February 22, 2003
A rebuttal
First, some old business, Charles Kuffner took me to task for my argument last week that the current Michigan basketball team did not deserve the self-imposed sanctions against them:
The problem that I have with this line of argument is that it basically means you have to catch and punish offenders the same year that they sin, otherwise you are perforce punishing at least some kids who weren't there when the infractions occurred. In my opinion, NCAA sanctions for violations are designed to punish the school and its fans. It's regrettable that innocent players are also affected, but that can't be helped. Perhaps in cases like that the NCAA should allow players to transfer and play immediately, without having to sit out a year. That would not only give them an option, it would be an extra incentive to not cheat. Heck, let 'em transfer to any school that has been free of NCAA violations for at least five years, even if that puts the new school over the scholarship limit for that year. If that means Michigan has to scrounge for walkons or forfeit games because they don't have enough players, so be it. That would be an incentive to keep your nose clean.
...The best thing to happen would be for an Ed Martin's fellow fatcat alums to forever shun him for having cost their team an unacceptable loss of scholarships, money, players, postseason appearances, and prestige.
Where we disagree, I believe, is on the notion of whether there should be a statute of limitations on NCAA sanctions. It is perfectly reasonable for the NCAA to punish a program for violations that occurred before anyone on the current team was at the university; since the regulations in question are geared towards maintaining competitive balance for the schools, a program that cheats will develop advantages in the area of recruiting, which affects the decisions of student-athletes to attend their chosen schools. In the Ed Martin investigation, it should be relevant that Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock were receiving "gratuities", since the school's success during their careers at Michigan directly impacts whether subsequent players, such as Lavelle Blanchard, would decide to go there.
The problem, though, is that Michigan has already been punished for those crimes; the school was on probation several years ago, and Steve Fisher, the coach at the time, was let go. The current investigation, as well as the criminal prosecution of Chris Webber, concerns events that took place going back to 1988. Webber himself left the school in 1993. While it may be appropriate to discredit the accomplishments of the Fab Five teams for what Webber allegedly received from Martin (and the school did forfeit the wins of that team, as well as striking their accomplishments from the record books), it is unfair to punish an individual today for the crimes of someone else a decade ago, when that person has received no advantage from those acts.
Whether athletes should be given an out if their school is placed on probation is a good question. If the player in question is himself a party to the misdeeds, than I don't believe he should be treated as a victim. For example, several years ago, Jelani Gardner attempted to blackmail California into allowing him to immediately transfer to another school, where he could presumably start. When the school refused, his father released an audiotape he had made of the coach at that time, Todd Bozeman, acceding to certain financial demands for his son, then the school went on probation. Obviously, this is an exception, and I believe that most athletes should be given an immediate release.
As Mr. Kuffner correctly pointed out, the real villain in all this was Ed Martin. Unfortunately, his friends and colleagues can't ostracize him anymore, since he's dead; it would be like UCLA fans giving the silent treatment today to Sam Gilbert.
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» Crime and punishment, NCAA-style, take 2 from Off the Kuff
Steve Smith has a followup post to his obituary of crooked Michigan booster Ed Martin, which I had commented on [Read More]
Tracked on February 25, 2003 02:45 PM
The "real villains" are those University of Michigan players who accepted gifts and gratuities from Ed Martin.
Posted by:
at February 24, 2003 04:59 PM
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