Thoughts from the weekend: NCAA tournament edition

-"I guess Texas finally had to give that second back."
               -My wife's response to the controversial 5 second call at the end of Texas-Arizona game referencing the controversial end of the Nebraska-Texas Big 12 Championship in 2010 in which a second was put back on the clock at the end of regulation allowing Texas to kick a game-winning field goal.

Rick Neuheisel: American Patriot

As you complete your brackets tonight, I ask you to stop and reflect on some of the true American heroes who have given up their careers fulfilling their obligation as an American to gamble in an office NCAA tournament pool.  Patriots like Rick Neuheisel.  Current UCLA and former Colorado head football coach was fired in the summer of 2003 for participating in a neighborhood tournament pool and subsequently telling lies to the NCAA about his involvement.  This came after his compliance officer had sent a memo authorizing University of Washington employees to participate as this would not be considered a violation of the NCAA's prohibition on gambling.  So as you watch the games this weekend dreaming of a $100 payout, I hope you can think about the sacrifices of those that came before you.  Thanks for the memories, Rick.  We will always remember you fondly in Nebraska.

Gene Smith Spurns Colorado, Cites the Importance of Confidentiality

Ohio State Athletic Director and NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Selection Committee Chairman Gene Smith has faced considerable criticism for omissions from the newly expanded NCAA tournament field.  The exclusion of the Colorado Buffaloes from the field of 68 has drawn significant ire from varied ESPN personalities including Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas.  Colorado's resume which included a win over a then top 10 Texas team, Missouri, and 3 wins over Kansas State (a 5 seed) has been most frequently compared to the less impressive resumes of UAB (who lost to every tournament team that they faced except VCU) and VCU which were deemed to be tournament worthy. 

           When Smith was faced with this information, he said, "This has been a difficult week for me with everything happening at Ohio State.  This is the first that I heard that Colorado beat Kansas State three times.  One of the committee members apparently has had this information for almost a week but felt that it needed to be kept confidential for the safety of the teams involved and did not bring it to my attention.  It was only after we looked at our brackets due to an unrelated issue that this oversight came to my attention.  We have been trying to cross our t's and dot our i's and frankly the Colorado Buffaloes have neither t's nor i's in their name and Alabama-Birmingham and Virginia Commonwealth had quite a few, so we went with them.  I would apologize but as the Athletic Director at Ohio State that just isn't in my nature."
        There is rampant speculation that the NCAA Tournament Committee Member who suppressed Colorado's quality wins from the Committee was scorned Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe.  Beebe's name rose to prominence earlier this year when Nebraska and Colorado's departure from the Big 12 left the conference on the verge of collapse.  When reached for comment, Beebe said "I knew I could use football referees to manipulate the outcome of games, but I never thought I could single-handedly keep a team out of the NCAA tournament.  Good Luck in the Pac 12 and see you in the NIT, Buffs." 

MTK

The New Modified Duke's Criteria: There is one key to being included in the NCAA tournament: Schedule Duke and Lose.  Every team that scheduled Duke, lost to them, and then went on to have a winning regular season and conference record made it into the NCAA tournament with the exception of Virginia Tech and Boston College.  Ironically Virginia Tech is considered one of the most prominent snubs by the selection committee.  Teams that benefitted from loseing to Duke to bolster their tournament bid included:

UAB- most controversial team in the bracket.  Only 1 win against a top-50 RPI team. One of last 4 in

Michigan State-Lost to many great teams (UConn, Texas, Duke,Syracuse). Swept by OSU and Michigan in conference. Beat Wisconsin, Purdue, Washington for high profile wins.  One of 5 teams in tournament with 14 losses (only 6 teams with 14 losses in the last 25 years of tournaments)  

Clemson- One of the last 4 teams in.  Playing a play-in game against another Duke beneficiary UAB

Other teams that met the Modified Duke's Criteria above that were more deserving of their position:

Marquette, St. John's, Butler, Florida State, North Carolina, Temple

This effect is likely largely influenced by RPI.  While the official calculation is not released by the NCAA, it's most simple definition is a calculation consisting of:
25% your winning percentage
50% your opponents average winning percentages
25% your opponents opponents average winning percentages

Therefore 75% of the weighting is completely independant of what your team does.  So schedule Duke and a Big East team or two.  Hold on to win about 20 games and welcome to your 10 seed in Tulsa.

