Deny Deny Deny It Wasn’t Me

Deny  Deny   Deny      It  Wasn’t  Me

So   Tennessee   Volunteers’   basketball   coach Bruce Pearl   has seen  fit  to   lie to  NCAA  investigators concerning   recruitment   violations   and   a  slew  of other  actions  that  may  garner the SEC  school  a number of  violations that   could   well  lead to  severe  actions  being   meted out  by  collegiate  athletics’   highest  governing  body. What  I  find   somewhat   strange  about  this all  is the mere  fact  that  the    conference  itself    doesn’t   monitor the  actions  of the   athletic programs   under  its   tenure.    You’d  have  thought that  would   be   something that  the  SEC would  seek to   monitor   judiciously  ?  But  instead   it  is  now  left  in  the  hands   of the   NCAA to deal  with  a  matter  that   at  the  end  of  the   day the  message  sent   will  either be  one,  where  they   will  punish  the   school  with   impunity  or  merely  give  them  a  slap  on  the  wrist.

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Furthermore   in  the  case  of   Pearl  it  is   highly   unlikely  that  he’ll  be    punished   unless  the  AD Mike Hamilton   chooses  to  either  suspend  the coach or   if  the   charges  are   deemed   to  serious   enough  that  they  will  choose to  fire  him. And given  what  we  tend  to  know  with  coaches that  have  brought  about  a  winning  program  and   esteem  to  a  school we  do  tend  to  find  that  the school will  more  often than  not  choose to take    a  soft   approach   to  the allegations   and any punishment  that  they might  seek  to mete out.

Courtesy of USA Today

Bruce Pearl: ‘I hope that the things we did don’t rise to the level of termination’

By Tim Gardner & Erick Smith

We knew Bruce Pearl was in hot water over the NCAA probe looking into his Tennessee basketball program.

It appears the coach is aware, too, that more fallout may lie ahead.

Pearl spoke with Luke Winn of SI.com after speaking at a coaching clinic this weekend in Brooklyn, N.Y., and his words offer a glimpse into his worries moving forward.

“We did what we felt like we needed to do, to take steps proactively to penalize ourselves. I think the penalties were unprecedented in some scope. But we made mistakes. We provided false and misleading information to the NCAA.

“I should be made an example of, and I am — I’m embarrassed. But I hope that the things we did don’t rise to the level of termination, because we run a clean program. We got investigated in a lot of areas.”

Pearl’s lies to the NCAA came back to bite him in more ways than one. For starters, it brought out this response from Jimmy Collins, a former assistant coach at Illinois whom Pearl turned in to the NCAA nearly 20 years ago.

After that episode, Pearl was knocked by many in the coaching community for his actions.

“As a result of what I went through before, I had a responsibility to run a clean program and do it the right way,” he said to SI.com. “I’ve been doing this for 28 years. And I wished I could’ve not run afoul of the rules my whole career. So obviously, I’m disappointed in myself.”

Tennessee expects to receive a letter of allegations from the NCAA by the end of the year — and Pearl’s future on the sidelines in Knoxville will strongly depend on the severity of the allegations levied.

So, yes, Pearl will be sweating it out for several months. Now the question is will it affect his current Vols team, which should be able to contend with Kentucky and Florida in the SEC East.

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Bruce   Pearl  for  his  part  has  yet  to  issue  a   public   statement  as  to what  the  the  allegations are   about   and  the impending   investigation.  Why is   it  that  more  often  than  not when  an  athlete  falls  afoul   of  a   transgression  they   tend  to  the   ones  who  become  a  pariah  and  then  the   school is    punished . But  rarely  is it that a   coach   whose   failings   are  questioned when they  come to the   fore. I mean  Pete  Carroll flees   like  a  thief  in  the  night   from   USC   when   under   his  watch the most   flagrant  of    violations  took  place  at  the  school. All of  which  took  place  under  the  alleged  watchful  eye  of  then  Athletic  Director  Mike  Garrett who  would then  step   down  from the  position  rather   than  being   pushed  out  the  door. Former  Trojans’ basketball coach  Tim Floyd  whose pleading of ignorance   when  handed  over  cash  to O J Mayo  and   his   subsequent  riposte that  his  actions were  above  board   is   was as ludicrous and  asinine  to  say  the  very  least. Clearly  there’s   something wrong with these   coaches  and  their   undoubted   self   righteous   actions.

