I recently took part in an online discussion about on a sports topic and thought that I would carry part of that discussion over to this site as I see it as an indication of where our society stands on a different but related issue. The discussion that I took part in was about whether or not the University of Kentucky (the big blue, my other alma mater) should allow a kid that is facing drug related charges to play on the basketball team.
As background, the kid's name is Bud Mackey and he was the star point guard for the defending state champion Scott County team. He was considered a top 100 prospect and, after not being recruited very much by Tubby Smith, took a scholarship offer from Kelvin Sampson and Indiana. Early this school year, young Mr. Mackey got charged with possession of cocaine at his high school and possibly a dealing charge as well. He withdrew from that school and is now enrolled at a school in Ohio to finish out the year. Indiana, by the way, withdrew their scholarship offer to him soon after the charges came were filed.
The story gets interesting because it was recently reported that Mr. Mackey recently posted on his MySpace page that he was going to be a Kentucky Wildcat next year and this information has had cat nation in an uproad with some lambasting the coach for even considering the kid as a possible player and others defending the coach and saying that UK needs all the help it can get.
Those were the dominant positions in the argument that I joined at the other web site and if you wish to see the entire article and argument follow the link that is provided. My view is a little different, so I will try to set it forth and also explain why this argument has relevance to society as a whole.
First, UK should not take the boy on for the team if his court case is still going on. I think that is a no-brainer. If a regular player on the team had something similiar happen, there would be a suspension until the case was over, guilty or innocent. If the boy gets a guilty, then the discussion is moot as he will have some time to serve in "the stony lonesome" as a judge I used to know would say. If he comes out of the case with a not guilty or a dismissal, then there is absolutely no problem as we are innocent until proven guilty and he has come out innocent and should be treated as such.
The big question is what to do if he gets a guilty for some drug charges, like possession and is allowed to stay out of jail (a very real possibility if you know what happens in criminal courts these days). Many say that he is tainted, he should never be allowed to go to UK and that UK would be tarnishing it's grand reputation by allowing him to "start over". I am not so sure. First, UK's reputation isn't so grand as it is quite possibly the most penalized school in NCAA history and UK has had its share of rogues on the team in the past.
To me though, the bigger issue is the societial one. When has a person been punished enough? If I did something wrong when I was growing up, I got punished for it once, not over and over again. One mistake (or action if you do not like the word "mistake" here) should not lead to being punished multiple times. My dad, who is a big law and order, hang the crooks by their thumbs kind of a guy always told me that once someone had been punished for their crime, that should be the end of it. If a convict has served his sentence then we should let him go on and move on with his life and not hold that prior act against him. Once we sin and repent, God forgets and lets us move on. Merle Haggard sang an old song that talked about being a "Branded Man" not allowed to move on with his life after being in jail. Too many times, I have seen someone who has done something wrong not be able to move past that as society would not let them.
I know that there are repercussions for our decisions and Bud Mackey will have many to deal with for many years. I just do not see why not being allowed to play a game for Kentucky is one that he should have to face. These schools are not charities; basketball has turned into a business and they are looking for the best "employees" they can get to make that business profitable. If you look at playing basketball for UK as being a job, then I can see no reason at all for denying him a chance. If, however, you think of playing ball at UK as something holy, a gift from God himself, well then, I guess we can't let this sinner into heaven.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
How much is "good enough"?
Quiz time! Random (alright maybe not so random, just stick with the story) college basketball coach has been with his school for five years. He is now in the midst of his fifth straight winning season, his fourth straight twenty win season and fourth consecutive year of finishing in the top three or four of his conference. The coach is young, energetic, likes to recruit (seems rather decent at it too) and his teams play a fast paced game. Sound like your version of a dream coach?
In the words of Lee Corso of the evil empire (ESPN), "Not so fast!". What if I told you that the school where he was coaching is the University of Kentucky or North Carolina? Now what? Is what I described above enough to keep him? Well, for Kentucky, it wasn't enough to keep a coach that had won a national championship ten years earlier, had gone to an elite eight three years earlier and had won multiple conference championships. Those schools expect to compete for national championships and when the program does not appear to be headed in that direction, they make changes.
