NYT and Nocera publish second Boatright piece
by Andrew Porter on Jan 24, 2012 9:49 AM EST
in UConn Huskies Basketball
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PrintAs promised, Joe Noecera followed up Saturday's powerful Ryan Boatright column with round two today. It's more of the same, which is a good thing, though today's piece does feature a few extra uses of the word "Gestapo."
Here are some highlights, which give you an idea of just what the NCAA investigation process entails:
Tanesha is a single mother raising four children on a small salary. The N.C.A.A. investigators viewed her circumstances as a cause for suspicion, not sympathy. For instance, she owns a car. Where did she get the money to pay for it, they asked? How did she pay for her home? And so on.
Concluding that she had no choice but to cooperate - otherwise, her son would surely pay a severe price - Tanesha turned over her bank statements, as the N.C.A.A. demanded. Four N.C.A.A. investigators pored through her financial records and conducted interrogations in Aurora, seeking "evidence" that she was getting money from "improper" sources. (Tanesha declined to comment.)
...
Most astonishing, an N.C.A.A. spokeswoman told me that the organization does not have the legal authority to compel cooperation from parents. Again, technically true: Its real weapon - the threat of destroying their sons' careers - is far more potent than any mere subpoena.
It's another good piece, make sure to read the whole thing.
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Cam Newton and NCAA hypocrisy
Tell me this how does Cam Newton’s dad allowed to pimp out his son for upwards to 180,000 dollars for his son to commit to a school and miss ZERO games. And Ryan Boatrights mom accepts 600 dollars for a plane ticket from a family friend to visit a college with her son and has missed NINE games and counting. The NCAA does not know justice. They hate Calhoun and UConn. They hate Andre Drummond for being able to manipulate the scholarship limit imposed by the NCAA for violations and academic problems. They hate how we won a championship last year.
by uconn2012 on Jan 24, 2012 10:28 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
It is a joke to think the players for Cincy and Xavier got less of a punishment for fist fighting on court in front of the whole world than Boatright’s mother getting a plane ticket. The system is a joke.
by paul.petroski1 on Jan 24, 2012 10:44 AM EST up reply actions
Such a joke
2011 National Champs in Men's Basketball
FIRE DeLEONE
Eat a bagel (like a mumu)
Superbowl: Hoping for the meteor
1967: Embrace it
Shamateurism
The thing that really gets me, is that even if Boatright and family are guilty of some of these transgressions the only thing it means is he has compromised his amateur status. Nobody gives a shit about amateurism anymore. The only reason anybody ever gave a shit about amateurism is so that upper class kids from Oxford and Harvard didn’t have to give up their spot on the crew team to someone from a lower class background.
This isn’t 1922 when it was shameful for college stars to play in the NFL so they often did so under assumed names. We love professional sports! We don’t begrudge athletes for leaving school early, and the only reason half of the top talent is in the NCAA in the first place is so the NBA can market them better once they get to the pros.
I’m not trying to turn this into a class warfare thing, but look at the questions they’re asking Ryan’s mom: “How do you own your car?”, “How do you own your home?”, “Why is there money in your bank account?” Are you fucking kidding me?
The Gestapo comparisons might be a little over the top (which I realized last night as I was MS-Painting a Hitler mustache onto a picture of Mark Emmert), but the whole thing, as Nocera says, is pretty un-American.
Also, “Refusing to discuss the actions of [the NCAA’s] investigators, it essentially said that Connecticut, not the N.C.A.A., declared Boatright ineligible.”
whoops
I wasn’t sure whether to follow that last quote with “Get fucked,” or “Die in a tire fire,” so pick your poison on that one.
I prefer
“Get fucked in a tire fire.”
2011 National Champs in Men's Basketball
FIRE DeLEONE
Eat a bagel (like a mumu)
Superbowl: Hoping for the meteor
1967: Embrace it
Gestapo thing is Godwin's Law at it's best
2011 National Champs in Men's Basketball
FIRE DeLEONE
Eat a bagel (like a mumu)
Superbowl: Hoping for the meteor
1967: Embrace it
In fairness
the Gestapo line was a quote from the letter of a parent. Nocera decided to publish it, so he’s on the hook for it, but it’s not his line.
by Andrew Porter on Jan 24, 2012 11:20 AM EST up reply actions
Yep
Which is why it’s more in line with Godwin’s Law than if Nocera had written it himself because the letter is a response to a written piece.
2011 National Champs in Men's Basketball
FIRE DeLEONE
Eat a bagel (like a mumu)
Superbowl: Hoping for the meteor
1967: Embrace it
I will say
that as much as I like Nocera’s writing, the bank account stuff doesn’t look good. The NCAA rules are a crock in a lot of instances, but you can see why some of this is being looked into.
Yeah
It doesn’t really inspire a ton of confidence that this will go away quickly. It’s pretty tough to think you can recruit a player, have him be cleared by your schools’ compliance department and the NCAA (twice), and then lose him to eligibility concerns that are (by the NCAA’s admission) no fault of your own. Particularly when it seems like (from the Nocera piece anyway) the kid’s primary transgression is being poor.
I wonder...
What are the NCAA meeting like discussing the Boat Shows eligibility.
Arrive promptly at 11 am.
Full continental Breakfast
Shoot the Shit for an hour
Talk about Boats mom for 15 mins
LUNCH….
Hurry back for 3 pm
Talk about the stock market
Talk about boats mom for 20 mins
Leave at 4pm after an exhaustive day!
I think of the shady looking NCAA dudes from Blue Mountain State
Scenarios are vastly different, but that’s what I think the investigators look like. Black suit. Black tie. Greased back hair.
2011 National Champs in Men's Basketball
FIRE DeLEONE
Eat a bagel (like a mumu)
Superbowl: Hoping for the meteor
1967: Embrace it
Not surprising
And a good call. I have no idea where they could go without Thad there. Unless he became a grad assistant or something.
2011 National Champs in Men's Basketball
FIRE DeLEONE
Eat a bagel (like a mumu)
Superbowl: Hoping for the meteor
1967: Embrace it
Thats exactly what I was thinking
Thad as linebackers coach or grad student still living at the goat haha
You know
The more I read about this, the angrier I get. I mean, take out the bit about the ex-boyfriend being a gold-plated, guaranteed for life tool, what the NCAA is doing is pure harassment. Checking bank records? Seriously? The worst part is that she can’t tell them to go get fucked because if she does, her son never plays.
I’d say that I hope that shining the light on this shames the NCAA into changing the way it does things, but we all know that will never happen. The NCAA is pretty much organized crime, and why mess up a good thing, right?
2011 InterUniversal College Pick 'Em Champion. Ask around. I'm the best.
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