First off, check out
John M.’s post on the Kravitz article over at Hoosier
Report. Similar thoughts as mine, but he offers up a better
point-by-point breakdown of where Kravitz is off base.
Allow me then to move onto another columnist who’s
connection with reality is tenuous at best. Kevin Scarbinsky,
for reasons known only to himself, offered this
beautiful piece of literature entitled “Maybe now, IU
basketball fans will let Mike Davis go. Since Inside the
Hall
has already taken Mr. Scarbinsky to task for his
contention that IU fans are still obsessed with Davis, let
me go after a different part of the article.
More than a few Indiana basketball fans are going to
read it and see red.
It won’t matter that it’s written in Birmingham, a long
way from Bloomington. Or that Davis left there two years
and two coaches ago.
It won’t even matter that Indiana basketball fans
should have more pressing concerns, with their program
headed toward an inquisition in front of the NCAA
Infractions Committee this weekend in Seattle.
Inquisition! Tolstoy! Repent! Look, I know your job is to
sell papers, but let’s be realistic about what this is: it’s
a boring administrative hearing, likely in some hotel
meeting room. It’s a hearing with rules and procedure. Let
me also offer a guess as to what is going to happen: IU is
going to nod its figurative head like a little boy who is
being scolded for playing in the house and agree
wholeheartedly that the other kid (Sampson) actually broke
the lamp.
No one knows how hard the Infractions Committee will
hit Indiana, though a review of the enforcement staff’s
just-released case summary suggests a jackhammer might be
in order
.
I’m going to ask Mr. Scarbinsky the same question I asked
Kravitz: just what exactly suggests this? The fact that the
COI dismissed one of the major violations? The fact that the
case summary hammers Sampson and Senderoff while at times
expressly disagreeing with the two that the compliance
department was at fault? The fact that a source has offered
up evidence that there were less (ok, one less but still)
impermissible three-way calls than previously thought?
They’re like some LSU football fans still obsessed with
Nick Saban, except LSU football fans didn’t hate Saban
when he worked there and didn’t want him to leave.
Don’t try to paint IU fans keeping up with Davis as
unique to IU, and especially don’t use the example of Saban.
Yeah, LSU fans might not care, but Michigan State fans
still keep tabs on the guy, wish him ill, and call him
“Nick Satan.”
The article offers a dead-on statement about Davis: that
his departure from IU was much cleaner and had a lot less
turmoil than either Knight’s or Sampson’s. And I might even
disagree with Big A speaking for all IU fans that they don’t
care about Davis: combing through Peegs will reveal a number
of threads that show IU fans are still keeping an eye on
Davis to make sure that they were right, which is an odd
sort of obsession. But before you start running your mouth
about how a “jackhammer” is coming or how IU should be ready
for an “inquisition,” how about you review some facts first.
At least Scarbinsky has an accuse Kravitz cannot resort
to: he’s in Alabama, and not covering IU for a living.
IU Fan Factions - Conclusions (Part II)
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So we just spent a week learning pretty much what we already know. The Hoosier Family is broken. A bunch of different groups with different goals, different values, and different agendas have been created by a polarizing coach, his shady ouster, a new and unsuccessful approach by his successor, and a risky hire that burned IU as bad as possible. And now, as everyone knows, Coach Crean needs to come in and reunite the Hoosier Family, mend fences, apply bandages, get everyone together to roast marshmellows and sing “Kumbaya,” right?
Continue reading ‘IU Fan Factions - Conclusions (Part II)’