But lets change the scenario a little bit since we are obviously not talking about those schools. What if I told you that this coach has yet to win his conference? Now what? For many schools, this is not a huge issue either (just look at teams such as Iowa with former coach Tom Davis or Notre Dame with Mike Brey or many other middle of the pack BCS conference schools). If your college is a football school such as Alabama or Florida State, you really don't care what the basketball coach does, so long as he is does nothing to discredit the school. Twenty win seasons and at-large invites to the NCAA tournament are gravy to those places.
So lets change things up a bit more. Our coach is not at a football power, but is at what some people refer to as a mid-major. In fact, he is at a mid-major with a rich basketball tradition and he has not made it to the big dance in any of his years as a head coach. Now what do you say? The scenario that I put forth is playing out for all of the public to see and for an administration to decide upon very soon at Western Kentucky University.
Coach Darrin Horn is in his fifth year there and, unless his team wins the Sun Belt tournament, as an underdog, he will miss the NCAA tourney again. Horn has had seasons of 15-13 (8-6 conference), 22-9 (9-5), 23-8 (12-2), 22-11 (12-6) and currently is 22-6 (14-2). He has had at least one preseason all Sun Belt Conference player every year of his tenure and currently has one of the best players in both Sun Belt and WKU history in Courtney Lee. Yet, once again, he must win his conference tournament or know that the season will be considered a waste. Yes, a waste. Unfair as it may seem, WKU wants to play for conference championships and win them. People in Bowling Green have not forgetten that in the three years prior to Horn taking over, Western had won three straight conference championships.
So, what do you think about it? Frankly, I think that Horn is (and should be) coaching for his job in the coming days. To me, it defies the mind to believe that this team has not been to the NCAA tournament in the past five years. Call me spoiled if you wish, I like to think that I have high expectations for my alma mater. This is not the Sun Belt Conference of old. Go to the conference website and look at the greatest players in conference history. Barely any have played during the past five years. Darrin Horn has been coaching during a time period when the Sun Belt has gotten progressively weaker and has not been able to win a championship, even though he has had what could turn out to be WKU's alltime leading scorer during this time.
I could spout off on many reasons why I think Horn should be gone, there is no need. The only opinions that matter belong to the administration at Western. Those folks need to decide if twenty wins per year and a decent showing are good enough or not. To me, I say no.
In the words of Lee Corso of the evil empire (ESPN), "Not so fast!". What if I told you that the school where he was coaching is the University of Kentucky or North Carolina? Now what? Is what I described above enough to keep him? Well, for Kentucky, it wasn't enough to keep a coach that had won a national championship ten years earlier, had gone to an elite eight three years earlier and had won multiple conference championships. Those schools expect to compete for national championships and when the program does not appear to be headed in that direction, they make changes.
But lets change the scenario a little bit since we are obviously not talking about those schools. What if I told you that this coach has yet to win his conference? Now what? For many schools, this is not a huge issue either (just look at teams such as Iowa with former coach Tom Davis or Notre Dame with Mike Brey or many other middle of the pack BCS conference schools). If your college is a football school such as Alabama or Florida State, you really don't care what the basketball coach does, so long as he is does nothing to discredit the school. Twenty win seasons and at-large invites to the NCAA tournament are gravy to those places.
So lets change things up a bit more. Our coach is not at a football power, but is at what some people refer to as a mid-major. In fact, he is at a mid-major with a rich basketball tradition and he has not made it to the big dance in any of his years as a head coach. Now what do you say? The scenario that I put forth is playing out for all of the public to see and for an administration to decide upon very soon at Western Kentucky University.
Coach Darrin Horn is in his fifth year there and, unless his team wins the Sun Belt tournament, as an underdog, he will miss the NCAA tourney again. Horn has had seasons of 15-13 (8-6 conference), 22-9 (9-5), 23-8 (12-2), 22-11 (12-6) and currently is 22-6 (14-2). He has had at least one preseason all Sun Belt Conference player every year of his tenure and currently has one of the best players in both Sun Belt and WKU history in Courtney Lee. Yet, once again, he must win his conference tournament or know that the season will be considered a waste. Yes, a waste. Unfair as it may seem, WKU wants to play for conference championships and win them. People in Bowling Green have not forgetten that in the three years prior to Horn taking over, Western had won three straight conference championships.
