ESPN on the FBI investigation

[upstater]

Watching college gameday now and you have Jay Bilas, Seth Greenberg, and Jay Williams.

Jay Bilas: critical of Emmert and NCAA as usual; downplaying it, says that players have been cleared by their schools, with NCAA input; makes it seem the evidence is questionable and not all of it real; mentions Duke and Kentucky where background checks on the players have already been done, and that the players have been believed. Bilas at base doesn't want anyone hurt because he believes players should be paid from the get-go.

Jay Williams: mentions that it could be runners are skimming money off the top and telling the agents that they paid players when in fact the runners have pocketed the money. It's astounding that ESPN even has this guy commenting on this since Wetzel had an article a few years ago that had Williams being a runner himself for an agent--he showed up to a recruiting meeting for Kevin Love at a restaurant with a paper bag and $25k cash in it. Love was even a Duke recruit at the time, and as a booster Williams should have gotten Duke in trouble for doing that. But the NCAA had no interest in investigating it.

Seth Greenberg: says the NCAA is not enthusiastic about the FBI's findings.

ESPN Host: Emmert is ridiculous for suggesting college sports are threatened by this.

The clear push for this ESPN panel is to re-examine the business and to pay the players.

I tend to think the sports-oriented hosts are downplaying the risks here because they don't understand that any player contracts (if paid) have repercussions for the academic industry as a whole and how it deals with cheap/underpaid labor (I'm talking about TAs who earn $10k a year or adjuncts earning $2k per class taught). We've already seen in the Northwestern lawsuit in front of the NLRB (labor relations board) that the officials who rule on these things do not distinguish between athletic student "employees" and academic student "employees." They are the same class for the national labor officials. Northwestern was likened to a favorable ruling for Brown University dealing with grad students, and on that basis the athletes's case was knocked down.

Bilas amazes me. He believes that the athlete's word is good enough. BUT--he's not surprised when people lie? Jay Williams is a hypocrite sitting there. Sean Miller lied. Rick Pitino lied. Yet the athletes are telling the truth that they had no hand in this?

 

[djct1999]

Listening to ESPN is simply a gigantic waste of time. Their commentary is so off topic its clear they are pushing a specific agenda. I heard Greenberg this am still claim that coaches don't know a thing about what is going on. Yeah, right. We now know that the going rate for a 5 star is 100-150k. There isn't a single five star out there that hasn't received as much. Duke, Kentucky included.

Again, don't look any further than Zion Williamson. Does anyone think he chose Duke for free?

 

[bigAbruns]

Listening to ESPN is simply a gigantic waste of time. Their commentary is so off topic its clear they are pushing a specific agenda. I heard Greenberg this am still claim that coaches don't know a thing about what is going on. Yeah, right. We now know that the going rate for a 5 star is 100-150k. There isn't a single five star out there that hasn't received as much. Duke, Kentucky included.

Again, don't look any further than Zion Williamson. Does anyone think he chose Duke for free?

Of course the coaches know...when practice starts and three players each drive up in a brand new car...wonder how they got those. These ESPN morons are just trying to make it a non issue because their precious schools are involved

 

[whaler11]

Watching college gameday now and you have Jay Bilas, Seth Greenberg, and Jay Williams.

Jay Bilas: critical of Emmert and NCAA as usual; downplaying it, says that players have been cleared by their schools, with NCAA input; makes it seem the evidence is questionable and not all of it real; mentions Duke and Kentucky where background checks on the players have already been done, and that the players have been believed. Bilas at base doesn't want anyone hurt because he believes players should be paid from the get-go.

Jay Williams: mentions that it could be runners are skimming money off the top and telling the agents that they paid players when in fact the runners have pocketed the money. It's astounding that ESPN even has this guy commenting on this since Wetzel had an article a few years ago that had Williams being a runner himself for an agent--he showed up to a recruiting meeting for Kevin Love at a restaurant with a paper bag and $25k cash in it. Love was even a Duke recruit at the time, and as a booster Williams should have gotten Duke in trouble for doing that. But the NCAA had no interest in investigating it.

Seth Greenberg: says the NCAA is not enthusiastic about the FBI's findings.

ESPN Host: Emmert is ridiculous for suggesting college sports are threatened by this.

The clear push for this ESPN panel is to re-examine the business and to pay the players.