The Wizard of Madison Square Garden and America's Team: Why you should like the Denver Nuggets

If three weeks ago, you said that the Nuggets would be a better basketball team after the Melo trade, you would have been laughed at.  Given Melo's request for a trade and the need to include former NBA finals MVP Chauncey Billups in the deal, this was felt to be the beginning of rebuilding period for the Nuggets.   Even Denver Nuggets General Manager Masai Ujiri in his post-trade press conference said

            "We feel we got killed in the trade because we lost a couple of pretty good players.  Obviously,   Carmelo Anthony. I feel sad for the city of Denver. I feel bad that this was done on my watch. To lose a guy like that. And also Chauncey. But I think we had to do it"

But just 19 days after the trade that sent Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Renaldo Balkman, and Anthony "AC" Carter to the Knicks for Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari Timofey Mozgov, multiple picks and cash: the Nuggets appear to be the better team.  A team that can focus on reloading not rebuilding.

What ESPN didn't report was that the trade also included a brain for guard J.R. Smith, some heart for their defense, and courage for their coach George Karl to actually coach and not just tiptoe around a one-way NBA superstar. 
A look at the data for both teams:

Since February 21st:
                       W-L            Opponent Winning Percentage                     
Denver             6-2                      .530            
                                                  One loss was to Portland in overtime on road on end of a back to back
New York       6-4                      .535
                                                  Two losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers (12-52) in this stretch
But how could the Nuggets get better when they lost a "Hall of Famer" in Carmelo Anthony.

Scoring defense (points per game)
                  Before                  After
Denver        105.1                  94.6

Of note, the Knicks defensive statistics have not changed since the addition of Melo (since Mike Dantoni teams never play defense to begin with).  Although Melo did play defense on Lebron when the Knicks beat the Heat on February 27th since he knew those plays would be on Sportscenter.

New York  105.8                  105.5

As a result the Nuggets have increased their points per game off of the fast break by 6 points due to their disruptive ball hawking defense.

Things could get even better.  Danilo Gallinari, widely felt to be the best Knick involved in the trade, has missed most of the games since the trade with a broken toe. 

But what does this mean in the big picture?  These Nuggets aren't going to win the NBA finals, but they weren't going to before the trade. 
Could they win a playoff series (something that they only did in 1 of Melo's 6 seasons)?
           It is a distinct possibility.  Defense becomes more important in the post-season.
Will you need to google their the members of the Nuggets roster to try and remember what college they went to because that was the last time you heard anything about any of them? 
          Definitely.  Sample conversation: Wilson Chandler did he go to Wake Forest?....(Iphones are unholstered).....Depaul, seriously.

So despite making a trade that they never wanted to make, the Nuggets might have stolen the wallet of the guy who was holding the gun to their head.  As a result, the Nuggets have become a team that is more about the process than the players.  More Hoosiers and less Miami Heat.  And in a year in which there has been more talk about "Decisions" and "Melodrama" than actual basketball, this could be a team for basketball fans to get behind.

The Rules of Succession of The Ohio State University

Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee's comments regarding beleagured football coach Jim Tressel have drawn attention to Ohio State unique organizational structure.  President Gee's statement occurred at Tuesday's Jim Tressel suspension celebration/reprimand for hiding information and serially lying about having prior information regarding NCAA violations by Ohio State players.  When questioned about whether he had considered firing Tressel over said violations, Gee said "No, are you kidding me?  Let me be very clear. I'm just hoping the coach doesn't dismiss me."  While this was initially viewed as another ill-timed joke by the University President, the head football coach at Ohio State does actually function as the Commander in Chief with the University President serving as his second in command of the University.