So, what do you think about it? Frankly, I think that Horn is (and should be) coaching for his job in the coming days. To me, it defies the mind to believe that this team has not been to the NCAA tournament in the past five years. Call me spoiled if you wish, I like to think that I have high expectations for my alma mater. This is not the Sun Belt Conference of old. Go to the conference website and look at the greatest players in conference history. Barely any have played during the past five years. Darrin Horn has been coaching during a time period when the Sun Belt has gotten progressively weaker and has not been able to win a championship, even though he has had what could turn out to be WKU's alltime leading scorer during this time.
I could spout off on many reasons why I think Horn should be gone, there is no need. The only opinions that matter belong to the administration at Western. Those folks need to decide if twenty wins per year and a decent showing are good enough or not. To me, I say no.
The X Factor
Now that we are getting closer to one of the best annual sporting events, March Madness, it is not too early to begin our conversation about it. While most want to talk about "Bubble" teams, I want to discuss the higher seeds and one in particular. Without major shocking developments, the top four seeds will likely be one of these eight teams: Tennessee, Memphis, Duke, UNC, Texas, Kansas, Xavier or UCLA.
Top seeds speak for themselves and have always made it to the Round of 32. However, it is the 2 seeds that may prove exciting this year. The number 2 seed that no one wants to play right now is not Memphis, Duke or Kansas. I submit it is Xavier. The Musketeers have won ten in a row against the best in the A-10 (which is better than you think this year) including at Rhode Island and at Dayton this past week. They have won 16 of their last 17. They do not rely on one player, or just shooting the three. In fact, they go about ten deep and have six players who average scoring in double figures. They have a young coach in Sean Miller who can recruit and who is now being rumored for the IU job. Why not? The last successful Xavier coach, Thad Matta, also left for the Big Ten.
Xavier is a tough out. Don't forget that Xavier always seems to play well in the Tourney. They made the Sweet 16 for the first time back in 1990 and lost to Texas. They made the Elite 8 in 2004, losing to Duke in a great game. Last year they lost at the last second to Ohio State. In fact, they have only lost to a 1 or 2 seed each time in the Tourney since 1993, with the exception of Maryland in 2003 who was a 6 seed.
So, if Xavier is named a 2 seed, think again before you say that Regional bracket is the easiest. They may just end-up being the X Factor in San Antonio.
Top seeds speak for themselves and have always made it to the Round of 32. However, it is the 2 seeds that may prove exciting this year. The number 2 seed that no one wants to play right now is not Memphis, Duke or Kansas. I submit it is Xavier. The Musketeers have won ten in a row against the best in the A-10 (which is better than you think this year) including at Rhode Island and at Dayton this past week. They have won 16 of their last 17. They do not rely on one player, or just shooting the three. In fact, they go about ten deep and have six players who average scoring in double figures. They have a young coach in Sean Miller who can recruit and who is now being rumored for the IU job. Why not? The last successful Xavier coach, Thad Matta, also left for the Big Ten.
Xavier is a tough out. Don't forget that Xavier always seems to play well in the Tourney. They made the Sweet 16 for the first time back in 1990 and lost to Texas. They made the Elite 8 in 2004, losing to Duke in a great game. Last year they lost at the last second to Ohio State. In fact, they have only lost to a 1 or 2 seed each time in the Tourney since 1993, with the exception of Maryland in 2003 who was a 6 seed.
So, if Xavier is named a 2 seed, think again before you say that Regional bracket is the easiest. They may just end-up being the X Factor in San Antonio.
Monday, February 18, 2008
A change in the hierarchy?
Well, I have to say that I am unsure what to think about the new Nascar season at this point. It is not that I believe that some drivers have lost it, or that some new guy has shown up to be a hot rookie that dominates, it is what happened at Daytona yesterday that has me guessing.
