I am a movie freak. I say freak and not geek, because I don’t have a specific genre I watch, I just love a good movie, and I can tolerate a bad one. Also being a NASCAR dad, I was one of the first in the theatre when Days Of Thunder came out a long time ago. A young and up and coming Tom Cruise had one of his better performances building on what was then a massively up and coming NASCAR. But to me, Fred Thompson and his portrayal of the head honcho of NASCAR stole the show. Thompson could be an intimidating character actor. And this was long before his political aspirations reared their head and derailed his movie career.
In the scene which ties all of the elements of the movie together, Thompson’s character describes a process known as “Japanese Inspection”. He states that if the Japanese get a load of lettuce or some other perishable item that comes into the country that they don’t want to let in, they just simply let it sit on the dock until it rots, and then they go inspect it and let it pass, because at that point it has become utterly useless.
Which brings me to my point today about Enes Kanter. The NCAA in all of it’s wisdom in handling the Enes Kanter “eligibility” situation, seems to be using this process for his clearance. The ruling has been made by the NCAA that if Kanter shows that he has received no impermissible benefits, then he can go on to play college ball here in the states. They also know what the situation was for Kanter over in Turkey, and yet they have made no attempt to interview Kanter yet and get this issue behind him. It has already cost him his ability to play in the Canada trip, and the NCAA just takes their sweet time in getting what at this point is nothing more than a formality behind the kid. they are not saying he is ineligible, they are not saying he has done anything wrong, but they will not move the chains, so to speak, and get this ridiculous process over and done with. They did it at Mississippi State last year with regards to Renardo Sydney and his eligibility, albeit in a more serious investigation. Sydney had serious questions that needed answering and the answers he provided did not suit the NCAA, although they eventually found nothing to prevent him from playing. Kanter’s situation is nothing when compared to Sydney. Kanter never got a dime, he played for a “club” team in Turkey, simply because that is the way they do it over there. He did not get anything that would be considered an impermissible benefit, he simply played on what would amount to a semi-pro basketball team, that he did not get paid for.
If the NCAA wants to keep on playing the heavy, then why are they not knocking on Isiah Thomas door and asking him what made him even think that he could be a paid “consultant” for a pro team?
Let’s get this nonsense with Kanter over with and let the kid play ball. He is missing out on some serious fun here. And so are we.
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