pregnant wife ,shot himself(doing more damage than he planned),blamed it on a black guy (in Boston,I believe).He ended up jumping off a bridge when his brother told on him. The murdered woman's family made some healing outreach even though they had no part in the false claim.

[okie01]

"That is the sad part for Bliss. the pressures of trying to build a succesful basketball program at the college level led him into such reprehensible behavior."

For which, three-to-five on four counts of fraud, obstruction of justice, perjury and suborning perjury might be an appropriate penalty.

The "pressures of trying to build a successful college basketball program" are strong, to be sure. But they shouldn't excuse criminal behavior.

[Akira]

He lost his way long before he got to Baylor. Given his pathetic track record, particularly in New Mexico, he should never have received another coaching job. Colleges will do anything for wins in the revenue-generating sports.

[Lawgvr1955]

Bliss, who resigned Aug. 8 after the investigation into Patrick Dennehy's death, has admitted being involved in paying players' tuition.

Not to take the side of the coach here, but I think the NCAA's rule here is ridiculous. Making it an offense to pay for someone's tuition; that is, allowing a person attend school who otherwise couldn't.

[EBITDA]

Regrettably, I would have to agree.

[Dog Gone]

The Baylor program may not recover from this in a generation. The coach was willing to smear a player, after death, to cover his own butt.

Not that it excuses the teammate who apparently murdered Dennehy, but it hardly makes Baylor an attractive place for athletes to play.

And all that is separate from the discussion of the illegal payments to Dennehy in the first place.