This arrangement dates back to the The Presidential Law of Succession of 1947.  This code sets the rules of succession for The Ohio State University (for clarity, current individuals filling the posts have been inserted into the original code):
(a)

          (1) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is neither Jim Tressel nor E.Gordon Gee to discharge the powers and duties of the office of head coach, then the sousaphone player that dots the I in script Ohio shall act as President.

         (2) The same rule shall apply in the case of the death, resignation, removal from office, or inability of an individual acting as President to defeat the University of Michigan. 

(b) If the "I-dotting sousaphone guy" fails to qualify as Acting Head Football Coach, then Brutus Buckeye shall, upon his resignation as mascot act as President.

(c) If, by reason of death, removal from office, inability or failure to notify one's superiors of obvious NCAA violations due to either subterfuge, absolute ignorance, or a questionable need to maintain confidentiality which doesn't even get requested until the second e-mail and apparently did not prevent Jim Tressel from passing on the e-mail to someone else outside of the Athletic Department or the University Athletic Compliance Office, there is no Jim Tressel, E.Gordon Gee, Sousaphone guy, or Brutus Buckeye, then the individual who is highest on the following list shall take on the powers and duties of the office of Head Coach and run The entire Ohio State University:

•  Athletic Director Gene Smith
• The Drum Major who touchs his funny hat to the ground at the 50 yard line in the pregame
• Chris Spielman   
• But never,ever, ever Kirk Herbstriet because one time he said something objective about the Buckeyes that hurt everyones feelings and they won't let it go

When Tressel was reached for comment, he stated that "President Gee's job is safe for the time being.  But he needs to be more attentive in the future so that I cannot get away with this sort of thing again."

Ohio State University: Building Mount Everest Out of a Mole Hill

Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel was suspended 2 games and fined $250,000 by Ohio State University for suppressing information for 8 months regarding illegal benefits provided to 6 Buckeye football players.  The players, quarterback Terrelle Pryor, running back Dan Herron, wideout DeVier Posey, defensive end Solomon Thomas and offensive lineman Mike Adams had sold memorabilia and/or autographs for cash and discounted tattoos from a Columbus tattoo parlor owner, Edward Rife.  The information regarding the illegal benefits. was first brought to the attention of Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith on December 7th, 2010 when the university was notified by federal officers who were trying to return the memorabilia.  The resultant scandal resulted in the NCAA levying 5 game suspensions for the players for the first 5 games of 2011, but in a controversial decision the players were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl.  Tressel was initially made aware of possible infractions in early April 2010 and failed to disclose e-mails regarding this issue until one month after the initiation of Ohio State and the NCAAs investigation into "Tattoo-gate."

Today, Tressel admitted to receiving information from an undisclosed source on April 2nd (e-mail 1) indicating that a federal raid had occurred at Ed Rife's home and that a large amount of Buckeye memorabilia was recovered.   It goes on to state that players have been taking signed memorabilia to Rife although it is unclear if they were paid.  The source also mentions that players might have received free tattoos.  In the post-script of the e-mail, the source mentions that Rife has been to jail in the past, witnessed a murder, and that the raid was related to drug trafficking.

In his statement today, Tressel statements regardings his reasons for failing to disclose this information to his athletic director, NCAA compliance officer, University attorneys included:

"I felt an obligation because I could feel in the e-mail the person had genuine concern for the well-being of our kids and for the gravity of a federal criminal drug trafficking ongoing investigation.  I guess I felt they were entrusting me to think that was important to keep that confidentiality(e-mail 2)."

"As we sit in homes (during recruiting), we talk about most especially we're going to take care of these young people and treat them like they're our own. Admittedly, I probably did not give quite as much thought to the potential NCAA part of things as I read it. My focus was on the well-being of the young people. Also in those e-mails it was very, very emphatic that with the nature of a federal investigation that there be confidentiality."

