The Free Enes Campaign: Could The Bylaw Blog Help?
By Paul Jordan
See the guy in the picture? He could be really helpful to us this year. He is really tall, shoots the ball pretty decent and is supposed to be kinda good at rebounding. There is just one teeny tiny little problem. He was not cleared to play by the NCAA. Now, before you claim this is just another column to whine about the NCAA’s decision concerning Kanter’s eligibility, back up. That is not what this is about. This is about trying to find out what we can get to the NCAA that will help our case. The problem is that the NCAA is hard to figure out on even a really good day, and I don’t remember having a really good day where the NCAA is concerned in a long time. Or maybe ever, for that matter. I mean, they wouldn’t let a guy in their door with a Free Enes T-Shirt on for crying out loud. So expecting some reasonable actions on their part may be a bit much to ask for. However, our peek inside the workings of the NCAA may still be possible.
Some of you may remember the ByLaw Blog a independently operated and really informational website run by a fella by the name of John Infante. It was incredibly useful in discussing matters of an NCAA nature because it was run by John, who was an NCAA compliance officer. Well, not long after it started, John was “outed” by an idiot in the LSU fanbase named Ken Womack. Am I calling him out? No. Just pointing out that he is the guy who broke up the party, and he is not getting a link from me. Well, John has reopened the ByLaw Blog with an interesting twist, he is now a part of the NCAA’s website and is now sanctioned by the NCAA itself. They still allow him to write his opinions and his interpretations of what the NCAA does, and there is still a world of information he can provide to the common fan who does not understand what in the world the NCAA is thinking.
So, here is my suggestion. You can log in to the NCAA’s website and ask John questions and get information as well as comment on the opinions he posts. Ask the man that understands how the NCAA works what needs to be done. He has already written a short piece on how the new rules for foreign athletes were to be applied and it is very informational too.
I, for one, am extremely glad to see John back. He is one very intelligent individual who doesn’t approach what he does as a fan, rather as a source of invaluable information. Which is exactly how it should be. Stop by and have a look and let him know if you appreciate his work.
But here is the rub. Enes is probably not going to be a Wildcat. Does that upset me? Yes, very much so, because I wanted the young man to get the opportunity that he wanted for himself. Am I upset because our chance for a National Championship just went out the window? No, because we do not know that is indeed the case just yet. We do have an appeal, and furthermore, Enes was not going to be the only big man on this team. Is Coach Cal going to have to earn his money this year? You bet. However that is simply not germane to the discussion. The NCAA and UK appear to have been working hand in hand for this decision, so we have to know that it was not an unimaginable outcome.
What is needed now is patience. Patience from the fans, patience from the school, and patience from Enes, as this could still go our way, however unlikely that may be at this point. What I will not tolerate from either our fanbase or our esteemed opponents are the snide remarks about us getting what we deserved, or how Calipari should not have bothered with the kid, or how we could have had this one or that one, etc. Because that is ultimately a lot of hogwash. We have about 35 games to play before the NCAA Tournament starts, and Calipari has done more in the past with a whole lot less than we have. So suck it up Big Blue Nation, no firebombing the NCAA headquarters, no stringing Mark Emmert up by his toenails, and no calling for Calipari’s head.
As for you, NCAA, you have put us through seven kinds of Hades in this effort to get your footing on this new rule and how it should be applied. You have had our complete cooperation throughout the process, and you used us for a guinea pig. And at the end of that process, we were left holding your ruling in our hands. We not only do not forget, we do not let opportunities go by to make the most of bad deals. So make VERY sure this appeal is handled with the utmost respect and thoroughness. Because we played by the rules from start to finish on this one. We dotted every I and crossed every T to no avail. You developed this rule for these kinds of players and you ruled out the very first one that tried to do things the right way. That kind of irony is not lost on the masses. And they are the people that spend the money for your multi-million dollar contracts and your bowl games. I pray you remember that when you are being absolutely thorough and complete in your decisions.
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