I tend to think the sports-oriented hosts are downplaying the risks here because they don't understand that any player contracts (if paid) have repercussions for the academic industry as a whole and how it deals with cheap/underpaid labor (I'm talking about TAs who earn $10k a year or adjuncts earning $2k per class taught). We've already seen in the Northwestern lawsuit in front of the NLRB (labor relations board) that the officials who rule on these things do not distinguish between athletic student "employees" and academic student "employees." They are the same class for the national labor officials. Northwestern was likened to a favorable ruling for Brown University dealing with grad students, and on that basis the athletes's case was knocked down.

Bilas amazes me. He believes that the athlete's word is good enough. BUT--he's not surprised when people lie? Jay Williams is a hypocrite sitting there. Sean Miller lied. Rick Pitino lied. Yet the athletes are telling the truth that they had no hand in this?

I saw some of it. It’s embarrassing.

Bilas has spent the last two days making a fool of himself.

 

[upstater]

Of course the coaches know...when practice starts and three players each drive up in a brand new car...wonder how they got those. These ESPN morons are just trying to make it a non issue because their precious schools are involved

Their jobs could depend on it too.

Greenberg mentioned that the NBA needs to step in with a minor league. If college bball becomes another college baseball, then sure ESPN will still show it, but with lower ratings, there will be less money, less exposure, etc. The announcers and hosts will not be getting paid the same.

They all have a stake in this.

 

[superjohn]

Listening to ESPN is simply a gigantic waste of time. Their commentary is so off topic its clear they are pushing a specific agenda. I heard Greenberg this am still claim that coaches don't know a thing about what is going on. Yeah, right. We now know that the going rate for a 5 star is 100-150k. There isn't a single five star out there that hasn't received as much. Duke, Kentucky included.

Again, don't look any further than Zion Williamson. Does anyone think he chose Duke for free?

K is greasy as hell, zero chance he didn't pay for Zion and Bagley.

 

[TRest]

I saw some of it. It’s embarrassing.

Bilas has spent the last two days making a fool of himself.

Bilas’s reputation as a smart guy is mainly based on the company he keeps.

 

[Husky68]

I saw some of it. It’s embarrassing.

Bilas has spent the last two days making a fool of himself.

"Toughness", it's all about "toughness". Jay wrote the book on it. All these talking heads, ex-players, ex-coaches know "what's up". The ESPN talking heads' paychecks require "the show must go on" and anything that threatens that must be stopped. UNCheat had the right idea, use the rules to make it "ok" just like Scam Newton and the payoff to his ol' man which he knew nothing about or Stanford with its "list" for classes for athletes to "consider"; these guys ain't dumb, you can't write a rule they can't get around. Still waiting for the NCAA to come down on Puke for Maggette. Really dumb guys play by the rules as written and get APR penalties.

 

[8893]

Bilas’s reputation as a smart guy is mainly based on the company he keeps.

That’s why I love the Boneyard.

 

[TRest]

That’s why I love the Boneyard.

The One-eyed King.

 

[freescooter]

I saw some of it. It’s embarrassing.

Bilas has spent the last two days making a fool of himself.

Bilias has been a fool far longer than that, but you are right that he has on this subject. He and the rest of the ESPN crew are simply circling the wagons to defend their product. They will turn on some day soon enough though

 

[CL82]

Bilias is biased. He may be in denial because he doesn't want the illusion of Duke doing things the right way to pierced or he may be deliberately blowing smoke for the same reason.

 

[Skiblets]

Bilas is so anti NCAA that he has mentally twisted this into justification

 

[CL82]

Bilas’s reputation as a smart guy is mainly based on the company he keeps.

I had a colleague who was talking to a member of a competing organization after we had a few defections. The other guy was a gloating a bit and said well so long as everyone finds a fit that works for them. My buddy looked at the guy and said something like "Absolutely, I think anyone leaving (here) for (there) results in an increase in the average IQ of both organizations. The other guy smiled and agreed but after a moment looked puzzled as he tried to work out whether he'd just been insulted.

 

[Hoophound]

This is all about protecting the ACC. Bilas is smart.....and he knows what he’s doing. He’s creating a narrative to feed the public so nobody cares as the news creeps out. This is a mess and if they didn’t catch UK, someone in the FBI should make it his mission. They will have the bombshell results.

 

[Jaker]

As a lawyer, Bilas also knows what slander is and that he has to be careful what he says in public.

 

[c29328]

This whole “pay the players” point of view is obtuse. If you allowed payment then everybody gets a slice. Of course nobody will stop there. The Millers of the world will still say “how about an extra 100k to choose me”. It’s a diversion from the corruption to a topic many are sympathetic too. They are playing us.

