Louisville Lessons and Looking Ahead

Purdue's team in '12-'13 was tough to watch for a myriad of reasons.  It's funny, when you wade into the murky waters of message boards and just listen (read) you'll hear Purdue fans admonish others for not grinning and bearing it while ignoring the awful brand of basketball our Boilers played this season. You'll hear others, on the opposite end of the spectrum, act as if the world has come to an end because of Purdue's sub-par, fundamentally-unsound season.

I think the BS staff falls into the middle.  We like good basketball...and like most Purdue fans, we really like good defense, and there's there's the rub.  Purdue's defense was generally bad this season...granted there were a few flashes of the old Purdue, but those flashes were fleeting at best.

Atop of that, Purdue's offense was painful to watch. Watching back-to-back games, as many of us did this March showed just how bad Purdue was on offense.  My wife noted when watching IU and Michigan play, that it looked like those two teams played a different sport than did Purdue this year...and really, they did.  They were fast, spread the floor out and had the option to score from about anywhere. Good shooting creates space...shooters like Hulls and Stauskas force defenses to respect a team to 25 feet...and athletes like Oladipo and Hardaway slash teams and push the pace.  Purdue looked slow and unathletic for stretches of the season while they made fewer three pointers than any Purdue team in the last 25 seasons.  Not a good combo.

Now, let's contrast this with the number one overall seed of the tournament, Louisville.

They play stifling defense that mentally and physically wears out opponents.  They have two very experienced guards in Siva and Smith that make good decisions, can score and make their teammates better...and they are experienced as a team.  One Freshman on the Cardinals played 16.5 minutes...two others played around 3 minutes/game.  With experience comes understanding of a system...and this is one of Louisville's biggest advantages- the players buy in to the system and play hard.  But, that's not why Louisville is great, in my opinion...They're great because of their chemistry, and I'd argue that their chemistry is great because of great leadership.

I posted a video on Twitter of Kevin Ware's interview yesterday in which he detailed what happened just after the gruesome break to his leg. He said he looked at Pitino, who was just feet away...and the coach looked sickened. He said that he thought he had only hurt his ankle...but when he looked down, saw something completely different.

Some of his teammates reacted in horror; I would have acted like them. A few of them threw up...but a couple of the upper classman came and just started talking to him.  And most importantly, Ware acted selflessly.

When he saw that he had a compound fracture, he knew the injury could hurt the team...but instead, the Sophomore said he quickly tried to change the focus with his teammates. He told them he'd be alright and they needed to go out and win the game.  That might seem like a big deal or may just seem like athlete speak...but I think it's indicative of Louisville's focus as a team.  This is why they're great.

When you look at Louisville's roster on paper, you don't see horses like Kentucky, Duke or North Carolina. They're actually pretty similar to UM and IU; the three and four star guys do the lion's share of the work and they all know their role.  But, everything with Louisville is clicking right now (much like Michigan, actually).  And one more thing, Louisville has Pitino at the helm; that doesn't hurt.

Make now mistake, I'm no fan of Pitino. I think he's nearly-impossible to like and root for because of his scandalous past and the fact that he's actually been found guilty of major NCAA violations...once a cheater, always a cheater. But it's tough to deny how good of an in-game coach he is...and his tournament record is crazy good.

Now let's flip back to the reason you come to this site- what's this have to do with Purdue? Well, other programs' successes as well as Purdue's failures should both teach us a lot.

Above, I talked about how Louisville doesn't have to rely on Freshman for many minutes...that surely wasn't the case this season for Purdue.  Purdue had Freshmen that averaged 19, 23 and 31 minutes...that's a lot to ask of guys in their first year at this level.  31 minutes specifically from a Freshman point guard is Herculean. Relying heavily on Freshman and having a Freshman point guard generally leads to inconsistency, inability to win close games down the stretch and an inability to compete with physically and mentally mature teams...things we saw from this Purdue team this year.  This chart shows Purdue's inconsistency.

