Posted By egami on 02/19/2008 10:40 AM




And, actually, he stated costing Sampson his job...which, to my knowledge, the NCAA hasn't ever handed out that punishment to Sampson or alluded to that being his punishment with Indiana.

Posted By SeahawksSB42champs on 02/19/2008 10:45 AM




Ultimately, all the NCAA will be able to do is punish Indiana, unless the university takes it upon themselves to do something in house like take away scholarships, refuse any postseason tournament appearances, etc.

Ultimately, the only entity that can punish Sampson is the university. They already took away a $500,000 bonus for some other wrongdoings of his, so about all that's left is to kick him to the curb...which they will probably end up doing when the "investigation" is finished.

Posted By egami on 02/19/2008 10:46 AM




Yeah, I know that..I was more picking a bone with OmaDman's previous comment that seemingly alluded to the fact that the NCAA is forcing this on to Sampson directly.

Posted By Omahan on 02/19/2008 10:46 AM
No, due to IU not wanting the NCAA breathing down their neck for the next 5 years. (and for ethical reasons)

These days I struggle to lend much merit to the judgement of the powers that be in universities athletic programs.

Posted By Omahan on 02/19/2008 12:33 PM
So Seahawk, I don't see the NCAA as hopelessly rigid as you do. I believe it would take an organized effort, but it can be changed. Certain absurd rules at least.

Why hire Sampson? He's a winner! You don't have to dig to deep to establish that fact.
Haven't you heard? Nice guys finish last.

Posted By SeahawksSB42champs on 02/19/2008 12:44 PM
And I'm sorry...you're not a winner if you can't play by the rules. Sampson's won games, but he's a cheater and you can't spin that any other way.

Posted By Omahan on 02/19/2008 1:02 PM
And egami, the "statement" you rendered false wasn't a statement after all. It was my opinion and opinions are never right or wrong. It's mine own.

Posted By Omahan on 02/19/2008 9:26 AM
You're an idiot egami. Because if you had done any homework on this matter you would know that no specifics have been released yet on the violations, only that Sampson has lied and that it concerns phone calls.

Jason Whitlock of Foxsports wrote:

There is this great myth in my home state among basketball fans that Bobby Knight won three national championships, 11 Big Ten titles and 902 games with an NCAA rulebook clutched firmly in his right hand the way a preacher holds a Bible.


It's just not true. Bobby Knight has too much intelligence to have any respect for the NCAA and its outdated regulations. I've never met a coach with a modicum of intellect who had any real regard for the NCAA and its laws.

You do what you think is fair and what you think won't get caught.

I mention this because there's great hysteria in the Hoosier state. The NCAA declared in a recent report that Kelvin Sampson, the man who replaced the man who replaced Bob Knight at Indiana, lied to NCAA investigators and school compliance administrators about phone calls to recruits.

Mr. Telephone Man and his three-way recruiting offense are about to be run out of Bloomington based on allegations that he circumvented NCAA policy.

Despite considering Kelvin Sampson a friend, I'll have no problem with his dismissal. He violated the second tenet of the coaches' NCAA rulebook. After fleeing Oklahoma amid allegations of improper phone use, there was no reason for Sampson to believe he wouldn't get nabbed at Indiana for virtually the same violation.

Fire Kelvin Sampson for a lack of common sense. Do not dispose of him under the false pretense that he is unethical, immoral, dishonorable or unprincipled.

Short of academic fraud or the kind of criminal activity that transpired at Baylor under Dave Bliss, it's nearly impossible for me to believe any college coach is a cheater.

Coaches are stretchers of NCAA rules that they don't believe in. They make fathers and street agents assistant basketball coaches to land recruits. School boosters move entire families across country and close to campus, so that the families can easily attend home games and magically cri$$cro$$ the country attending away games. Once many of the economically disadvantaged kids land on campus, they somehow manage to drive SUVs and move into wonderfully furnished apartments.

I grew up in Indianapolis, went to college at Ball State, worked as a sports writer in Bloomington (Ind.), Charlotte (N.C.), Ann Arbor (Mich.) and Kansas City. I've covered college basketball at every stop and have spent time on nearly every big-time college basketball campus in the country. I've seen the exact same thing at every stop.

So I'm offended when Kelvin Sampson is labeled some sort of despicable cheater. If he is, he's in very good company, a circle that includes every coach who has legitimately attempted to win a national championship during the last 30 years.

Again, this is not a plea for Mr. Telephone Man to keep his job. He screwed up. He allowed arrogance to interfere with common sense. He knew when he pursued and accepted the job at Indiana that many Hoosier fans were under the delusion that Indiana basketball was a beacon of NCAA integrity.

Sampson's apparent stupidity might cost Indiana scholarships, and a shot at the Big Ten crown and national title. Yeah, it's a fire-able offense. When you toss in the fact that this controversy has ruined Eric Gordon's lone college season and D.J. White's terrific senior campaign, then it becomes even more difficult to muster sympathy for Sampson.

I don't know what Sampson's defense is.

The only explanation that would make sense is: "It's not my voice on the phone calls. Someone hired an impersonator. I've been framed."

Seriously, given the situation, Sampson should've never picked up a phone in an effort to recruit any Indiana basketball player other than Eric Gordon, the only prospect Sampson needed to land in order to justify his hiring.

Whether or not Sampson misled NCAA investigators or his employer about the calls is irrelevant to me. I'm sure he'll make a strong case that he misled no one. The crime is not realizing that he had active enemies at Indiana who would be looking for an opportunity to get him entangled in an NCAA mess. The best way to dodge that trap is to avoid playing that game, elude even the appearance of impropriety.

Smart coaches hire loyal assistants to take all the chances.

As for bringing Bobby Knight back to Indiana?

When he quit at Texas Tech and stories began circulating that he would coach again, it crossed my mind that Knight was tipped off that there was major trouble brewing at Indiana.

I initially defended Knight for "retiring" at Texas Tech. But if he returns to major college basketball next season (or really at any time) after walking away from a team at mid-season, it would constitute an act of cowardice and hypocrisy that we've never really witnessed in major college sports.

As a longtime, casual Bob Knight defender, I would be embarrassed.

Posted By egami on 02/19/2008 3:17 PM
There is nothing rational about living in a world in which there are no absolutes and everyones opinion is right.

If opinions are never wrong then why do you waste much of your time here defending allegations that you aren't Dman? Because apparently you think vranged's opinion is wrong.

In fact, that dichotomy is an intriguingly perfect example of why you ARE wrong. Your opinion is that you aren't Dman. vranged's opinion is that you are Dman. Someone is right, someone is wrong. BOTH are opinions. Only one of those opinions can be substantiated as truth by fact.

You see, it's really simple, when opinion parallels fact then opinion is right. When opinion doesn't parallel fact then it is wrong. Yes, some things are subjectively indifferent due to their inability to be outright proven factual, but not all the time.

I don't care if you're Dman or not...you're clearly as intellectually bankrupt as he was.