 

[freescooter]

This whole “pay the players” point of view is obtuse. If you allowed payment then everybody gets a slice. Of course nobody will stop there. The Millers of the world will still say “how about an extra 100k to choose me”. It’s a diversion from the corruption to a topic many are sympathetic too. They are playing us.

I once had a boss who liked to say “ For every problem there is a solution that is simple, straight forward, and completely wrong.” That is the “paying the players” solution. Especially in basketball but in baseball and a few others too players can already go a route to get paid. There is th d league, Europe, Asia for all I know Australia and Antarctica. So that argument is a total non-starter and utterly irrelevant to the issue st hand. Want to pay for play? Go to Sweden and prove yourself there.

 

[upstater]

Read the Emeka Okafor piece on CBS Sports recently. He describes the lack of training facilities in the NBDL, the middle school gyms, the long bus rides to places no one has ever heard of.

This is what the market will bear.

And everyone knows that any NBDL team would kill a college team. So we're not talking about an inferior level of basketball.

 

[TRUCONN76]

What I think a lot of people may be missing is that the FBI probe may in fact be much larger than anyone realizes. I would not be surprised if ESPN and the NCAA itself also conspired to help certain programs in recruiting and protection. If you step back and think about it, ESPN can certainly save a lot of money in promoting while maintaining ratings if a smaller number of programs are assured of winning by getting the top recruits. They then focus on those programs relentlessly. The NCAA gets paid a higher amount for the rights with the understanding that the chosen programs are protected. It is then not much of a stretch to think they may have an interest in hindering competion for these athletes by having the NCAA go after programs that appear to be a competitive threat with ESPN cooperating by relentlessly covering anything negative regarding these programs. My point here is that this makes more sense to me than the notion that certain schools hate UCONN and Emmert has a grudge. I think it is just business to the shoe companies, ESPN and the NCAA nothing personal.

You have to wonder what is the purpose of these leaks supposedly coming from the FBI. Why would they need to leak information if they have the case to take action. I suggest that these leaks are strategic in nature. They are sending a message to those who haven't cooperated. They are demonstrating that they have hard evidence. They are I believe telling them in interviews that they have a lot more evidence and the capability of sending them to jail. I would not at all be surprised if the magnitude of this investigation is far beyond what anyone is expecting.

Emmert is certainly worried. He has tried to provide cover for himself by setting up an independent committee to look into these matters. Emmert is on the committee along with a lot of his buddies like Jeff Hathaway. Any such committee should be formed by the presidents of the member institutions since Emmert himself should be the number one target of any internal investigation.

 

[CL82]

What I think a lot of people may be missing is that the FBI probe may in fact be much larger than anyone realizes. I would not be surprised if ESPN and the NCAA itself also conspired to help certain programs in recruiting and protection. If you step back and think about it, ESPN can certainly save a lot of money in promoting while maintaining ratings if a smaller number of programs are assured of winning by getting the top recruits. They then focus on those programs relentlessly. The NCAA gets paid a higher amount for the rights with the understanding that the chosen programs are protected. It is then not much of a stretch to think they may have an interest in hindering competion for these athletes by having the NCAA go after programs that appear to be a competitive threat with ESPN cooperating by relentlessly covering anything negative regarding these programs. My point here is that this makes more sense to me than the notion that certain schools hate UCONN and Emmert has a grudge. I think it is just business to the shoe companies, ESPN and the NCAA nothing personal.

You have to wonder what is the purpose of these leaks supposedly coming from the FBI. Why would they need to leak information if they have the case to take action. I suggest that these leaks are strategic in nature. They are sending a message to those who haven't cooperated. They are demonstrating that they have hard evidence. They are I believe telling them in interviews that they have a lot more evidence and the capability of sending them to jail. I would not at all be surprised if the magnitude of this investigation is far beyond what anyone is expecting.

Emmert is certainly worried. He has tried to provide cover for himself by setting up an independent committee to look into these matters. Emmert is on the committee along with a lot of his buddies like Jeff Hathaway. Any such committee should be formed by the presidents of the member institutions since Emmert himself should be the number one target of any internal investigation.

Conspiracy Kitty says:
I approve this post!

 

[huskymedic]

Any such committee should be formed by the presidents of the member institutions since Emmert himself should be the number one target of any internal investigation.

?? The NCAA IS run by the member institutions (Presidents) - the member schools are just as much to blame as Emmert for this debacle. They have the power to change it if they have the desire.