Specifically, I am referring to the Dodge cars. Look, the fact that Jeff Gordan and Jimmy Johnson did not do well is not a gigantic surprise. I mean, c'mon, after the last couple of seasons, they had to have some bad luck sometime. No, what I found to be interesting is that six of the top eight cars were Dodges. The other two, Toyota. The Toyotas were not that big of a surprise to me though since they were with the Joe Gibbs team. JGR has good teams, good drivers and good engines, which is what you need to make it in Nascar.
Dodges though, have not really had that for awhile. Oh, I know, some will point at Kurt Busch and say he is a former champion and others will point at Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman and say that they have been major players for quite awhile now. Hell, some will even point at the retired Rusty Wallace. To all of them I say, well, I don't say much of anything. Busch won his championship in a Ford, Wallace never won a championship, Newman hadn't won a race in two years and Kahne was just flat out awful last year. In fact, most Dodges looked bad last year in "Car of Tomorrow" races. Well, the "Car of Tomorrow" is now the car of today and the Dodges (multiple teams by the way) looked strong.
That multiple team thing is what really caught my eye. This was not a situation where Jack Roush got all four of his Fords in the top ten and the next best Ford was in thirtieth place. No, there were at least three different Dodge teams in the top ten yesterday. Now, does this mean that Dodges will have a great year, that Dodges have figured out restrictor plate racing at the big tracks (finally) or that this year's Daytona was a fluke? Me, I am going with this being a good year for Dodge and I will tell you why.
Sometimes you will see a team figure out the proper setup for their cars at a type of track (superspeedway, intermediate, small or roadcourse). When a team figures that out, usually you see a gradual improvement by that team over a season and then great finishes for a couple of years until technology makes their setup obsolete. When this happens, teams do not share that information with other teams. They know that the information is short term and may be their only opportunity to catch a few wins on everyone. Yesterday's race did not fit this scenario. Yesterday we saw a strong performance by the cars of one manufacturer spread out over multiple teams. This means one thing, the cars are better. When the cars are better, their has been a higher level of committment by the manufacturer to improve aerodynamics and engine power across the board.
I am not saying that I believe that Chevy is in for a bad year, nor am I saying that Ford is either (although I do think Ford is in for a long season for other reasons). I simply believe that we will see more top tens this year for Dodge than we have in the past two years combined (big statement and we will see if they can back me up on this). Will that mean a championship for Dodge? I don't know if I will go that far as I think that both Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch in the new Toyotas are going to have a lot to say about that. However, much as I dislike him, I have to acknowledge that Kurt Busch is a heck of a driver when he has strong equipment, and this year he may finally have it.
Specifically, I am referring to the Dodge cars. Look, the fact that Jeff Gordan and Jimmy Johnson did not do well is not a gigantic surprise. I mean, c'mon, after the last couple of seasons, they had to have some bad luck sometime. No, what I found to be interesting is that six of the top eight cars were Dodges. The other two, Toyota. The Toyotas were not that big of a surprise to me though since they were with the Joe Gibbs team. JGR has good teams, good drivers and good engines, which is what you need to make it in Nascar.
Dodges though, have not really had that for awhile. Oh, I know, some will point at Kurt Busch and say he is a former champion and others will point at Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman and say that they have been major players for quite awhile now. Hell, some will even point at the retired Rusty Wallace. To all of them I say, well, I don't say much of anything. Busch won his championship in a Ford, Wallace never won a championship, Newman hadn't won a race in two years and Kahne was just flat out awful last year. In fact, most Dodges looked bad last year in "Car of Tomorrow" races. Well, the "Car of Tomorrow" is now the car of today and the Dodges (multiple teams by the way) looked strong.
That multiple team thing is what really caught my eye. This was not a situation where Jack Roush got all four of his Fords in the top ten and the next best Ford was in thirtieth place. No, there were at least three different Dodge teams in the top ten yesterday. Now, does this mean that Dodges will have a great year, that Dodges have figured out restrictor plate racing at the big tracks (finally) or that this year's Daytona was a fluke? Me, I am going with this being a good year for Dodge and I will tell you why.