College Basketball Stats

Louisville's leadership, cohesiveness, talent and focus on a common goal are obvious, when you watch them play...in the same way, Purdue's issues were obvious.  There is hope for Purdue's future, in my opinion, but it's tempered.

Ryne Smith talked to us on the Handsome Hour a few weeks ago about the importance of losing a leader like Rob Hummel...and sadly for Purdue, I'm not sure if I see another leader like that on the roster right now; leadership is something some guys just have, but very few guys lead teams as Freshman or Sophomores. Next year, the team will be TJohn's.  Not a bad guy to have as the leader...but leaders need to be consistent and set a precedent of doing things the right way all the time. Johnson is a capable scorer and solid defender, at times.  In order for Purdue to make a huge jump next season, it'll take TJohn making a quantum leap forward in his consistency.

Next, leaders need good followers...this is something Purdue might do better in '14, simply because so many of the key contributors are a year older. Players like RonJohn, RayDay and Hammons are the key here. If these three guys can develop on the off-season, Purdue can be solid...and Purdue can get 10-15 minutes of solid contribution from two of the incoming Freshman as well as Simpson, the rotation will be better than what we saw this season.

The biggest questions about next years team though are still yet to have been answered. GBI has all but assured Purdue fans that there will be multiple transfers this off-season.  Will it be two or three players and which ones will it be? A few seasons ago when Lutz, Vandervieren, Uchendu, Watt, Spates and Minnoy all transferred in a two year period...that's a ton of attrition.  But, none of the guys were fitting, for one reason or another. It's pretty clear that there were a few square pegs in round holes this season...some of that is because of youth, but some of it isn't.

Watching Louisville in March and IU in February this season, you could see two teams that had a bunch of guys with their focus in the right place.  Until Purdue has a bunch of like-minded guys, success will be limited.  That's a simple fact.

Regardless of whom (if anyone) decides to leave in the next few weeks, Painter will have his work cut out for him in the off-season.  I've heard as many as five different names rumored to be looking to find greener pastures next fall.  The problem with these rumors is I can only find a solid root on one of those (Marcius' request for release) but think a few of the others seem to be logical based on what I saw with my own two eyes during games this season in Mackey.  My hope is that everyone returns with a better attitude...but if guys aren't willing to work, they should head elsewhere; it'd be better for all parties.

Back to Coach Painter for a minute. I've heard some say that 2013-2014 is a make-or-break season for him.  The problem with this idea is no one really knows what the breaking point is in this equation.  I think another sub .500 season would be unacceptable; I actually thought this team should have been better than .500 in '12/'13.  What I believe is a coach with his resume and his contract simply should not average 15 losses a season (which he has over the last two years).  But most-importantly, I'm confident that next season will be much different.  I do know that many of you who visit this site disagree with me on this opinion.  I guess we can debate this until next fall.

Does Any of this matter in 2014?
Last night, Iowa got crushed in the championship of the NIT by Baylor. Unlike Penn State's fanbase a few seasons ago, Iowa fans didn't seem to catch NIT fever...but I think they thought the NIT was a positive for the team (at least until last night).

The question often asked by fans is how does a blowout loss in the NIT championship affect the team the next year? Or how does a defeat at the hands of might Santa Clara at home in the CBI affect a team the following season?  Would Iowa had been better had they edged into the dance and lost in the first round? Would Purdue had been better had they not been invited to the CBI?

The truth is, there's no formula.  Some NIT teams come back stronger the next season, others return to the NIT...some CBI stay mired in mediocrity, others are ranked next year.

Painter wanted the team to play because he thinks basketball teams should play basketball and want to play basketball. As it turns out, many of Purdue's players looked like they didn't want to be there.

What really matters for Purdue as they prepare for next season is if these guys are competitors, if they want to play with the guys who are their teammates and if they buy in to the coach's philosophy.

Screw Conference Loyalty, Everyman for Himself.
As UM and Wisconsin lose three starters and IU potentially loses four, Purdue and Iowa will only lose one player in their 8-man rotation.  The problem is, the same can be said for MSU and aOSU.  The B1G will still be the best-coached conference in the nation in 2014 in spite of two rookie coaches taking over at Minny and Northwestern.  It gets no easier for our Boilers in '14 as the conference will once again be the best in the nation.