Board of Governors Roster

Joint Statement of the NCAA Board of Governors and Division I Board of Directors

 

[olehead]

Watching college gameday now and you have Jay Bilas, Seth Greenberg, and Jay Williams.

Jay Bilas: critical of Emmert and NCAA as usual; downplaying it, says that players have been cleared by their schools, with NCAA input; makes it seem the evidence is questionable and not all of it real; mentions Duke and Kentucky where background checks on the players have already been done, and that the players have been believed. Bilas at base doesn't want anyone hurt because he believes players should be paid from the get-go.

Jay Williams: mentions that it could be runners are skimming money off the top and telling the agents that they paid players when in fact the runners have pocketed the money. It's astounding that ESPN even has this guy commenting on this since Wetzel had an article a few years ago that had Williams being a runner himself for an agent--he showed up to a recruiting meeting for Kevin Love at a restaurant with a paper bag and $25k cash in it. Love was even a Duke recruit at the time, and as a booster Williams should have gotten Duke in trouble for doing that. But the NCAA had no interest in investigating it.

Seth Greenberg: says the NCAA is not enthusiastic about the FBI's findings.

ESPN Host: Emmert is ridiculous for suggesting college sports are threatened by this.

The clear push for this ESPN panel is to re-examine the business and to pay the players.

I tend to think the sports-oriented hosts are downplaying the risks here because they don't understand that any player contracts (if paid) have repercussions for the academic industry as a whole and how it deals with cheap/underpaid labor (I'm talking about TAs who earn $10k a year or adjuncts earning $2k per class taught). We've already seen in the Northwestern lawsuit in front of the NLRB (labor relations board) that the officials who rule on these things do not distinguish between athletic student "employees" and academic student "employees." They are the same class for the national labor officials. Northwestern was likened to a favorable ruling for Brown University dealing with grad students, and on that basis the athletes's case was knocked down.

Bilas amazes me. He believes that the athlete's word is good enough. BUT--he's not surprised when people lie? Jay Williams is a hypocrite sitting there. Sean Miller lied. Rick Pitino lied. Yet the athletes are telling the truth that they had no hand in this?

Me thinks there is wrongdoing on the athlete's (family) side as well as the institution-NCAA, agents, NBA, etc. But, if we're talking contractual relationship, it's an adhesion relationship, the relationship is inequitable. It's the athlete and perhaps athlete's family in some instances with limited resources vs. institutions -NCAA with a vault. So, while I get holding all involved accountable, I think a clear view shows percentages of assigned fault. Lastly, and I hate being political and slightly OT, but why is it that women's hoops tend to get off scot-free? Certainly, their five-star recruits have a marketplace.

 

[Sky ball]

What I think a lot of people may be missing is that the FBI probe may in fact be much larger than anyone realizes. I would not be surprised if ESPN and the NCAA itself also conspired to help certain programs in recruiting and protection. If you step back and think about it, ESPN can certainly save a lot of money in promoting while maintaining ratings if a smaller number of programs are assured of winning by getting the top recruits. They then focus on those programs relentlessly. The NCAA gets paid a higher amount for the rights with the understanding that the chosen programs are protected. It is then not much of a stretch to think they may have an interest in hindering competion for these athletes by having the NCAA go after programs that appear to be a competitive threat with ESPN cooperating by relentlessly covering anything negative regarding these programs. My point here is that this makes more sense to me than the notion that certain schools hate UCONN and Emmert has a grudge. I think it is just business to the shoe companies, ESPN and the NCAA nothing personal.

You have to wonder what is the purpose of these leaks supposedly coming from the FBI. Why would they need to leak information if they have the case to take action. I suggest that these leaks are strategic in nature. They are sending a message to those who haven't cooperated. They are demonstrating that they have hard evidence. They are I believe telling them in interviews that they have a lot more evidence and the capability of sending them to jail. I would not at all be surprised if the magnitude of this investigation is far beyond what anyone is expecting.

Emmert is certainly worried. He has tried to provide cover for himself by setting up an independent committee to look into these matters. Emmert is on the committee along with a lot of his buddies like Jeff Hathaway. Any such committee should be formed by the presidents of the member institutions since Emmert himself should be the number one target of any internal investigation.

Thinking about your FBI Strategic in nature comment. It could also be directed at Football. If this is going on in basketball I can just imagine what is going on in Football? 10X? 20X? 100X? 1000X?

 

[BUConn10]

ESPN only wants college players paid so they can legally stalk them all day long and write Stop headlines from their out of context words. Since they aren't the ones paying them it's all gravy for ESPN, pretty simple.