John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Thinking Out Loud…while wondering if true justice and the American Way really exists for intercollegiate athletics…
• Bobby Petrino. Tiger Woods. Rick Pitino. Steve McNair. Bill Clinton. John Edwards. Eliot Spitzer. Al Pacino. All brought down by the scent of a woman, apparently. Except for Pacino…
• Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long is a shining light among college administrators right now, and I give him a tremendous amount of credit for making an extremely tough call in firing Petrino. Values over Victories…
• Hey Baylor. Welcome to the big-time. 80 victories between football and men’s and women’s basketball in a single year is an NCAA record. 1200 impermissible phone calls and texts by their coaches may not be, but say hello to probation anyway…
• Was anyone else just slightly sickened when basketball uber-recruit Nerlens Noel announced – on national TV, no less – his college choice last week by turning his head and showing the initials “UK” (for Kentucky) shaved into the back of it?
• Former Holy Cross guard R.J. Evans has found a home for his fifth year of eligibility…three-time national champion UConn. Doesn’t that beg the question – if he’s good enough to play for the Huskies, wouldn’t he still be good enough to play for the Crusaders? Just sayin’…
• The number of transfers within college basketball programs this year? 300+ and counting. Good grief. Why doesn’t the NCAA just declare everyone a free agent after the season is over?
• I’ll say it, because you’re thinking it. So am I. Why do players bail out on a team – a school – that invested in their success? Why can’t someone influential in their lives step up and say “don’t do this, don’t quit?” What are these young people being taught here? And I’ll answer that for you…
• There may be no “I” in T-E-A-M, but there ain’t no “WE” either…
• Where is the leadership in this free-for-all? The NCAA is OOC (out of control) itself. It is also FUBAR, IMHO, and I am not LMAO over this. WTH?
• My buddy “Big E” believes sometimes that IAFOS, but we agree that college athletics long ago lost its amateur identity…
• Stupid is as stupid does…college sports have been big business for some time. But the NCAA is ruining college athletics by pretending that its amateurism-based rules are still relevant. They penalize schools for violations usually uncovered by media or other sources, and the punishment is usually administered to the wrong people – the guilty go unpunished, and innocents (athletes, administrators, coaches) suffer the impact of any sanctions. Right UConn?
• Who breathed life back into the legs of the C’s Big Three? Although the current road trip is doing its best to suck that life right out again…
• You know what’s too bad? That Terry Francona feels it’s too soon to be a part of the 100th anniversary celebration for Fenway Park…still stung by his departure and the way the team made him look. Shame on you, Sox…
• “I'm sure they'll have a great event and I was part of a lot of that stuff there, but I just can't go back there and start hugging people and stuff without feeling a little bit hypocritical.” Spot on, Tito. Stick to your guns…
• 100 years at Fenway Park. Wow, people were really small 100 years ago, weren’t they?
• I haven’t always been a Sox fan, having grown up in Texas. But I will tell you the exact moment I became a Sox fan, and I’ve been one ever since. The moment the ball rolled under Bill Buckner’s legs in the ’86 World Series, I was transformed…
• Why is Kevin Youkilis so puzzled by Bobby Valentine’s criticism? It’s the managers’ job to get on his players when they’re not producing, isn’t it? This is a “what have you done lately” sport…not “what have you done in the past…”
• Something tells me Rob Gronkowski – and the Patriots – have to be at least a little relieved that Gronk was beaten by Detroit’s Calvin Johnson in voting for the Madden ’13 cover. The “curse” apparently bypasses New England…
• An omen? The last two times the Bruins and Capitals met in the playoffs, the winner reached the Stanley Cup finals…
• Gotta ask the question…but if the San Jose Sharks are one of the best-run NHL franchises – and by most accounts, they are – then why can’t their top farm team (the Worcester Sharks) make the playoffs? Like the relationship between Boston and Pawtucket in MLB, the Sharks apparently emphasize development, over winning…
• I seem to recall the former Worcester IceCats as a perennial playoff contender. The Sharks were plenty tough (where they led the AHL in penalties), but were they more interested in fighting than actually winning?
• Dwayne Wade said last week that NBA Olympians should be compensated, and then he said they shouldn’t be. Guess his PR person got to him. And I should be 7-feet tall with soft hands and run like a gazelle, but I’m not. Fantasy and reality?
• Oh, I get it. Time away from “time off,” a lot of travel and games, yada, yada, yada…the players deserve something. Perhaps if portions of the proceeds from paraphernalia and jerseys could be held aside for those needy pros, with the REST of those proceeds helping to fund the real amateurs who need the help…well, alright then. Never mind the privilege of simply playing to represent your country…
• The definition of sarcasm? A body’s natural defense against stupid…
• Did you see where the entire Texas Tech chess team (don’t laugh) decided to follow their coach to a small, private school in St. Louis? Lured by a new chess club and academic center, the whole team (after winning the national championship at Tech) up and left because their coach decided to leave. Is this fair? Is this the American Way? Imagine the outrage if this happened in a revenue-generating sport…
• Our mailbag question this week comes from Edward in Johnston, RI: “Why can’t the (UConn) Huskies play in the Big East Tournament?” Edward: At this time, UConn is ineligible to play in any post-season tournament due to a poor Academic Progress Rate as determined by the NCAA. It’s a scorecard used by the NCAA to track classroom performance of Division I sports teams…and if teams don’t pass, they don’t play. Big East presidents voted last month to keep NCAA-ineligible teams out of conference tournaments, which makes sense. If an ineligible team won an automatic bid by winning the post-season conference tourney, the league could lose the spot in the subsequent NCAA Tournament. And lose the revenue that goes along with it…
• Interested in having your questions on local sports (including the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Send ‘em to me! It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions and comments to [email protected]. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @jrooke0722…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
• And you’re up early anyway…don’t forget to join us for GoLocal Sports on 103.7 FM, every Saturday from 7:00-9:00 am! Call in (401) 737-1287, or text 850850…and send email to the show - [email protected]
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