Purdue Leadership Addresses Rule-Breaking

"People that cheat think about it. People that don't, don't." -- Matt Painter

For your Friday reading pleasure, take a look at this interesting article wherein Morgan Burke, Matt Painter and Danny Hope all discuss the topic of cheating in college sports. Yes, I know it's very hard to know what all of your players are doing, Tressel apologists. We'll give you that.

However, once you become aware of something, that's when you take action.

I know there is "fallout" and the Buckeyes will be punished by the NCAA (though how hard the NCAA will "punish" one of their cash cows remains to be seen). But it doesn't change the fact that they have dominated recently and been the face of the conference. And no, improper benefits and rules violations did not make them win more games.  These guys weren't -- to our knowledge -- juicing or anything like that. So the short-sighted among us may say, well, whatever, they still won it on the field/court.

However, when you become well known as a school that will "play ball,' then the scales tip in your favor on a more grand scale. When you're the SEC school of the Big Ten, guys know that and know that the rules will not apply to them there. And not only that, since the rest of the conference isn't the SEC, well, hell! Winning will be even easier when the other schools are sticking to the rules and suspending guys for even minor team rules violations.

As more and more of the OSU mess has unraveled, the more irritated longtime Purdue backers have become. Witness this rant from B-Dowd's brother the other day:

It's impossible to compete against this. These stories explain why Purdue can only beat the OSUs of the world once every six years--and make what Purdue (and other schools that play by the rules) have accomplished--in years like 1977-1980, 1984, 1997-2000, 2003-2004--truly impressive.

 

I'm not kidding when I say this: if I were Purdue's president I would formally propose the expulsion of Ohio State from the Big Ten--or at least the suspension of its football program for four years. Another option would be to take away all of Ohio State's conference home games. This is the only kind of punishment that will force the necessary transformation of the entire Ohio State culture. This problem is plainly not limited to Tressel and Pryor. It is systemic, and it's unworthy of the Big Ten. At the very least, it's unworthy of Purdue.

 

If the Big Ten presidents didn't go for this--and I bet at least half of them would support it--I would notify the conference that Purdue will no longer play at Ohio Stadium. That probably wouldn't mean much to OSU--given that there's not much of a rivalry there--but at least Purdue wouldn't be directly contributing to the disease.

 

Obviously, none of those strict punishments will ever happen -- nothing even close. However, he's right about a couple of things. One, the problem is systemic and not exclusive to a couple of "bad apples." And two, short of something drastic, the culture will not change in Columbus.

Would You Accept Some Cheating?

For some reason, I love that Craig James was part of
the dirtiest program ever.

I watched the 30 for 30 film Pony Excess last night on ESPN and it got me to thinking.... how many of us out there would accept some level of cheating if it meant the kind of on-field success SMU was having and would have likely continued to have?

They went 41-5-1 over four seasons from '81-'84. That's roughly 10-1 per season for four years. What would you accept for that? Anything? Would you be okay with the rules of recruiting being bent? Would you be willing to look the other way as an alum/student/fan?

Or are you okay with the current state of things, wherein Purdue has a good, relevant, nationally significant presence every 25-35 years?

I want to see Purdue football win again. They were so close, as we've documented here before, in 2004. Top 5 in the country, GameDay in town, leading the game that night, likely to move to about #3, etc. But then it all fell apart and the program has truly never been the same. And that 2004 team was Joe Tiller's best chance and he knew it. It was a seven year buildup of recruiting, coaching, scheduling, etc.... it was all falling into place -- once. And then it didn't. Because the window for a program like Purdue is just that small, especially when you're not cheating or bending the rules.

But what if Purdue could have a run of success like SMU did? Let's also recognize the fact that no matter how bad it gets, the NCAA would never implement the death penalty again on a program. As the movie detailed, that sanction detonated the Southwest Conference and affected other teams/programs important to the NCAA. And let's also keep in mind that there's always the defense of "Hey, everybody else is doing it."

