Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991 TAG: 9103290068
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium
Times have changed.
It no longer can be considered coincidental that at virtually every opportunity, Dick Schultz and his cohorts get in a plug for the NCAA's enforcement process.
It happened again Thursday, when Schultz, the former Virginia athletic director, addressed the media on the eve of the Final Four.
Schultz had announced at the NCAA convention in January that a review of the enforcement process was in the works, and it was misunderstood by too many in the media as an apologetic stand for a flawed program.
Now, the frustration is beginning to show even more.
Privately, several NCAA underlings have condemned the CBS feature on Nevada-Las Vegas and Jerry Tarkanian that aired last Saturday, in which only Sports Illustrated's Curry Kirkpatrick showed any understanding of the situation.
James Brown may be an Ivy League graduate, but he needs to understand the difference between administrative and judicial due process, and Billy Packer continues to be an apologist for Tarkanian. Mike Francesa knows nothing, but he's a football guy and I suppose that excuses his ignorance.
Schultz conceded he had become "sensitive to enforcement criticism."
He was unhappy with a national story after a February meeting in Kansas City, in which he gave a generic answer to a generic question about state laws being passed that required courtroom due process in all enforcement cases.
Since the NCAA neither has the power of subpoena nor could obtain it in all 50 states, these legal actions constitute - at the least - an aggravation, regardless of a Supreme Court ruling in its favor against Tarkanian.
Schultz said the NCAA was trying "to show people what due process there is in the educational program."
He also made it clear that most of the state legislation was brought by politicians whose own schools have been penalized. Nevada is one of those.
Asked whether coaches and athletic directors would support reforms suggested last week by the independent Knight Commission, Schultz said: "That's the frustration in trying to establish integrity.
"The coaches and athletic administrators would support it. The biggest challenge is with the public, boosters and alumni.
"If the legislators would focus on the problem and put forth the same energy [they have in producing these anti-NCAA bills], we'd have integrity right now."
Schultz is correct when he says "it's tough to sell the public" that the NCAA doesn't wear a black hat and that it isn't selectively vindictive.
The media is a tough sell, too.
The CBS show was a disgrace because the participants, Kirkpatrick excluded, dealt with cliches. They didn't understand the issue. They think Tarkanian has been singled out, and, besides, "What about the kids?"
Give me a break.
UNLV is being given an opportunity for immortality it doesn't deserve.
These "wonderful kids" are too poor for their families to attend the Final Four (last year's battle cry), but they drive BMWs (Anderson Hunt) and Corvettes (Larry Johnson) and it's been manipulated so it's legal.
These same players were in attendance, in front-row seats that cost $1,000 each, for the Tyson-Ruddock fight, and that's legal, too, said Las Vegas sports editor Bob Sands, a constant critic of Tarkanian.
UNLV is in the Final Four on a pass because the infractions committee took the best deal it could get. In return for letting UNLV defend its title, the committee not only got an agreement from the school to accept a one-year probation with no television appearances, but Tarkanian agreed there would be no lawsuit.
It is likely that the decision was affected by the knowledge that the UNLV players would get an injunction if the probation had remained for 1991.
Maybe the committee made the wrong choice, and it appears Schultz is uncomfortable with the decision.
But those who have charged that CBS was a major player are wrong. Those who believe the NCAA didn't want its No. 1 team on the sideline when it started the $1 billion contract are wrong.
But a lot of people feel that way, and it has become habit-forming to join the long line of NCAA bashers.
Everybody is entitled to their opinion. Too many national journalists have allowed their distaste for NCAA bureaucracy to cloud their minds.
by CNB