University  of  Florida (Gators)  football  coach Urban Meyer  is   either  that   gullible  or   he  knows  exactly  how rife his team  is literally filled with  a bunch  of  violent   buffoons.    Players   on  this  team  have   now  been  arrested and  charged  with misdemeanors  to   far  more    serious   allegations  ranging     from   possession  of   narcotics,  DUI,  sexual  battery , theft   and also  in amongst  that ,  are  allegations  of  academic  fraud.  Meyer   chooses  to   placate    himself   from  all  of  this  by   stating  that he  runs  a clean   program and  that his responsibilities  is  simply  being a football  coach.  Perhaps  I’m  mistaken but his responsibilities go far beyond  that ? After all he goes  into  the  homes  of  these   players  to recruit   them  by  speaking to  a  parent  or parents   and   implores  them to send  their child the his school  , where   he  assures them that they’ll  be  able  to  get a   good   education.  Now we  know  that  much  of  this  is  all  hogwash  as  the   real  reason  this  is all being done to  intensify the  prestige  and   success  of  the   school. Rarely does a  coach show  any  real interest  in  that  of  the  students under  his  tenure.  I  personally would   like  to  know what  the   graduation  rate  is  amongst  the  student  athlete  body of  the  university?

Prior  to the 2010 NCAA   Basketball  Championships Education  Secretary   Arne  Duncan  stated  that  he’d like to  see  it  where  a criteria  is  set where  the  teams  qualifying   for  the   tournament  must  have  graduation  of   rate of   not less    than   48%   amongst  its    student  athlete  body.   Not   excessively   high  but  when   looked  at   and  measured  against   the   schools who  participated  in the  tournament   more than  75%  of  the   schools   involved  would  not  have  met  that  the  threshold called for  by the Education Secretary.  If  that’s  not  enough of  a shock to most  then  consider   the  production   line  that collegiate athletics  has  become  and   the   lengths that   schools are   now going  to, merely to  have    repeated  success   at  whatever cost  possible.  Collegiate athletics   is   no  longer  about  the  student  athlete  gaining  an   education  and  becoming  a   model   citizen.  In   essence it  is  now  a   multi-billion   dollar  business  where the  few  reap  the   rewards  and  those  at  the  lower  rungs  of  the   ladder  are  left to  fend   for  themselves  once  they’ve  been  of  service to  that   establishment.

It  is  easy  to   suggest  that   many  of  these   athletes  will   profit financially beyond   their wildest dreams once  they  enter  into the  professional  market place of  either  the  NBA,  NFL, MLB and NHL , it  all  becomes  about how much  money  that they will  be able  garner  that  first  initial  contract  for. But  that tends to  only happens to  those considered to  be  amongst  the  elite within  their chosen  athletic endeavor.  And   when  one  considers  the  tens  of  millions of dollars  that  the programs garner and  you  have to  wonder the  lengths  that the  coaches  and  schools  are   prepared to go  to  make  sure  that  there’s continued  success  and  the  money  keeps rolling  in. Unfortunately  for  the   student  athletes  the   resources  at their  disposal isn’t what  you  would  commonly  expect  especially when   compliance  officers ,  athletic directors  and   in  some cases faculty  members choose  to  turn  a  blind  eye.  And yes one could  opine  to  the fact that  the  student should  be  responsible  for  their own actions and  that  they  owe  it  to the educational   establishment  to make the best  possible  of  the   opportunities   made   available  to them.

The  coaches  for their  part bask  in  the  glory  and   acclaim  while they lead  their  respective teams  to  success. Now  when  I  hear the   likes  of  Nick  Saban   talk  about the agents   who  hover around  a  school’s  program  and  the  fact  that they  feast  off the  athletes as  if  it’s   vulture   eating  off   the   carcass of  a  dead   animal.  I’ve   got   to  ask  myself  who  the   hell is  Saban  kidding  and  is  he  actually  listening  to  what  he’s   saying ?  Here’s  a  guy  who  simply  doesn’t   know  how  to  be honest  if  it  were  his  last   day  on  earth  ! One simply  has  to   recall  his  actions  when  he was  a  coach of the Miami Dolphins .  When   asked   at  the   time whether  not it  was  his   intention to  remain  with  the   Dolphins  after it’d  been  speculated  that  he was about to abruptly leave the  organization.  Saban  simply  stated to  the  convened  press  that  he would  honor  his  contract but  as well  know  that  wasn’t  to  be,  as  he   walked  away  from the team  without  offering  statement  to  then  owner H D Wayne  Huizenga .