I think in the end, I would not be okay with it, because then we as Boilermakers would be no better than the cheaters as USC or other schools that haven't been publicly outed yet. As one of the guys interviewed in Pony Excess said, "Show me a school that wins a lot and I'll show you a program that cheats."

I like to think it's not that simple but, sadly, it probably is.

Team USA Got Rooked

If you didn't see it, this photo -- while good -- still doesn't do it justice. The level of egregious screw-up is hard to define, but I'll try. The USA came back from an 0-2 hole (which, in soccer, is pretty damn impressive) and then pressed for the equalizer. On a free kick, the US set up for the attack and ultimately scored, despite at least two blatant fouls by Slovenia. In the photo above, you can see USA's Bradley being wrapped up in a bear hug -- he was then called offsides. Those aren't his arms -- those are the arms of the Slovenian behind him.

Despite horrendous cheating, the USA still managed to score. But since cheating wasn't enough, the official called the US offsides (players cannot be behind the opposing defense without the ball), which they clearly were not to the naked eye....and the replay easily confirmed that.

John Harkes, calling the game, said "That should have either been a USA goal or a foul on Slovenia." Neither happened, of course.

Alexei Lalas, back on the ESPN set, said "We don't want to dwell on it, but that was a disgrace."

I know the rest of the world wants to see the US lose -- especially at soccer. But this is ridiculous.

Hopefully the inspired comeback and motivated play will carry over to their final group game against Algeria, who they must beat.

[UPDATE: Just read that the official would not elaborate on what the call was, only to say that it was not offsides. Well, yeah, we all know it wasn't offsides, jackhole.]

Jeer, Jeer, For Old Notre Dame

The young lady pictured here plays for the Notre Dame ladies golf team. She's a senior, her name is Annie Brophy and since Brophy rhymes with "trophy," she must have felt entitled to one.

I don't know what went on in her blonde head, but Annie decided to lie about her score on the front nine this past weekend, saying she carded a 30 with five birdies and an eagle.

The news story is still hazy, in my opinion, but somehow people got wise to the fact that this seemed a bit off. Backbedaling furiously on the back nine, Brophy apparently lied again and claimed "quadruple-bogey/triple-bogey/bogey on Nos. 10-12."

Officials disqualified her for "unsportsmanlike conduct," and:

“She thought she was being funny,” said Cross, who believes the Irish senior was unaware of the impact her dishonesty had on the rest of the field and left the course embarrassed.

Maybe she was just being funky?

Seriously, though, I don't get how lying and cheating is funny. When I play my buddies on the weekend, I get pissed if someone seems to be bending the rules. I also find it hard to believe a senior in college who has presumably played golf for the majority of her life doesn't understand the impact dishonesty has on the game. Golf is one of those few games where your honesty is of paramount importance.

As my dad once said to me, if you cheat at golf, you cheat at life.

Slap on the Wrist coming for Wolverines?

It's being reported that Rodriguez & Co. might have been bending the rules this summer...While I'm not naive-enough to believe anything serious would come to one of the NCAA cash cows, I do believe there might be some sort of public humiliation in the town square for UM...We'll see. Regardless, this isn't good news for the snakeoil salesman.

Addendum: Just watched the SC highlights of the presser- looks like Rodriguez is near the breaking point....and this seems like something that is an easy out for UM's athletic department if UM doesn't get double-digit wins. I think there will be much more from this story.

(Thanks to Shawn and Boilerbuzztap for the heads up)

Oh A-Rod

If you're a regular reader, then you know I'm a Yankee loyalist. I grew up there and I doubt I'll ever be able to fully change allegiences. But don't think there aren't times when I truly don't like being a Yankees fan. Like when potentially the greatest player ever turns out to have cheated.

I have no way to defend A-Rod, nor do I wish to.

