Hope he wins....

[Spence]

http://northcarolina.scout.com/2/1084404.html

Yes he broke the rules and he should pay a price, but not the one that they gave him.

[billybud]

Consistency in sanctions meted out has not been an NCAA hallmark....

[strawman]

Lay down with dogs, you're gonna get fleas.

[Spence]

It just appears to me that the punishment here far exceeds the crime. I guess he should have killed a little girl. That doesn't carry any punishment.

[donovan]

This is because the NCAA operates on the "first the punishment, then the verdict, then the trial, then the investigations sequence." And sadly, it is not that far-fetched.

[Spence]

If you have a school employee breaking the rules I am fine with dropping the hammer. I have a problem, though, with dropping the hammer on a kid who is making that school millions and working his tail off. Yes, he gets an education and if he does it right that will be worth plenty down the road. The problem is, it is hard for the guy not to take things that are offered when they don't have anything. The boosters, coaches, and administration all seem to be "rich" and they can't pay their way into the movies. It is hard to believe most people wouldn't take some "free" stuff if offered. It isn't good for these kids to cheat, but it is just as bad from them to be in a position that most would think about it. I don't know the answer, but punishing kids and slapping the institutions on the hand is wrong.

[strawman]

Saw this on another board and I think it sums up what Spence just said.

Good for the ex-player who is suing. Blake's a runner for an agent and gets $72K walking around money from unc. Butch oversees the whole disaster and has the AD and Chancellor hugging him. It's no wonder the ex-player, who got a little exta help on a paper and $110 worth of nothing, would feel like he's being disproportionally punished.

Good job, carolina. By setting no standards, and not living up to any standards, carolina invited such a lawsuit -- practically begged for it.

If, on the other hand, there was any integrity in Chapel Hill, then Blake wouldn't get $72K, Butch wouldn't have a job, Marvin wouldn't be hanging around for pro day, and players who cheated and got improper benefits would not feel like they were being unfairly singled out when they got punished, too.

[GoBoilers]

Hope the NCAA disappears! Wishful feeling. They need a re-vamp but, I have no clue on where to start OR what it should look. It is a joke the past several decade touting the "student/athlete"!

[Spence]

I think a good start would be to look at the institutions and not the athletes. I'm not saying these kids should do whatever and just walk away, but the way they treat the student athletes compared to the schools is deplorable.

[Vileborg]

Getting help on a paper is academic cheating and since the tutor was paid and provided by the school there was a cheating scandal.

It pales in comparison to us but not to the academic elite who believe in honor policies and integrity of their academic institution. There is plenty of arena football starting up everywhere.

I would like to know what happened to the tutor. Most likely they were fired for an ethics violation. Might even have been kicked out of school and all because they were trying to help someone.

[strawman]

The lack of Honor Court at unc-cheat found nothing wrong and cleared him of cheating, he was only found guilty of getting too much help. The funny thing is the tutor, which also worked for Butch Davis, did a poor job on the paper because she plagerized most of it off of the internet.

[Spence]

My point is fire the guy getting paid. The kid cheated because someone getting paid cheated for him. Again, not condoning the cheating, but the culture supporting it is what needs to change.

[strawman]

but the culture supporting it is what needs to change.

Correct - lack of institutional control. Coaches working for agents, tutors working for the coach also writing papers for players, tutors paying players parking fines and buying airplane tickets, agents and former players acting as runners with full access to the lockeroom and team, players taking payments, trips, gifts, players lying to the NCAA, all of this going on and the coach claims he didn't know. Nice try, but he is getting paid millions to know what is going on with the team besides just Saturday afternoon.

[Spence]

but the culture supporting it is what needs to change.

Correct - lack of institutional control. Coaches working for agents, tutors working for the coach also writing papers for players, tutors paying players parking fines and buying airplane tickets, agents and former players acting as runners with full access to the lockeroom and team, players taking payments, trips, gifts, players lying to the NCAA, all of this going on and the coach claims he didn't know. Nice try, but he is getting paid millions to know what is going on with the team besides just Saturday afternoon.

You can't just hang this on UNC though. It may be not as bad or even worse some other places, but some version of this goes on everywhere. Until the school presidents say it isn't going to happen anymore, it can't change.

[strawman]

I don't doubt that some things go on at most schools, but hopefully not to the degree that it is occuring in chapel hill. I admit I'm biased against them and hope they get what is coming to them. They have preached "The Carolina Way" for far too long and now we know what the real Carolina Way is all about.