Jumping  back to his   old  stomping   ground   Saban  has   found  success  with  Alabama,having led  the team to their most  recent  national championship  and  where  they’re   now   heavily  favored  to  repeat  again  as   SEC  and   national  champions. Disingenuous  or not  clearly, some  of the   collegiate coaches think  that  they’re  above   reproach  but I find  it somewhat  superfluous  that  the NCAA  would  always  seek to punish  only  a   school  when a coach    knowingly   places  that   school  in  a   precarious   position, whereby  they  can   lose  not only   scholarships   but  also to an  extent the  esteem of  the  school.  If   you   don’t  believe  that  to be  the  case  then   simply  look  at  the  fall from  grace  of  USC  ?  If  honesty had  been  shown  by the  parties   there ,  who knew  full  what was  going  on , then  surely what  transpired  could have have  been  abated !   Obviously  not,  because no  one  there  thought  that  they  could  be  caught   and  the   asinine  notion  that  the   school  and   certain  principals were without  fault  clearly  shows  how  far that school  was prepared to go.

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Head coach Bruce Pearl (left) of the Tennessee Volunteers and Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans shake hands before the game during the midwest regional final of the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Edward Jones Dome on March 28, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri. Elsa Martinez / Getty Images

Head coach Bruce Pearl of the Tennessee Volunteers and the rest of his bench watch as the Michigan State Spartans shoot a free throw during the midwest regional final of the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Edward Jones Dome on March 28, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri. Michagan State defeated Tennessee 70-69 to advance to the Final Four. Elsa Martinez / Getty Images

Joan Cronan, Pat Summitt (Vols women’s baskeball coach), Larry Pratt, Dr. John Petersen, University AD Mike Hamilton and Bruce Pearl . picture appears courtesy of utsports.com copyrighted material @ all rights reserved

Knoxville ,Tn,. Quarterback John Brantley (12) of the Florida Gators drops back to pass against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 18, 2010 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Coach Urban Meyer of the Florida Gators congratulates his players after scoring a touchdown against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 18, 2010 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Getty Images / Grant Halverson

Florida Gators sing the alma mater after a game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 18, 2010 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida won 31-17. Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Southern California basketball player O.J. Mayo, right, speaks to the media as head coach Tim Floyd looks on during a news conference Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007 in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Nick Ut ………

Former Trojan’s head football coach Pete Carroll of USC Trojans sits with then Athletic Director Mike Garrett during the game between Arizona Wildcats and USC Trojans at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. The Wildcats defeated the Tojans 105-61. Event dates back to 2001. Stephen Dunn Getty Images /Allsport

Durham , NC,. A crowd of 39,042 was on hand for the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium on September 18, 2010 in Durham, North Carolina. The Crimson Tide defeated the Blue Devils 62-13. Photo by Brian A. Westerholt/Getty Images

Blue Devils’ head coach David Cutcliffe (right) talks with Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban prior to the start of their game at Wallace Wade Stadium on September 18, 2010 in Durham, North Carolina. The Crimson Tide defeated the Blue Devils 62-13. Photo by Brian A. Westerholt/Getty Images

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Picture gallery for your perusal .

What  thoughts  if  any  do  you have  concerning  the allegations  concerning  Bruce Pearl and  that statements   attributed  to  Urban  Meyer  that  he  runs  a  clean football  program  ?  Is  he simply  being    naive  or  is it because he’s  had undoubted   success and   feels   that  he can   get  a  free  pass ?   And   in  the case  of   Saban  are  his  actions that  of   a  person  whose  statements  are  valid ? If agents  as  he   puts it should  be   corralled   then  why   not  the  boosters   who surreptitiously do  a  number of   questionable  things  that  the coaches  and  faculties  would  tend  to turn  a  blind  eye  to ? Clearly there’s  an  argument  to be  made  where  their  actions   can  be   just  as  questionable as that  of an  out of control  athlete or agent ?  Chime  in with a  comment  as   you  see   fit  and  thanks   once  again  for  the  continued  support   as  it’s always  appreciated   !

Alan  aka    tophatal              ……….    🙂      * 🙂       *  😦

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Joie Chaves . A hot piece of Nubian a_s that any man would definitely want to tap !