Sometimes you will see a team figure out the proper setup for their cars at a type of track (superspeedway, intermediate, small or roadcourse). When a team figures that out, usually you see a gradual improvement by that team over a season and then great finishes for a couple of years until technology makes their setup obsolete. When this happens, teams do not share that information with other teams. They know that the information is short term and may be their only opportunity to catch a few wins on everyone. Yesterday's race did not fit this scenario. Yesterday we saw a strong performance by the cars of one manufacturer spread out over multiple teams. This means one thing, the cars are better. When the cars are better, their has been a higher level of committment by the manufacturer to improve aerodynamics and engine power across the board.
I am not saying that I believe that Chevy is in for a bad year, nor am I saying that Ford is either (although I do think Ford is in for a long season for other reasons). I simply believe that we will see more top tens this year for Dodge than we have in the past two years combined (big statement and we will see if they can back me up on this). Will that mean a championship for Dodge? I don't know if I will go that far as I think that both Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch in the new Toyotas are going to have a lot to say about that. However, much as I dislike him, I have to acknowledge that Kurt Busch is a heck of a driver when he has strong equipment, and this year he may finally have it.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Hoosier daddy now?
Well, one could say that the University of Indiana asked for this. I mean, after all, when they hired Kelvin Sampson to be their head coach he was having troubles with a NCAA investigation about impermissible phone calls. Frankly, if you are looking for a new girlfriend that won't cheat on you, you do not start by attempting to get one to cheat on her current man to be with you.
Now the Indiana faithful have to determine what truly matters to them. Do they want the possible tournament wins that this team and coach could bring them or do they want to disassociate themselves from a man that is now deemed to be a massive cheater? The simple way to handle this would be to suspend Sampson pending the results of their own internal investigation. However, the simple way is usually never taken when big money is on the line. Do not forget that each round of the NCAA tournament is worth more than one quarter of a million dollars to the advancing school in pure revenue alone. The administration at Indiana may simply keep Sampson and say to the world, "Innocent until proven guilty". To do this however, when their own preliminary investigation from a few months ago showed that he had violatedNCAA rules, would show them to be hypocritical from the world view that most of their fans and supporters have taken for years.
"Hypocritical?" you ask. Yes, hypocritical I say. I have heard what the fans of the red nation have said about Illinois when Lou Henson was coach. I have seen the sneers from numerous hoosiers when looking at Michigan and its fab five. I have felt the vitriol directed toward the southern neighbors in Kentucky for their heathen cheating ways. Now that the birds have come home to roost, I am quite interested in seeing what happens and how this is handled. From the way things stand now, it appears that what to do is not so easy to decide when you have a top 15 team and your best players will be gone at the end of the season. Yes, I am quite interested in seeing what happens at Indiana.
Now the Indiana faithful have to determine what truly matters to them. Do they want the possible tournament wins that this team and coach could bring them or do they want to disassociate themselves from a man that is now deemed to be a massive cheater? The simple way to handle this would be to suspend Sampson pending the results of their own internal investigation. However, the simple way is usually never taken when big money is on the line. Do not forget that each round of the NCAA tournament is worth more than one quarter of a million dollars to the advancing school in pure revenue alone. The administration at Indiana may simply keep Sampson and say to the world, "Innocent until proven guilty". To do this however, when their own preliminary investigation from a few months ago showed that he had violatedNCAA rules, would show them to be hypocritical from the world view that most of their fans and supporters have taken for years.
"Hypocritical?" you ask. Yes, hypocritical I say. I have heard what the fans of the red nation have said about Illinois when Lou Henson was coach. I have seen the sneers from numerous hoosiers when looking at Michigan and its fab five. I have felt the vitriol directed toward the southern neighbors in Kentucky for their heathen cheating ways. Now that the birds have come home to roost, I am quite interested in seeing what happens and how this is handled. From the way things stand now, it appears that what to do is not so easy to decide when you have a top 15 team and your best players will be gone at the end of the season. Yes, I am quite interested in seeing what happens at Indiana.
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