I haven't posted anything about the basketball trials yet. Primarily because I honestly have no idea how I even feel about everything that is going on. I really am torn on multiple aspects of this entire ordeal.
Here are some thoughts:
-When this first was announced I was really confused as to what the FBI's angle was in investigating college basketball. Any person with a brain in his/her head knows how corrupt CBB is, but are any crimes really being committed? Then when I heard that they were going after the shoe company reps for "defrauding" the universities I was actually dumbfounded. I'm sorry, to me, that is absolute absurdity. Nobody is being defrauded here. The coaching staffs, who are acting on behalf of their universities, are 100% in on all of this. As long as that is the case, no university is a "victim" and it really does irritate me that the federal government is actually wasting any resources on this whatsoever.
-With all of that being said, this whole thing is obviously putting things out in the open that people have known for a long time. Now, here is the kicker, how heinous is all of this really? Many people on this board and everywhere have said for years that the players deserve a piece of the pie. I have mostly argued against this because there is no real way logistically make it happen. The universities are not for profit entities and most athletic departments don't turn that much of a profit. The money made by football and men's basketball basically goes to ensuring the non revenue sports can exist and the lavish facilities are paid for by private donations (and the athletes then get to have access to these lavish facilities). On the other hand, am I really that upset that Zion Williamson was probably paid to go to Duke? Not really. It does seem to be a victimless crime. I certainly don't think that warrants prison time for anyone (I'm leaving kU out of this intentionally because my hate for them really inhibits be from being objective in any way).
-Which brings me to the NCAA. I just mentioned this being a victimless crime. That is in the eyes of the law. Not NCAA rules. The NCAA has repeatedly dropped the hammer on programs in the past for the same type of violations. If the sit on their hands after all of this they will have lost all credibility in my eyes. This will be interesting and a brave new world for them. In the past, they have been the one conducting the investigation. That has allowed them to control the narrative to a degree. The public nature of this will put the facts out first for the whole basketball world to see first. Due to the subpoena power of the FBI, they will have access to evidence that they ordinarily would have never been able to obtain. Either way they will have egg on their face. It is just a matter of how much.
Sorry for the long post, but I have actually been pretty confused on how to feel about this stuff.
And because I know it's coming
Here are some thoughts:
-When this first was announced I was really confused as to what the FBI's angle was in investigating college basketball. Any person with a brain in his/her head knows how corrupt CBB is, but are any crimes really being committed? Then when I heard that they were going after the shoe company reps for "defrauding" the universities I was actually dumbfounded. I'm sorry, to me, that is absolute absurdity. Nobody is being defrauded here. The coaching staffs, who are acting on behalf of their universities, are 100% in on all of this. As long as that is the case, no university is a "victim" and it really does irritate me that the federal government is actually wasting any resources on this whatsoever.
-With all of that being said, this whole thing is obviously putting things out in the open that people have known for a long time. Now, here is the kicker, how heinous is all of this really? Many people on this board and everywhere have said for years that the players deserve a piece of the pie. I have mostly argued against this because there is no real way logistically make it happen. The universities are not for profit entities and most athletic departments don't turn that much of a profit. The money made by football and men's basketball basically goes to ensuring the non revenue sports can exist and the lavish facilities are paid for by private donations (and the athletes then get to have access to these lavish facilities). On the other hand, am I really that upset that Zion Williamson was probably paid to go to Duke? Not really. It does seem to be a victimless crime. I certainly don't think that warrants prison time for anyone (I'm leaving kU out of this intentionally because my hate for them really inhibits be from being objective in any way).
-Which brings me to the NCAA. I just mentioned this being a victimless crime. That is in the eyes of the law. Not NCAA rules. The NCAA has repeatedly dropped the hammer on programs in the past for the same type of violations. If the sit on their hands after all of this they will have lost all credibility in my eyes. This will be interesting and a brave new world for them. In the past, they have been the one conducting the investigation. That has allowed them to control the narrative to a degree. The public nature of this will put the facts out first for the whole basketball world to see first. Due to the subpoena power of the FBI, they will have access to evidence that they ordinarily would have never been able to obtain. Either way they will have egg on their face. It is just a matter of how much.
Sorry for the long post, but I have actually been pretty confused on how to feel about this stuff.
And because I know it's coming
