The real reasons for Calipari's exit from Memphis surfaces.

[endaround]

The only thing surprising about this is that it came this quickly, I gave it one more season.

 

Memphis could lose 38 wins from '07-08

 

Can we end this farce already and just pay the players like the minor leaguers they are?

 

 

(Edit: Added clickability to link. Yuku's Convert URLs feature, which automatically makes URLs clickable, has only worked sporadically since February. It's supposed to be fixed with the next code push. We don't know when that push will be, but we've been told that it's not in the immediate future --1992)

[stoutdude04]

I think schools all over do this sort of thing. I mean...look at Dozier.....what a joke. 1250+ to 720 or whatever. That should be a clue right there.

[ILuvDaBush]

I always think it's funny when people discuss how college athletes get "paid" by having their scholarship and a miniscule stipend from the school. Hypothetically, why couldn't said player take their tangible scholarship and sublet it to someone who is actually going to put it to good use. If THAT student fails out, then scholarshipped athlete is out. Similar to season tickets at Lambeau. The best example, Allen Iverson went to the school I always dreamed of attending (Georgetown), and yet the guy has a smaller ENGLISH vocabulary than my 3 year old nephew (but in fairness, my nephew DOES speak at a five year old level). Instead, I had to attend State (UW) with the Old Zealander and the Hick from wherever Mike Wilkinson is from.

[JoeHova]

To be fair, Georgetown received a lot in return for Iverson's presence. It's not like English is the only subject that universities value.

[PlayerHader]

I always think it's funny when people discuss how college athletes get "paid" by having their scholarship and a miniscule stipend from the school. Hypothetically, why couldn't said player take their tangible scholarship and sublet it to someone who is actually going to put it to good use. If THAT student fails out, then scholarshipped athlete is out. Similar to season tickets at Lambeau. The best example, Allen Iverson went to the school I always dreamed of attending (Georgetown), and yet the guy has a smaller ENGLISH vocabulary than my 3 year old nephew (but in fairness, my nephew DOES speak at a five year old level). Instead, I had to attend State (UW) with the Old Zealander and the Hick from wherever Mike Wilkinson is from.

I don't understand what you are saying. Why do you think such discussions are funny? The way I read it, you are contradicting yourself. You start out by devaluing the award given to scholarship athletes and then go on to exalt the opportunity awarded to such athletes.

[PeaveyFury]

The system in the NCAA is kind of backwards- the future athletes at the school are now punished with postseason bans for something that they had nothing to do with, while the people responsible (Calipari and Rose) will be long gone.

 

Coaches will continue to abuse the system until they're held accountable as well. If the school faces postseason bans, apply that to the coaches as well. So if a coach like Calipari leaves, a post season ban follows him to where he goes next. Makes it tougher for them to bail and get a different job, and should at least make them think long and hard before they do some of this under-the-table crap.

[NeedMoreFans]

I think there will be a lot more of this coming out in the future. When I first heard about this, I couldn't help but think about the NBA's 19-year old rule, and how that may have led to academic problems in college, and maybe to an extent, schools "cheating" to get that one year of service out of that player. I'm not sure if that rule had any role in Robert Dozier's SAT, but may have impacted Derrick Rose's. He knew he had to go to college, but only for a year, so why bother with school? He won't get punished at all for cheating on his SAT, and the school wasn't aware enough (or turned a blind eye to the matter) to question it like Georgia did with Dozier. I'm wondering if colleges are quietly wanting the NBA to rescind that rule, because I'm guessing they are thinking it is hurting college basketball.

 

As I stated before, this is just the tip of the iceberg. We'll soon be learning about basketball players not attending classes and failing their spring classes, because they know they are one-and-done in college. If you know you are going to the draft in June (or July, whenever it is), why would you go to classes after basketball is over? Heck, why keep going once the second semester gets going? The worst part is, they are taking a scholarship away from someone else...someone who may actually earn a degree and who may not be an NBA player.

[jwill535]

I never understood why most universities cannot have a Athletic degree path that teaches kids who think they are going to the pros how to handle finances, and other buisness related courses that would pertain to a pro athlete. Heck you can go to the UW for music, dance or theater, why cant you go for athletics?

[DHonks]

I'm not sure I get the whole SAT questions. About 5 years ago the NCAA changed the rules so that all you needed to be elligible at a D1 school was to put your name on the test. I think at the time the new minimum was 800, but now it's on a 2400 scale. It was a change meant to keep athletes from going pro right away.

[homer]

The NBA needs to dump the WNBA and start up a real minor league developmental system.

[ILuvDaBush]

My point about the humor of the system is that if they were actually getting "paid" by their scholarship, why couldn't they sell or trade their payment for something they could actually use? Or suppose an athlete felt like "giving" his payment to a sibling who would obviously put the education to better use if said athlete entered the professional ranks and the sibling were just too poor to afford the education. But then again, this just goes back to my idea that all public universities should be wholly funded by the state and admittance should be strictly on a merit system.

 

As for the question over Dozier's true aptitude, he could very simply have crammed for the SAT's some years ago and once he was done with the test, completely forgot it. I was looking over some old term papers some weeks ago and couldn't believe some of the information I had forgotten. Can't we give the kid the benefit of the doubt before we take him up to be crucified?

[NeedMoreFans]

According to reports, Dozier took the SAT in December 2003, then again in July 2004...it was months apart, not years. The first time he "took" it, he scored a 1260, then scored a 720 months later. He took it again because his score was invalidated by ETS, the company who administers and scores the test. I'm not giving him any leeway on this, and if Georgia of all programs wouldn't take him, it should have been a huge red flag right there.

[JoeHova]

The NBA needs to dump the WNBA and start up a real minor league developmental system.

 

I don't really see how they're related. The WNBA gets good attendance for a minor league (8,000 per game), they have a national TV deal that puts them on major networks (ABC & ESPN, in addition to the NBA house channel) and actually gives them rights fees, and they are by far the most successful women's league in history. The NBA may be subsidizing them to some extent (it's not clear to what extent) but the amount would be small, considering the maximum salary for the entire league is $10,439,000 (in other words, less than what Bobby Simmons will make next year).

[jwill535]

And with all of those things you mentioned Joe, the league hemorrhages money. If it werent for David Stern and the NBA, the WNBA would have gone out of business 2 years after it was started.

[JoeHova]

What I'm saying is that hemorrhages is relative. I'm sure they're probably losing a few million a year, but that is not hemorrhaging in pro sports. 8,000 per game times 238 games is 1.9 million in attendance per year. Even if they are only getting $5 per ticket, that covers the maximum team salaries right there. Sure, they may have to pay some rent, but I'm not sure about how that works, especially considering most teams are owned by entities that also control their arenas.

 

I think the NBA sees value in those 1.9 million fans attending basketball games and also in keeping women involved in pro basketball throughout their lives. Who's to say that whatever losses the WNBA incurs aren't more than balanced out by more women attending or watching NBA games? I don't think the calculus is as simple as some people would like it to be.

[jwill535]

Basically, if it wouldnt cause such a PR nightmare the NBA would have shut it down a long time ago. While that 1.9 mil may cover salaries, I would venture to bet that operating costs are 5x that. If the NBA didnt suppliment those owners with covering the loses there wouldnt be any owners. In fact some of the teams are owned by the owners of the NBA team in that city.

 

Getting back on course, its a shame that the person who was in control and with out a doubt knew what was going on is going to skate away to the riches of UK with no ramifications.

[JJHardy7]

I think schools all over do this sort of thing. I mean...look at Dozier.....what a joke. 1250+ to 720 or whatever. That should be a clue right there.

 

Didn't Dozier go to Memphis and Georgia said no because of his big SAT jump?

 

I always think it's funny when people discuss how college athletes get "paid" by having their scholarship and a miniscule stipend from the school.

 

Not to be mean, but I hate this logic. Have the players go play in Europe than if playing NCAA Basketball is so bad. The same goes for football...if you want to publicly get paid go sit out three years and go pro. There are a lot of athletes on scholarship that play their last game in college. Paying college athletes would be the worst idea ever IMO. If the NBA wants a better minor league system, that's fine. I just don't think it will ever work. It's much easier for a basketball player to jump in the NBA and start then it is for a baseball player. There's a reason why the NBA and NFL don't have or have weak minor league systems. I know athletes likely get paid more than their scholarships. I've heard about it from a ton of schools and such so it's not a shock. I do think colleges should be held to higher standards and I also think they way $$$ is given out in athletics should change. If you get busted, you should not get the same amount as others in your conference.

 

Working down here we have given Kentucky fans a hard time the past two months. We all knew what Memphis was doing and Kentucky will be busted in the next few years too. If you haven't looked up 'World Wide Wes' on Google, I'd check it out. It's a good read and it's why 'Coach Cal' never gets in trouble.

[JoeHova]

Basically, if it wouldnt cause such a PR nightmare the NBA would have shut it down a long time ago.

 

I disagree. 8,000 per game is far more than the leagues that the Admirals and Wave play in draw. It's far more than the Spanish league (probably the 2nd best league in the world behind the NBA) draws. It's more than the Euroleague draws. It's more than the Kontinental Hockey League (2nd best hockey league in the world) draws. It's as good or better than many 2nd and 3rd division soccer leagues throughout the world. It's better than every (U.S.) baseball minor league. For some reason, it fits many people's agendas to pretend that there is no interest in the WNBA when that is patently false.

 

Nationally televised WNBA games drew an average of 413,000 viewers last season. The NHL didn't get within 100,000 viewers of that this past season and nobody thinks the NHL is in imminent danger of being shut down. The WNBA is a legitimate league. It is also a fragile, fledgling league, but there is no reason to think it is a charity or anything of that nature. It draws more viewers than one U.S. major league and more spectators than almost any minor league throughout the world.

[crewcrazy]

Just so we get this straight -- Calipari is potentially getting a second Final Four appearance stripped from the record books, yet he's allowed to continue coaching...and Kelvin Sampson is essentially banned from college basketball for making too many phone calls to recruits?

[JJHardy7]

Just so we get this straight -- Calipari is potentially getting a second Final Four appearance stripped from the record books, yet he's allowed to continue coaching...and Kelvin Sampson is essentially banned from college basketball for making too many phone calls to recruits?

 

It's all about World Wide Wes. He's pretty much Cal's 'handler' for a lot of his recruits. Again, I'd read up on him. I had no clue who he was until a few months ago. Some think he's one of the most powerful people in all of sports.

[FVBrewerFan]

I think a full ride scholarship is plenty of compensation for the athlete. Do you realize how much a full ride at Duke is worth? Plus, it's not just the schoolarship. These kids get the opportunity to play the best competition out there and do it very publicly. Sure, the top athletes in any sport will be discovered no matter where they play. But what about an Defensive Tackle at Boise St. or a shooting guard from Tulsa? Guys like that get a chance to prove themselves and show up on the radar of pro scouts. Not to mention, for those who wish to take advantage of the opportunity, they can receive a degree that can be useful after (or in place of) a pro career.

[valpocrewsader]

The WNBA gets good attendance for a minor league (8,000 per game)

Unless this is one of the ways the NBA is subsidizing the WNBA. 3,000 actual people buying tickets and walking thorugh the gate, 5,000 extra tickets purchased by the NBA or given away as freebies (and never used) to boost attendance to ~8,000 per game. I only say this because the handful of times the WNBA has been on my TV screen it hasn't looked remotely close to 8,000 people.

[jwill535]

Think Marlins games. Again, if it wasnt for the NBA burning money on the league it would have gone belly up a long time ago. I have heard that from several different analysts and I think even ESPN did a Outside the Lines on it.

 

Back to scholarships. Depending on the sport, being a scholarship athlete is only about 1% fun. Football demands the most time from its players. Beyond going to class lets say 3 hrs a day, another 8-10 is spent doing football related activities including practice, film, workouts and other team related duties. The last couple hours in the day are there for meals and study. In the offseason it the committment time goes down by a couple hours a day but it is still very time consuming. Another thing people need to remember is that all scholarships are paid for by the boosters of the Athletic department(at least at UW). No school money is used to pay for the scholarships. In essence, the school and athletic departments are two seperate entities.

[JoeHova]

The WNBA gets good attendance for a minor league (8,000 per game)

Unless this is one of the ways the NBA is subsidizing the WNBA. 3,000 actual people buying tickets and walking thorugh the gate, 5,000 extra tickets purchased by the NBA or given away as freebies (and never used) to boost attendance to ~8,000 per game. I only say this because the handful of times the WNBA has been on my TV screen it hasn't looked remotely close to 8,000 people.

 

That's the case for any minor league, and even some major leagues. There are always kids days and specials and giveaways and things of that nature. What about the ratings being higher than NHL ratings? Unless every non-MLB-NFL-NBA league is on the verge of folding, I don't see why the WNBA should be singled out as being singularly shaky. I think it fits some people's agendas to believe that the WNBA is a doomed enterprise. I don't agree with that, and I think there are numbers to back up my belief. Could it still fail? Yes, of course. Is failure inevitable? No, I don't see any reason to believe that that is the case, given the numbers that I've pointed out here. This bad economy will be tougher for the WNBA to get through than it will be for the big 3 but if the WNBA can make it through the next couple years, I think/hope it will last for awhile.

[jwill535]

The ratings are higher because it gets a huge kiss from Espn/ABC. You can t compare it to minor leagues since most players on minor league teams are paid by the parent club. Here is a quote I found from 2007 WNBA article

 

"The NBA supports the WNBA logistically and financially,reportedly pumping in $12 million a year. Although NBACommissioner David Stern said a year ago the WNBA might makea small profit this season, WNBA President Donna Orender said her league is "very close" to breaking even but not there."

 

So it takes 12 mil from the NBA just to get the league close to making a profit. Its a dead league that is being propped up. And you cannot compare it to Hockey. I would venture to guess that Hockey would get higher rating if it got a push from ESPN again like the WNBA gets.