More Than a Game
If anyone ever doubted that sport is more than a game, the events of the last few weeks at my alma mater of Indiana University should convince otherwise. The Indiana Hoosier basketball team lost it's coach, Kelvin Sampson, in what amounted to a public lynching for unproven allegations.
Sampson, accused last fall by the NCAA of having participated in no more than ten 3-way phone calls, was investigated at IU's behest by the prestigious Indianapolis law firm of Ice Miller. Based on the firm's findings, Sampson was fined $500,000 and lost a scholarship, but was allowed to continue coaching. He did a great job with a wonderful group of talented young men, leading them to a 22-4 record and a share of the Big Ten title. Then the NCAA, led by deposed IU President Miles Brand, a man with an axe to grind if ever there was one, further investigated Sampson and alleged that he lied to both IU and the NCAA about his participation in the 3-way calls.
Based on those allegations and the calls for Sampson's blood from Bobby Knight Nation, the University abandoned it's coach and its players. Refusing to stand beside Sampson in his fight for his job--chances are the NCAA allegations will remain unproven--IU left Sampson with few options. He resigned and took a buy out.
Now, Sampson hardly has clean hands in this matter. He was found to have made excessive calls while at Oklahoma and it could only be hubris or oversight that allowed him to make a similar mistake at IU. I stress similar, because not even the NCAA alleged that he personally made excessive calls at IU, only that he participated in impermissible 3-ways, then lied about it. It seems Sampson's biggest mistake was failing to recognize the scrutiny Miles Brand had the University under and the long shadow Bobby Knight continues to cast.
Bobby Knight Nation never wanted him as coach--they claimed it was because of the Oklahoma cloud over his head--but it was really because he wasn't one of Bobby's guys. The moment Sampson faltered, the sharks circled and began to feed. He never had a chance. The University, despite the findings of its own investigators at Ice Miller, despite retaining Sampson when the NCAA allegations first surfaced last fall, despite his record and obvious rapport with the players, abandoned the man in a demonstration of duplicitousness that rivals any I've witnessed in Corporate America. Impressive for mere academics.
Now they've got Dan Dakich as their coach, one of Bobby's Boys. I wish him well, but the truth is he brings a lackluster coaching career to the table and the concern is that he's far from the caliber of other Big Ten coaches like Tom Izzo, Bruce Weber, and Bo Ryan. The other truth is, given the way Sampson was treated, a top notch coach (Calipari and Pearl have been mentioned) who is not one of Bobby's Boys would be a fool to take the job.
But none of that really matters. What makes the sport more than a game is how the players--DJ White, Lance Stemler, Armond Basset, Jordan Crawford, Eric Gordon, Demarcus Ellis, and others, have handled this mess. After taking a day to digest it, they came out and played and beat a feisty Northwestern team in Evanston on Saturday. On Tuesday, they fought off a persistent Ohio State team at home. The IU players have demonstrated courage, toughness, restraint, and loyalty of the kind rarely seen anywhere today.
And they did it without being yelled and screamed and cursed at.
Sometimes it takes a crisis to bring out the best in a person. The cream has risen to the top at Assembly Hall.
As disappointed as I am in my alma mater, I'm proud of these kids. They'll get through this despite the lack of support from the students, alumnae, and administration.
Gary
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This is a great summary of where our thinking landed on all of this mess. After yesterday's debacle at MSU, it's pretty evident that my thought about setting things up to fail was correct.
My problem is this: I really like this team. In my mind, after all he's been through, how can D.J. White not be on everyone's "All Time Favorite Hoosiers" list? I liked, despite his cell phone issues, Kelvin Sampson, and I like Dan Dakich. They all have and deserve my support. But this is painful to watch.
These kids want to succeed so badly that I think sometimes it gets in their way. Dan Dakich wants the head coaching job so badly that he can taste it. And he knows the only chance he has to keep it is to make a spectacular run. But the sad part is that they all have all been set-up to fail.
Yes, we both saw Michigan when Frieder quit, but something like that happens once in a lifetime and we're both still alive. Not going to happen again, not this year, not with this team. The hand has been dealt, and its a loser. It's just really hard to watch when so many want it otherwise.
Since my days as a bank loan officer, I have prided myself in my ability to judge character. Obviously I’m not perfect, but I sometimes surprise even myself with my ability to size people up quickly and accurately. I could relate a lot of anecdotes from over the years, but I’m sure on a percentage basis, I’m well above 90% accurate.
So this whole Sampson thing has shaken me, almost to the core. How could I have been so wrong, and on something that I hold so dear as IU Basketball? How could I have been taken in by someone who so blatantly lied, deceived, and misrepresented not only himself, but also his program? In a sentence, I have no idea. I suppose part of it is that I can’t really define how I judge people in the first place. Somehow I consciously or subconsciously just get a feeling of what they are. The feeling that I got from Sampson just turned out to be wrong. The fact that so many others were also wrong is of no comfort whatsoever.
Where it leaves me is doubting my ability to judge people for first time in years. It’s probably why it took me so long to decide whom I wanted to back in the election. Now that I have, I just hope the Sampson thing was an anomaly.