Next to Her
Sep. 28th, 2017 11:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tracker7I post about baseball quite a bit, and a little bit about football. I very rarely discuss basketball for the simple reason that I just really don't like it. Today, though, I feel the need.
Tuesday morning (9/26), news started breaking about arrests stemming from a big-time Federal investigation into bribery and other malfeasance at four big schools. The report described further violations at some unnamed schools, and a little bit of examination showed one of them to be UofL - "research university in Kentucky," enrollment numbers, and a particular player's sudden commitment to joining the program, despite no recruitment of the kid. A hammer came down.
There are two prominent names here - Tom Jurich and Rick Pitino. Jurich is the school's athletic director, and is the person most responsible for UofL's rise to national prominence. He cut a deal with ESPN early in his tenure, bringing in a lot of money, money that became first-rate facilities for soccer, lacrosse, baseball and softball, swimming/diving, and a host of other sports. Responsible for the good comes with responsibility for the bad, though. Which brings us to the bad - men's basketball coach Pitino. Pitino's always had a sketchy reputation, and recently, there have been two serious incidents. A few years ago, there was a maybe-rape that got turned into an extortion case. More recently, a story of prostitutes provided to players and recruits started coming to light. Pitino claimed ignorance, but no one really bought it. So, now this latest scandal, and he's again played the "I had no knowledge" card. It seems that UofL's administration has had enough. Yesterday, the interim University President, Greg Postel, had private meetings with both Jurich and Pitino, and effectively fired both of them. Officially, Jurich is suspended with pay, Pitino suspended without, but this is a formality while the board of trustees examines the contracts of both men to protect the University against wrongful termination suits.
I'm conflicted here. The going story is that Jurich refused to fire Pitino, and I'll buy it - Jurich has a reputation for intense loyalty. I'm glad to see Pitino go - the rest of Cardinal athletics is run without scandal or shame. Even Bobby Petrino seems to have cleaned up his act, writing a real redemption story. Jurich has been an incredible boon to UofL, and his departure is going to sting. If Pitino is to be held responsible for what his staff did, then Jurich has to be, too.
This is tough. UofL's taken a lot of hits in recent years, with attacks by the state's idiot Governor, corruption in the previous President's office, and now this. Postel looks to be focused on repairing the school's reputation as much as possible during his tenure - he's still the Interim President, after all - and he is pretty popular among the University faculty and staff.
--
So, yeah, baseball. The Dodgers have the NL West championship, and home field throughout the NL playoffs. Three games left in the regular season; the Dodgers play at the Rockies to close things out. The Rockies are the probable second wild card team. Again, I'm conflicted. I want the Dodgers to have the best possible record, of course, but it won't affect standings now, and wins by the Rockies finish off St. Louis' post-season chances more quickly.
Tuesday morning (9/26), news started breaking about arrests stemming from a big-time Federal investigation into bribery and other malfeasance at four big schools. The report described further violations at some unnamed schools, and a little bit of examination showed one of them to be UofL - "research university in Kentucky," enrollment numbers, and a particular player's sudden commitment to joining the program, despite no recruitment of the kid. A hammer came down.
There are two prominent names here - Tom Jurich and Rick Pitino. Jurich is the school's athletic director, and is the person most responsible for UofL's rise to national prominence. He cut a deal with ESPN early in his tenure, bringing in a lot of money, money that became first-rate facilities for soccer, lacrosse, baseball and softball, swimming/diving, and a host of other sports. Responsible for the good comes with responsibility for the bad, though. Which brings us to the bad - men's basketball coach Pitino. Pitino's always had a sketchy reputation, and recently, there have been two serious incidents. A few years ago, there was a maybe-rape that got turned into an extortion case. More recently, a story of prostitutes provided to players and recruits started coming to light. Pitino claimed ignorance, but no one really bought it. So, now this latest scandal, and he's again played the "I had no knowledge" card. It seems that UofL's administration has had enough. Yesterday, the interim University President, Greg Postel, had private meetings with both Jurich and Pitino, and effectively fired both of them. Officially, Jurich is suspended with pay, Pitino suspended without, but this is a formality while the board of trustees examines the contracts of both men to protect the University against wrongful termination suits.
I'm conflicted here. The going story is that Jurich refused to fire Pitino, and I'll buy it - Jurich has a reputation for intense loyalty. I'm glad to see Pitino go - the rest of Cardinal athletics is run without scandal or shame. Even Bobby Petrino seems to have cleaned up his act, writing a real redemption story. Jurich has been an incredible boon to UofL, and his departure is going to sting. If Pitino is to be held responsible for what his staff did, then Jurich has to be, too.
This is tough. UofL's taken a lot of hits in recent years, with attacks by the state's idiot Governor, corruption in the previous President's office, and now this. Postel looks to be focused on repairing the school's reputation as much as possible during his tenure - he's still the Interim President, after all - and he is pretty popular among the University faculty and staff.
--
So, yeah, baseball. The Dodgers have the NL West championship, and home field throughout the NL playoffs. Three games left in the regular season; the Dodgers play at the Rockies to close things out. The Rockies are the probable second wild card team. Again, I'm conflicted. I want the Dodgers to have the best possible record, of course, but it won't affect standings now, and wins by the Rockies finish off St. Louis' post-season chances more quickly.