Do I think that the fact that his name came out is kind of ridiculous? Absolutely. If your union tells you what you're doing is 100% confidential and baseball even agrees that nothing gets done with those sample except to decide whether they should actually think about official testing and penalties, well, then this should have never come out. The union, in fact, had the opportunity and the right to collect the samples and data afterwards and destroy it all. And they obviously should have, but they failed to do that. And in turn, they failed their players -- the people they're supposed to fight for in all aspects. And so if I were A-Rod, I would sue the shit out of the union.

But back to reality. A-Rod cheated. At least once that we know of, which of course means it was more than that. I'm comfortable saying it was at least 1-2 seasons of cheating. Maybe it was more, but that's all I'm comfortable saying for now. And for that, well, what can you do? He took these things when they were not banned in baseball and there were no penalties (or testing) in place. So, no, nothing should be done to him unless he fails one now.

However, this has ruined his legacy. He will forever be known as a cheater, just as Bonds was. And maybe even more so, since Bonds never has failed an official drug test. A-Rod has.

I heard some very good points made by Michael Kay, the Yankees radio voice, this morning. The Yankees just signed ARod last offseason to a 10-year, $300M extension. So there's 9 years and $270M left on it. And he had that kind of value to them because he was going to be the guy who broke all the career home run records. He was going to be the guy who, eventually, everyone loved because he has that great smile and was doing things clean. He was going to erase Barry Bonds from the record books and he was going to do it in a Yankee uniform and in the new Yankee Stadium. And maybe win a few titles along the way.

Now, no matter what happens, A-Rod does not hold that value to the Yankees. Sure, he's still a great player -- let's not even debate that -- but he's no longer going to be able to be the poster boy for "doing it the right way." Ever.

If the Yankees win, say, three more World Series titles in his remaining nine years in New York, then they're probably getting worthwhile value from A-Rod. Otherwise, he's just an expensive reminder of the most embarrassing time in Major League Baseball.

Do Me a favor, oh loyal reader...

I have heard Bill Belichick enjoys videotapes and all of the trappings that come with video. Please do me a favor, send Bill "All Class" Belichick a tape of tonight's game. You can do so at:

Bill Belichick
Head Coach
c/o New England Patriots
One Patriot Place
Foxborough, MA 02035

Fill up that cheating curmudgeon's mail box!

A Smattering of Super Bowl Babble and a Thought on Plagarism

Rodney Harrison (pictured), noted cheater and performance-enhancing drug abuser, spoke earlier this week about his team's performance against the Giants on December 30. Specifically, he talked about the defense, of which he is a part.

I don't have the exact quotes here because I saw him talking about it on SportsCenter, but his general feeling was that he "doesn't want to take anything away from the Giants because they played a good game..." oooh, boy, here we go... "but, we did not play well that day. In fact, that was the worst we played all year."

I see. This reminds me of one of the many times when Fat Charlie used some kind of backhanded comments in his typically classy way and Boilerdowd emailed me and said, "He reminds me of someone who apologizes to you for your reaction, not for his action: 'I'm sorry you were upset after I called your sister a whore....furthermore, I'm sorry she has to dress like a prostitute.'"

That's kind of like Rodney Harrison right now. Yeah, he doesn't want to take anything away from the Giants, but, well, he's going to anyway. We'll see, Rodney. I have no doubt the Pats are the better team, but with a 16-0 record on the line and not a single person on the team suggesting they didn't care about that game, you guys had no reason not to bring your A-game. How about admitting that maybe the Giants game-planned well. Not well enough to win, we all remember, but pretty damn well.

-----------------------------------------

Following up on my post from earlier in the week about classy Boston-based writer Jessica Heslam, her commentary made its way around the 'net, and one of the best follow-ups is over at Joe Sports Fan where they post this picture, featuring a classy Boston fan -- most likely taking a break from reading Wine Spectator -- showing off his love for Purdue alum Rosie Colvin. Only he has Colvin's name spelled wrong. Maybe he has a properly spelled one in his "sturdy" Volvo.

-----------------------------------------

One final note in this post, and maybe it deserves to be its own post, I don't know.... but earlier this week, the fine gents over at Black Heart Gold Pants fired a shot across the bow of another blog, Off The Tracks. Now, I'm not here to defend OTT because it's a Purdue blog -- or even to "defend" it at all. We know Travis a little bit and he's always got thoughts on what's going on at Purdue, in the Big Ten and even across the country. We often don't agree with his takes but that's what makes for healthy debate. Plus, we're jerks anyway.