Tressel claimed that he did not know who to notify and then stated "I learned I probably needed to go to the top legal counsel person at the university .Now I've learned that most certainly."


"I've had a player murdered. I've had a player incarcerated. I've had a player get taken into the drug culture and lose his opportunity for a productive life. So it was obviously tremendously concerning. Quite honestly, I was scared, especially the fact that two of our current players were mentioned in the e-mails.

Tressel received information confirming the names of at least two current players involved in an e-mail dated June 1 (e-mail 3).  In his press conference, Tressel stated that he worried that sitting said players would generate a whole new set of questions and interfere with the federal investigation.

Commentary:
This latest information has turned  Tattoogate which was initially a somewhat underwhelming scandal (in the face of the Cam Newton/Cecil Newton pay-to-play and the Oregon Ducks recruiting service allegations) into a massive scandal which is irreparably damaging to the legacy of Jim Tressel. 

Early reports are suggesting that since Tressel knowingly played players that had committed significant NCAA rules infractions that the Buckeyes victories in 2010 could be forfeited.  This is most notable as it would reinstate the Buckeyes SEC bowl losing streak which dates back to the 1970s.

This scandal brings to light significant cultural issues at the Ohio State University.  Failure to report and adhere to NCAA standards occurred independantly at 3 distinct levels of the football program and athletic department in this case:
1) The players
2) Coach Tressel
3) Athletic Director Gene Smith-  Gene Smith, who assumed his role in 2005 in the midst of a series of 9 NCAA violations which led to Ohio State being placed on probation for 3 years in 2006, stated that players were not adequately notified of NCAA rules applicable to this case until 2009 (some of the sales of memorabilia occurred prior to this time).  While the 9 prior violations which included, a)booster payment of $500 dollars to Troy Smith, b)payment/loans to basketball players and recruits c)$13000 of complimentary dental work provided to members of the womens basketball team, occurred prior to Smith's arrival, it seems that the resultant probation which he oversaw should have increased educational efforts by his compliance staff with the players.  In my time at Ohio State, there were ads on the stadium scoreboard at football games from the compliance department instructing fans that giving money or things of value to student athletes violated NCAA rules.  But according to Smith, this same care was not taken with his athletes.

The player's 5 game suspension has always seemed a bit excessive to me.  However, I am sure that in the wake of Tressel's "obstruction of justice" any attempt at appeal will be rejected. 

The converse is that Tressel's 2 game suspension levied by Ohio State seems comically abbreviated.  While the actual "crime" committed by his players was relatively mild, the severe lack of judgement, failure to investigate and report, and propensity of evidence against Tressel in the case should result in a greater punishment for him.  In fact, his responsibility to report violations is underlined on his contract.  His subsequent failure to report this series of communication when "Tattoo-gate" went public in December will certainly be damaging in the court of public opinion.

If safety of his players was Tressel's only motivation for not levying punishments against players or notifying his superiors, why did Tressel not take action after June 1st when he was informed that there was a resolution in the case between the federal government and the drug trafficker.  Did he actually think that his source could recover the memorabilia and as a result cover up the infractions?

This will likely reshed light on Terrelle Pryor's history of moving violations in 3 different cars from a Columbus auto dealership while his car was reportedly in the shop.  OSU's compliance staff has previously determined that this was not an NCAA violation

I hope that the media gets Tressel to elaborate on what collateral he was referencing in his e-mail from June 1st.

