Souhan on Clem/Tressel: "If they can sleep at night, they came out ahead."

[BleedGopher]

From Souhan:

"Clem Haskins, one of the most popular coaches in the history of Minnesota sports, resigned, was forced to give back part of his buyout, and was effectively banned from coaching an NCAA school for seven seasons.

Haskins was punished, but his ability to win basketball games allowed him to retire, wealthy and comfortable, to his farm in Kentucky. Had he run a clean program, lost most of the games he coached and gotten fired early in his tenure, would he really have been better off? Or would he have been ridiculed like Dan Monson, a clean but unsuccessful Gophers coach?

Was it worth it, for McGwire and Armstrong and Haskins and Tressel, to cheat their way to fame and riches?

If they can sleep at night, they came out ahead."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/123675609.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[AO54]

I think Souhan is getting his scandals confused. Was Haskins or Tressel even accused of the sort of payoff that Cam Newton was asking for to come to a certain school? Does writing term papers win any more games, than simply letting the kids go to cake schools with easy classes? It's a little silly that we care that much about Derrick Rose' SAT score when he didn't go to college for any other reason besides basketball. Would I suddenly see the purity in the college game if he tried a little harder in his classes?

 

[EG#9]

Don't agree at all. Clem went to the elite eight prior to any of the sanctions and lost all the big recruiting battles for Deon Thomas, Chris Webber, etc, etc. When he was fired, his most recent recruiting class included Kevin Loge and Kyle Sanden. Kids don't do their own work? Shocker. Kids get money for their jerseys and various trinkets? Shocker. If anyone thinks Terrelle Pryor is the only kid driving around in cars he can't afford...