However, BHGP actually accused OTT of plagarism for this post about the Big Ten basketball programs and Travis' comparison to Simpsons characters.

All I want to say about this is that, as a writer, there is nothing worse that I could be accused of than plagarism. I mean, nothing. If I was accused of a sexual relationship with Tim, it wouldn't even compare. Wait, maybe that's a bad example -- Tim is rather handsome.

But you know what I mean. Again, I'm not legitimizing BHGP's claim nor am I saying they're way off base. But I will say that there's a lot of content out there and the ideas can sometimes be similar and, well, if you think someone is plagarizing, the best way to handle it is probably to contact them directly and give them the chance to a) explain themselves, or b) remove, correct or credit the content in question. I think publicly calling out someone like that is a bit extreme, especially when the supposed plagarizing is at least questionable.

Travis has answered the issue on his site and I think he does a good job, but there's a clear hurt in what he wrote -- which is justified -- and I can't blame him. In addition, if this goes even a step further, it could get rather ugly and we're all supposed to kind of be friends (sort of?) around here.

So let's play nice, boys, and keep the accusations to "your team sucks."

THIS JUST IN -- I'M A PUTZ: As always, I'm an imbecile. I now join the ranks of those who were fooled by BHGP. They were actually joking in their shot at OTT, as evidenced by this post... in which THEY point out that they aren't plagarizers for the same exact reasons OTT isn't. Yes, I'm a moron. I'm saying it here so you don't have to. But you can anyway.

Let me get this straight, Roger...

So, now Clemens admits that he actually did have some injections in the buttocks (not from Andy Pettite), but absolutely not performance enhancers.

Here's his story (and he might stick to it)...He had injections of Lidocaine and vitamin B12...Why would he do that, here's why (clinically). He would have a Lidocaine injection for numbing of areas near the skin. Bruises and contusions might call for a lidocaiine injection. B12, on the other hand, is injected to aid the user in weight loss.

So, what were Rocket's injuries during the period when he played for Toronto? He had a couple that kept him out of the rotation- pulled muscles in his ribs and a nagging hamstring. Perhaps these injuries kept him off of his cardio schedule, so his weight became an issue, but Lidocaine? I dunno...

You be the judge, does this add up?

That's it, that's the list. (Mitchell Report Preview)

304 pages of dirty secrets that MLB doesn't want the world to know about is set to become public knowledge on Thursday. From what I hear this will be the biggest story in sports, possibly in the past 25 years. I don't know how we can confirm the size of this story, I guess each will have to judge for himself.

According to early reports 60-or-so names will be on the report of players that are known to have used performance enhancers. I'm not sure if that means all will be current players; we will all know at around 2:00 p.m. Eastern, Thursday afternoon.

I originally was going to make a list of players I thought would definitely be on the list...My list got long quickly. So, I'm going to make a list of players who I believe are not on the list:

David Wells
Bartolo Colon
C. C. Sebathia
David Eckstein
Ichiro Suzuki
Julio Lugo
Chris Britton
Joba Chamberlain
Derek Jeter
Ryan Theriot
Ken Griffey
Aaron Miles
Omar Vizauel
Dave Roberts
Curt Schilling

Uh-Oh: Could the Golden Boys Have Cheated, Too?

Looks like the Pats aren't the only ones who might be cheaters in the NFL. The feel-good Colts might also be to blame.

Just like in baseball and auto racing, where the old adage goes, "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'," it looks like the Colts are the latest to get called out for trying something that's a bit below-board.

Whether or not there's truth to it remains to be seen, but the Colts right now stand accused of piping in extra crowd noise for Sunday's showdown with the Patriots.

What's interesting to me is why a team would think this would really help. This is what makes me think this is either unlikely to be true or, if it is true, is the product of someone aside from the football operations (i.e., the sound team at the Hoosier/RCA/Whatever Dome). I mean, isn't it likely the Pats have played in pretty loud places before?

Apparently, league officials were tipped off when the crowd noise got very loud in the dome.

"This game took place in Indianapolis," said Roger Godell in a prepared statement, "and everybody knows the Indiana crowds never really get loud so we knew something was amiss."*

Seriously, though, I think this is pretty funny and just adds to the brewing hate between these teams and fan bases.

*Statement may be fabricated -- please don't have me kneecapped, Commissioner Goodell.

Hey, We Don't Call Him "Coach Sanctions" For Nothing...

Bloomington, IN-
Surprising no one outside of Bloomington & Martinsville, Coach Kelvin Sanctions has once again violated NCAA regulations. This time, IU tells the NCAA, "No need to worry about it, we're handling it."

Sampson's statement was as follows:
" I am the leader of this program. The responsibility lies with me as far as NCAA rules. We have had some issues as far as being 100% compliant on the telephone rule. I agree with Rick Greenspan about the penalties. Our goal is to be 100% compliant. We did a good job in almost every area except the telephone rule. As we move forward, we are dedicating to doing this thing the right way, to be 100% compliant as go on and we look forward to that. "

Is that not the best apology you've ever heard? My favorite part is, " We did a good job in ALMOST every area except the telephone rule." Huh, so there are other violations we don't know about...Sweet! Can't wait to hear about them...and we will.

Here's the thing, IU fan- No one has ever doubted that Coach Sanctions is a winner...But at what cost? You knew when you made your deal with the devil, that he broke the rules, but you all jumped on board, hook, line and Crimson Sinker. Do not be surprised when these small violations turn into something much more serious. It's probably already happened, but Kelvin just hasn't gotten caught. He will, it's just a matter of time.

No Death Penalty?!?!

Purdue's women's basketball team (yeah, I know, it was news to me that they had one too) got some pretty bad news late Wednesday from the NCAA Rules Committee. Ex-Coach Katrina Merriweather was found to be guilty of both writing papers for an ex-player as well as making illegal recruting phone calls.

These violations were handled internally with the suspension of both player and coach when they occurred a few years back, but the NCAA didn't think that was enough punishment. So, Brand's people handed down a loss of 2 schollies for the coming year as well as some sort of probation...When you look at it, it's really not a big deal. BUT, the NCAA called the violations "Major."

I don't really care about the NCAA punishing the women's program. But I care about a couple of things in this story- here they are:

First, I'd like to never see a Women's basketball game again past High School. I find the game tough to watch and most of the women that play it tough to look at. Granted, Nicki Taggart was smokin' hot (played for the Boilers in '93-'94), and one of Purdue's PFs from the early mid 90s called me "baby" on more than one occasion while I worked in the cafeteria in Cary Quad (it was thrilling and scary at the same time)...So not all is completely lost. But, if Purdue never would have had a team, we wouldn't be having these problems right now.

Second, if we have to have a team, let's make sure the ladies aren't embarrassing the university. Cheating of any kind while representing my alma mater is bothersome, academic cheating is deplorable. Is it really worth risking your degree/job for women's basketball?

Lastly, if we're going to have women's basketball, and Purdue's team is going to break rules, and the NCAA is going to investigate and find the Lady Boilers guilty, they need to be even handed. The NCAA was clearly trying to make a big deal out of this when we know as a fact that bigger programs in other sports have made much larger violations without the NCAA squawking so loudly about it.

tO$U paid players, gave them goods and bent academic rules for Maurice Clarett and Troy Smith (and others). What happened? Clarett's case was viewed as isolated and he was thrown under the bus...good thing for them he proved to be a crazy person shortly after so they didn't look so bad. And Troy Smith was briefly suspended, the AD stepped down and it all went away. Why? Because programs like the Buckeyes help pay for Title IX and other non-profit garbage that needs to be funded by the NCAA. If they kill the cash cow, they kill the philanthropic movement and Miles Brand would have to actually earn his money outside of the scholastic-athletic arena. I get that...But double standards stink.