Tressel's fine will be used to pay the Compliance Group- a company that assists athletic departments in dealing with the NCAA during investigations.  It seems that this money should be donated to the schools general scholarship fund and the Athletic department should use their own money to fund the investigation.  Trust me they can afford it.  In 2009-2010, Ohio State spent almost $ 8 million dollars more on their basketball program alone than their nearest competitor 

These events will again reignite the conversation started by Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers in 1988 regarding fair pay for college athletes in revenue generating sports.



sources of e-mails: Columbus Dispatch (http://www.dispatch.com/)

Cleveland Indians Reach Out to Charlie Sheen

Cleveland, OH- Due to his newfound availability, the Cleveland Indians have reportedly approached Charlie Sheen regarding a return to the Indians bullpen.  Team president Mark Shapiro said that one of the key factors that held up the Indians in 2010 was "a lack leadership that knew what winning or bi-winning is all about."  Sheen has not pitched for the Indians since 1994, but is expected to challenge for a role as a setup man in the bullpen.  "Chris Perez did an exceptional job as a closer for us last year, so I suspect if we could add a pitcher who has a little bit of tiger blood and Adonis in his DNA to get us through the 8th we could really be onto something."  When questioned about the timing of this decision, Shapiro explained that "this is the first season since we traded Charlie to Spin City in 2000 that he has been available to come to spring training."

Bob Wickman

Shapiro did voice some concerns regarding bringing Sheen to camp.  Shapiro (having clearly not watched Major League II) went on to say, "The last time I checked he needed heavy prescription glasses to get the ball over the plate and I haven't seen him with anything but shades recently.  I will have our team doctors look in to whether he has had lasik or not."  When asked about Sheen's recent drug binges, Shapiro said "That's not really a concern.  Manny Ramirez played for this team for 8 seasons.  You can't out crazy Manny.  This porn star-cocaine binge stuff is only a code yellow on our Ramirez alert system scale."  "Besides Charlie's binges last for 3 or 4 days and he is back to work.  In 2004, Bob Wickman went on a 8 day Waffle House bender.  The guy missed a key road trip and when he returned he couldn't snap off his slider because he still had syrup on his fingers."  

"We have not been as successful as we would have liked over the past three seasons.  You forget that we were one game away from the world series in 2007."  "Charlie Sheen is responsible for some of the greatest post-season success in this franchise's history.  Sure we went onto two World Series after Major League II but I don't think anyone outside of Atlanta and Cleveland knew there was a World Series in 1995 and 1997, well I can only say two words-Jose Mesa."  He continued,  "Charlie's greatest moments as an Indian were never tainted with real endings like a World Series that was actually shown on screen.  As a member of the Indians family since 1991, I can tell you  that actually watching the Indians in the World Series is never good."    

When reached for comment, Charlie Sheen said that he welcomed the opportunity.  "I have been working out to get ready for Major League 3, my fire breathing fists are ready to go.  I got magic and I got poetry in my fingertips and that is what this bullpen has been missing.  When I throw my slider, I am a high priest vatican assassin warlock.  I will return this team to greatness.  I will make Kerry Wood look like a droopy-eyed armless child.  With my bi-winning, I can win here and win there which should improve the Indians recent abysmal road record."  When asked about the senior leadership Sheen might provide given his prior postseason experience, he said, "I like to think of myself as a manager on the field, every plan I have is the best plan in the room."  He went on to reach out to the Cleveland fan base, "I know what LeBron did to you was cruel, I promise to never leave you cold.  If you are a part of my family, I will love you violently."   He also addressed rumors that the Yankees or Red Sox might be interested in him by saying, "Newsflash: I am special, and I will never be one of you.  The Indians are the only team that I would play for."  He finished the interview with this response to a question regarding his drug addiction, "the only thing that I'm addicted to is winning."

The response throughout Cleveland was overwhelmingly positive.  Cleveland Cavaliers owner, Dan Gilbert- who is also a recovering winning addict, has already reached out to Sheen with information regarding a unique rehab for winners at Promises in Malibu, CA.  "I know that I have relapsed 11 times this year but after getting over the initial shock of LeBron leaving I am almost cured of the need to win.  I mean I traded for Baron Davis, clearly I don't want to win.  Things are looking up."  Drew Carey when reached for comment said, "You remembered that I was alive, I am so flattered.  I have a lot to learn from Charlie, because right now I couldn't get arrested." 

Note: All notations in italics are actual Charlie Sheen quotes