What's next? Geoff Calkins to blame Calipari for Memphis's 1985 vacated Final Four now?
By Staff
I told myself I was not going to enter the fray today as the Memphis NCAA violations had proven to be that … a Memphis story. I promised I would not let my blood pressure rise today as I knew that Calipari would be thrown under the bus today for his “alleged role” in these violations. I had a fresh set of Netflix DVD’s at home and was going to avoid all forms of media and stay away from ESPN and whatever talking heads that want to implicate Calipari today. But then someone emailed me a link to this hatchet job that “friend of the blog” Geoff Calkins had written about the Memphis violations and the vacation of their Final Four.
To be honest, it’s not even a story. Just a ludicrous Q and A section where Calkins continued the character assassination of John Calipari that has been ongoing since Cal decided he wanted to get a better job. You know it’s a hack job by the title: NCAA ruling less about Memphis, more about Calipari.
Whaa? Even though Calipari was never named in the investigation, it’s still Cal’s fault? Come on Geoff, do better than that. This “article” was the equivalent of a seven year old running to his room, slamming the door, banging his head against the wall and screaming “It’s not my fault” at the top of their lungs for about four hours.
But it gets better. In next weeks article, Calkins finds a way to implicate Calipari in the 1985 Memphis scandal that caused their 1982-1986 tournament history to be vacated, including the 1985 Final Four. I guess when Geoff was recounting all of Calipari’s misdeeds, he neglected to look at his own school’s history of vacating Final Fours. And Memphis fans, don’t email me about Eddie Sutton. I am aware of my own schools dark days. Maybe your columnists should be aware before castigating others.
Now on my search through the web, I do give props to the FakeGimelMartinez from Kentucky Sports Radio who referenced an insider blog Jay Bilas had done earlier. I did want to share with you some of what he wrote then about the NCAA because it is worth taking another look at.
To be honest, I am as furious as Memphis fans that their Final Four got vacated and Duke managed to skate without a penalty for the whole Corey Maggette affair in which an ineligible player was used by Duke. But our real beef should not be with Calipari, Calkins, or each other, but the incredibly unfair and biased NCAA. Why have we not heard about the whole Reggie Bush saga, whis is now more than two years old? I know it is kind of long and from a few months ago, but some of you may have not seen it since it was an insider aricle, but the sentiment is good. Enjoy Bilas’s words and this is my last words on this matter:
The NCAA process: Nobody is suggesting that compliance with NCAA rules is not important. It is. But we must also acknowledge that the process is flawed and unfair. We must also acknowledge that the rules are not handed down from Mount Sinai. The rules themselves are horribly flawed.
The NCAA rule book is gigantic, and it is impossible to properly interpret. One basketball program I know uses an interesting system to determine what to do with regard to the NCAA’s archaic rules. When there is a question about an interpretation, three members of the staff separately call the NCAA for an answer. Invariably, there are three different interpretations provided by the NCAA, and the staff then chooses the interpretation it likes the best.
The NCAA is ill-equipped to gather facts and properly adjudicate these matters, and the process is incredibly unfair to those alleged to have violated the rules. As the system works now, you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. The NCAA does not make its allegations public, and does not comment on investigations, yet the institutions are expected to air everything publicly when accused of rules violations, investigate themselves, and penalize themselves before the NCAA has to do it. While there is an allegation pending, the NCAA rules mandate that any player with a cloud will not compete until that cloud is affirmatively proven to be untrue.
There is no burden of proof for the NCAA to satisfy when it makes allegations. None. The NCAA is investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. The NCAA is allowed to believe or disbelieve anyone involved in the process, and is allowed to consider or disregard whatever evidence it likes, no matter how unreliable it might be. It is a stacked and unfair process; there are legitimate ethical questions at every step.
John Calipari: So far, the biggest target in this saga has been Calipari. Because we have this ridiculous notion that the head coach is responsible for everything that goes on in his program, Calipari is taking the blame even though his name is not even mentioned in the Notice of Allegations. Remember, the Notice mentioned the name of a representative of Memphis’ athletic interests over a single phone call. If the NCAA had anything on Calipari, it would have unloaded it in the Notice. It does not.
And it has become acceptable now to blame Calipari for Marcus Camby’s acceptance of money from two different agents in 1996, even though the coach was cleared of any wrongdoing in that case. The fact that Camby took money is being blamed on Calipari, and the situations at UMass and Memphis are being linked in an attempt to imply that Calipari is dirty in this matter as well. It is a cheap smear, and one without evidence to back it up.
Call me old-fashioned, but I require established facts and evidence before I call someone a cheater. I am not naïve about the way things work in basketball, because I see it every day. But there is a difference between the problems with the culture in the game and making specific allegations of academic fraud against an individual. We all share the blame collectively for what is going on in the game, but we should require more evidence and hard facts before we indict any individual.
So far, the only “evidence” against Calipari is that he was the head coach, and the head coach is responsible for everything that happens on his watch, that he was the head coach at UMass when Marcus Camby accepted money from an agent and the head coach is responsible for everything that happens on his watch, and he’s at Memphis and he lets Worldwide Wes and the FedEx CEO hang around his program.
I don’t buy that the head coach is fully responsible for everything that happens on his watch. The head coach and the institution are responsible for what they know or reasonably should have known. The key word there is “reasonably.” No head coach can or should be responsible for the actions of players well before they reach campus, and no coach can reasonably be expected to police the entire college basketball landscape for agents, runners and boosters.
Tarring Calipari with Camby’s acceptance of money from an agent 13 years ago is similarly unpersuasive to me. If we were in court, such “evidence” would not be admissible, because even though Ca
lipari was cleared of any improper action, it would be considered a “prior bad act” that is more prejudicial than probative. The fact that Camby took money from agents in 1996 proves nothing about Rose and his academic issues.
And to continue to discredit Calipari with references to wrongdoing he played no part in is simply wrong. If there is evidence that Calipari knew about or participated in the alleged academic fraud, then bring it forward. Just mentioning Camby and a vacated Final Four appearance does not tell us anything about the current situation.
Maybe Calipari and Memphis had a part in this alleged wrongdoing. But maybe, just maybe, they did not. As reasonable people, we should establish the facts first. Just because the NCAA alleges something doesn’t make it true.
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans