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I’ve received a couple of responses to this morning’s column about the Derrick Rose/John Calipari situation saying that I still managed to put a negative spin on the UK coach by writing, “There may come a day when John Calipari’s detractors will finally catch the coach red-handed at something other than guilt by association.”

(That was an attempt at sarcasm, by the way.)

And, “And yes, I’m cynical enough to think there may well be an instance when the national media can crow its I-told-you-so’s about Calipari.”

(I do possess a cynical streak.)

Anyway, here’s why I wrote those two lines:

I don’t know that John Calipari is a dirty coach.

I don’t know that John Calipari is an impeccably clean coach.

I do know that I have been around college sports long enough to know that often the ones you think are clean could well be dirty, and the ones you are sure are dirty are not that, at all. I am jaded(?) enough not to assume anything about a coach or a program. If you think you absolutely know one way or another, you’re fooling yourself. It’s the same with athletes. I know the ones I think are good guys. But I am sometimes surprised to find out later that person was not the person I thought he or she was. Our access is limited more all the time. It’s a mistake to think that we know what any of these people are really like.

I guess what I’m saying is that I’m old enough not to deal in asbolutes much anymore. I do think in this case, given the facts presented in the letter, this is largely a case related to Chicago, and the corruption that goes on in Chicago high school basketball. Remember, Derrick Rose isn’t the only player involved. As the Chicago Sun-Times reported, as many as four student-athletes at his school allegedly had their grades fixed. The player who the NCAA thinks allegedly took Rose’s test for him, is in jail.

And I do think there are those in the so-called national media — a term I hate by the way — who have written things without ever bothering to read the actual “notice of allegations” served by the NCAA to Memphis.

Also, I caught a bit of Larry Glover’s call-in show on WVLK, and heard a caller pose an interesting trivia question:

What do Jim Calhoun, Lute Olsen, Norm Stewart and Gene Keady have in common?

They all had NCAA Tournament appearances vacated.

You can add Larry Brown, Steve Lavin, Joey Meyer, Wimp Sanderson, Steve Fisher, Jim O’Brien and Bill Frieder, among others, to that list, as well.

In fact, in 1996, the year that UMass’ NCAA Final Four appearance was vacated, so was the appearance that year of five other schools in the tournament — California, Connecticut, Michigan, Purdue and Texas Tech.

The most surprising part of Georgia's offensive onslaught in a 7-5 victory over Michigan in the Women's College World Series was not the number of Bulldog home runs – a WCWS-record four – it was who hit one of them.
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Today, unfortunately, could be the final day of the 2009 baseball season for the Diamond Dogs, so I wanted to open up a comment thread, one which I hope will last through two games (and two victories) . . . but we shall see.

Your thoughts, reflections, reactions, and observations go in the comments below. If you want to follow the action and don’t get ESPNU, you can go to the interactive bracket, click on the Tallahassee Regional, and click on game five. (My thanks go out to Team Speed Kills for calling my attention to this feature.)

One thing you’ll notice with the interactive bracket is the list of teams that already have been eliminated: Alabama, Bethune-Cookman, Cal Poly, Dartmouth, Fresno State, George Mason, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Indiana, Marist, Monmouth, Sam Houston State, Southern, Texas State, Wichita State, and Wright State. So far, this has not been the tournament of the upstart, the upset, the underdog, or the plucky little guy, so at least we’ll be spared the constant commentary about Steve Detwiler’s dadgum thumb.

By the way, lest we forget, this is what’s on the line for Georgia today:

Go ‘Dawgs!

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Big Blue Links for Sunday:

• My Sunday column arguing that the NCAA allegations are against Derrick Rose, not John Calipari.
• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader writes on Derrick Locke’s rehab from knee surgery.
• Chip’s football notebook leads with an update on Ryan Mossakowski.
• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader leads his notebook with John Calipari making the Kiwanis Club day.
• Tipton also blogs that Landon Slone is close to committing to Morehead State.
• Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal reports that UK is on Harrison Barnes’ steady list of a dozen schools.
• Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times (and formerly of the Herald-Leader) writes that the one-and-done era has been a failure. (Hat tip to Spam’s Wildcat Page.)
• Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free-Press writes that college coaches should be responsible for their programs, good or bad.
• The “We Luv Erin Calipari” Facebook page now has over 1,100 members.
• Mike Hutton of the Post-Tribune says there is plenty of blame to go around in the Rose case.

• George Robinson of the Leaf Chronicle writes that Memphis isn’t an isolated incident.
• Deadspin looks at the other “adorable” Memphis scandal.
• Kentucky Sports Radio wants you to get in on the Yahoo contest about the best recruiting class of all-time.
• Jerry Riles of Chicago Local Television argues that this is about Calipari,  not Rose.
• Adam Jacobi of The Sporting Blog writes that you would think Memphis would know about p.r. disasters.
• Big Blue Booyah says NCAA needs to look in the mirror.
• Wildcat Thunder thinks Calipari deserves better.
• Inner Circle says UK fans should move on with their heads held high.
• On a Kansas sports blog, Freddy D. says forget the allegations, just get ready for Kentucky.

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As expected, Brent Vinson’s Pick Six Poop Out exits early as a candidate for the Best Play of 2008. After watching the play again, I am beginning to regret that I hadn’t noticed earlier that the referee was taken out on the play, which is good for some extra points. Oh, well. Say goodbye:

Now things get interesting. Of the twelve plays remaining in contention, seven feature Eric Berry. How long until we get a field full of Berries? My choice for elimination is below.

