Rand: Is it time to consider re-hanging the 1997 Final Four banner at Williams Arena?

[short ornery norwegian]

The question is whether the players would have been eligible without the "assistance." And that is almost impossible to know without knowing how they were doing in their other classes - assuming they were not getting "extra help" in all their classes.

Let's face it - one way or another, the vast majority of D1 football and basketball players somehow manage to stay eligible, no matter how dumb they are. Most schools find ways to make that happen, but they're smart enough or lucky enough to not get caught. If Jan G doesn't blow the whistle, there's a good chance nobody would have found out about the Gophers' paper-writing scam.

A scam which - I believe 100% - happens or has happened at virtually every D1 school in the country. And not just for athletes. Lot of regular students buy papers online and turn them in as their own work.

So - bottom line - the Gophers got caught. They have to live with the consequences.

I know they played in the Final Four. I remember it. until the NCAA finds a way to erase my memories, that Final Four is real to me. That will have to be good enough.

 

[CPTMidnight]

The question is whether the players would have been eligible without the "assistance." And that is almost impossible to know without knowing how they were doing in their other classes - assuming they were not getting "extra help" in all their classes.

Let's face it - one way or another, the vast majority of D1 football and basketball players somehow manage to stay eligible, no matter how dumb they are. Most schools find ways to make that happen, but they're smart enough or lucky enough to not get caught. If Jan G doesn't blow the whistle, there's a good chance nobody would have found out about the Gophers' paper-writing scam.

A scam which - I believe 100% - happens or has happened at virtually every D1 school in the country. And not just for athletes. Lot of regular students buy papers online and turn them in as their own work.

So - bottom line - the Gophers got caught. They have to live with the consequences.

I know they played in the Final Four. I remember it. until the NCAA finds a way to erase my memories, that Final Four is real to me. That will have to be good enough.

I don't think anyone is disputing anything you just said except that the U doesn't have to agree with the consequences. They, for example, could say -it was a bad deal and we fired the people involved but your penalties were not in line with how you treat other schools so we reject them and here are the $1000/hr attorneys to do battle if you want to fight. Thanks for all of the extra penalties but we are going to return some of them - here you go - you can have them back...

What is it about us Minnesotans has us asking for the rifle to make life easier on the firing squad? conflict avoidance, low self esteem? I wonder about it being related to the socialist leanings in the state... It's a bizarre study on human nature. In any case, doesn't really matter 20 years later.

Put the Banners back up.