DO NOT VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE PLAY — VOTE FOR THE ONE YOU WANT TO SEE ELIMINATED. The play with the most votes gets cut from the competition.

The remaining candidates:

• More Score for Moore
• By Guess Who . . . Eric Berry
• EBWACC (Eric Berry’s Wake Always Contains Carnage)
• Eric Berry Flying Corkscrews Marquis Maze
• That’s Beautiful
• Rout!
• Berry All the Way
• Eric Berry Clobbers Knowshon Moreno
• What a Play by Berry in the End Zone
• A Score for Moore
• Eric Berry’s Third Interception of the Year
• The Fourth of the Half

Joel: I’m going with Eric Berry’s Third Interception of the Year. Had Berry landed that leap and scored, this one could have been the best play of the year, but alas, he  merely flew like a superhuman and landed like a human. And it was not only a non-conference game, it was Northern Illinois, so there really wasn’t much at stake. The play didn’t jump start the offense, either, which went backwards and kicked a field goal. On the other hand, Berry did add a dramatic flair by catching the ball one-footed, making that fantastic leap, and stepping on Demetrice Morley’s head, so there’s that. But compared to the rest of the plays, this one just doesn’t make the cut for me.

VOTE FOR THE PLAY YOU WANT TO SEE ELIMINATED.

Jonathan Crompton hesitates when asked the question.
Never one to look for pity, he’s extremely uncomfortable during an interview over lunch discussing the persistent verbal attacks he received from Tennessee football fans who were disappointed by his performance last season.

Yet Crompton confirmed what the News Sentinel had been told months ago, that the cell phone calls and e-mails escalated to death threats as the Vols stumbled to a 5-7 season.

“I did have death threats,” the senior quarterback reluctantly said.

Crompton said he received “a couple” of the threats, all via e-mail, as the Vols were struggling last fall.
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DESTIN, Fla. — Lane Kiffin made it through his first SEC spring meetings without committing an NCAA violation or getting reprimanded by the conference office — although Tennessee’s first-year coach was called out by Steve Spurrier, the SEC’s original King of Zing.

Commissioner Mike Slive’s response to an offseason of verbal warfare among his coaches — a re-training session on sportsmanship — dominated the headlines and blogs.

But in between all the talk about who said what to whom, the SEC banked another record-setting year in revenues — a $132.5 million bonanza that will look like chump change next year when the TV dollars from the new deals with CBS and ESPN start pouring into the league’s Birmingham offices.

And though there was not much in the way of groundbreaking legislation, it was an interesting week at the Sandestin Hilton. Put a chirping Spurrier and a red-faced Kiffin in the same elevator, and how could it not be?

One man’s scorecard from a week on the Emerald Coast:
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ATHENS, Ga. — Mark Richt admits he is a bit jealous.
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Arkansas sophomore defensive tackle Lavunce Askew was arrested in connection with theft of property and was booked into the Washington County Detention Center early Sunday morning.

Bond had not been set as of 3:15 a.m., according to the Sheriff’s Office Web site. Askew was being held for another law enforcement agency. Askew, who was booked at 12:33 a.m., is due in Washington County Circuit Court for a hearing Monday at 7:45 a.m.

Askew appeared in eight games as a true freshman last season. He had five tackles, one quarterback hurry and one forced fumble. The Camden native started in the season finale against LSU.

I’ve requested a comment from Coach Bobby Petrino and will update if he responds during the day Sunday.

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– Brandon Marcello
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Content provided by The Slophouse.

Patrick Beverley‘s reasons for being declared ineligible and leaving the University of Arkansas last August have varied from report to report. His latest comments, though, may be the most substantial and important.

In an undated interview with DraftExpress.com, which was uploaded to YouTube on May 26, Beverley — in his words — says that he and teammates at Arkansas had class papers written for them. That, he says, was the reason he was declared ineligible and he left the Arkansas basketball team to play profesionally overseas.

Beverley

“There was some things that happened with me and my team,” Beverley says in the video. “Someone from Arkansas was doing papers, was doing me and some of my teammates’ papers. Basically, instead of ratting my team out, I just said it was just me. I was forced to have a year of ineligibility.”

After Beverley has gone from saying his departure had nothing to do with academics, to hinting that it did, DraftExpress.com’s video interview marks the first time Beverley has openly admitted to cheating. It’s also the first time that he accuses his former teammates of doing the same.

The UA has not revealed the reason behind Beverley’s ineligibility that was announced Aug. 8, 2008. The UA has refused to comment further because of student privacy laws. Because of the gravity of Beverley’s latest comment, I have requested a statement from UA officials through e-mail. I’ll update if/when such a request is fulfilled.

Here’s a recap of Beverley’s comments through the months:

On Aug. 8, CBSsports.com reported, through an unidentified source, that Beverley would sit out a year because of academic issues.

Beverley was interviewed by FoxSports.com one week later, when Beverley told reporter Jeff Goodman that his departure had nothing to do with academics but that he committed an NCAA violation.

“It had nothing to do with academics,” Beverley told FoxSports.com at the time. “I violated NCAA rules and what happened went over the coaches’ heads. A lot of people thought it was because of grades, but I go to class every day. ”

Three days after that report, Beverley hinted to the Sporting News that his departure was related to an academic issue. In the report, Beverley said he talked with the coaching staff and got the impression that his ineligibility was related to a paper for a class.

Beverley, who played a season in the Ukraine after leaving Arkansas, is preparing for the NBA Draft next month.

You can watch Beverley’s interview with DraftExpress.com below. Beverley’s comments about cheating at Arkansas start at the 5:44 mark.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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– Brandon Marcello
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