Ever see the movie Scent of a Woman with Al Pacino?  He defends a young man who saw three of his classmates pull a pratical joke on the dean of the prep school they attend.  Instead of being pressured to sell out to protect himself, as one of the three has done, he stays honorable and will not give in to coercion to give up his classmates.  The lesson learned is that honor still has a place in our society, though it seems lost on many who are more concerned about looking out for themselves. 

We were kicking it at Game Over Headquarters when word came down that Kelvin Sampson accepted a $750,000 buy out of his contract to resign immediately.  Whoa, the hypocrisy meter went up and we all put our two cents in.  Here is how we see it.

First, Indiana University knew of the allegations against Sampson, in fact, he was hired with full knowledge AND the NCAA penalties that came with him.  In fact, Sampson was put on notice at the time of hiring that he could not conduct himself in the same manner if he expected to stay as head coach. - First Game Over reaction - Sampson, seriously, how in the world do you commit the same infractions?  Or have your staff do it for you?  Yeah, competition in the Big Ten, and the whole NCAA is tough for recruits, but that means you have to do a better job selling the program with less face time - and to explain to the recruits that the reason you are not flooding their cell phones three times a day is not that you don't love them but that you don't want the school to go on NCAA probation when they got on campus. 

Second, the NCAA got its teeth into Sampson the way they did former UNLV head coach Jerry Tarkanian and just wouldn't let go.  Okay, so he flagrantly violated NCAA rules, in fact, the same rules they just nailed him on back at Oklahoma.  But why are you keeping him on such a tight leash?  He ia already paying a penalty of a lost scholarship at IU.  Other coaches are out there for you to teach a lesson.  Now we are not saying that he isn't possibly guilty of the allegations, but why is the microscope on him like an ant?

Finally, the best for last, Indiana University.  An institution of higher learning.  Oh, the lessons they are teaching.  First, the always good, throw the alleged guilty under the bus to save your hide.  Lets look at the facts, the NCAA was investigating and had not as yet made formal charges against Sampson.  Sampson would have 90 days to then rebutt the allegations. Worried of the possible sanctions and loss of face, IU launches its own, ad hoc investigation for one week.  Its intent, to head the NCAA off at the pass and if they find Sampson and staff guilty, take their own action to stave off whatever harsher sanctions may occur by NCAA punishment.  So they find that one of their own has violated the rules, and then take the harshest of actions.  They look to fire their head coach three quarters through the season.  Whatever happened to the street ethic of protecting your own?

Was there truly any thought about the current student athletes and staff that have at this date put together a tremendous season?  Is the school too far to the right in its view that these are Student athletes and it is a privelege that they enjoy.  That IU is a school of higher learning and athletics come second.  We can understand that.  But what about innocent until proven guilty?  How many attorney's defend known guilty parties because that is a constitutional right of all persons.  While IU is no attorney, do they have any responsibility to honor and defend one of their own?

What about the affect it has on the student athletes under its care?  Most have only known Sampson as their coach as he recruited them.  They are on the verge of capturing a Big Ten championship, don't they deserve to have their head coach when they enter the NCAA's?  Or is this just a day care center for ball players as they then move on to the pros.  You can't condemn student athletes for coming in, using the system as a means to move on to the NBA or other professional league if the system is using them (how many uniform tops are sold throughout the USA with the number and/or name of the student athlete on them) without the student athelte seeing one dime?  If this is a business (no fooling), don't get your britches tied in a knot when the student atheltes you are "looking out for" treat it as a business too.

So what could have, should have been done?  One possible solution was for IU to investigate and hold onto its results until after the season was concluded so as to not upset the team.  Or, acknowledge the infractions by Sampson and tell him and the NCAA that appropriate actions will be taken at the end of the season.  The NCAA can accept the findings of IU and agree not to impose any greater sanctions when IU does punish and/or fires Sampson.  It shows institutional control on the part of IU and demonstrates that the self-policing system works to the NCAA.

Perhaps no other aspect of the NCAA is reviled more by the general public than its manner of imposing sanctions.  If the idea is for schools to not violate the rules, and if they do, correct it, than why is a hammer necessary to kill a fly?  Great life lessons we teach the student athletes, and all students around the world.

Saw the Suns – Lakers last night.  It won’t take too long for Shaq to fit in and the Suns will be a major power. He’s going to make Amare an MVP candidate.  With that said, how f-ing good is Kobe?  I will go so far to say that his basketball skills are better than anyone who has ever played (including players with the initials MJ).  He may not be as tough mentally as some players with the initials MJ but with him the Lakers will be awesome for the next few years (and possibly this year if Bynum comes back in time to be ready for the playoffs).  The thing I took away from that game was that the Jason Kidd trade was a fairly big mistake for Dallas—you don’t mortgage your future to be fourth best in your conference. Also, the Spurs will need more points from their bench—while Kurt Thomas helps, he doesn’t replace the fading contributions from Horry and Bowen.  It’ll be fun to watch the Western playoffs that’s for sure . . . Also, I should clarify, that MJ in his prime would be who I would take if I were a GM choosing between Prime Kobe and Prime MJ.  However, as a fan evaluating basketball talent—even MJ was not a pure a player as Kobe.  Kobe’s silk factor is off the chart . . .- A. Katz, Philly

What a joke!  Jerry Stackhouse can't keep himself from dropping a dime on himself and what the plans of the Nets / Mavericks regarding his playing after the trade.  You see, what was supposed to go down was this: the Mavs get Jason Kidd and bodies and the Nets get bodies, draft choices, and $.  One of those bodies was going to be a short-term deal, Stackhouse.  He would report, the Nets would release him within a month's time, and he would resign with the Mavs.  He would lose no money, go from a team that is thankful the Knicks are in their division, rest a little, and then refreshed go back to a team that is going to contend for a title AND with J Kidd running the show!  But he had to inform on himself to the NBA police and the deal was off.

Or so it seemed.  You see, here is where the double-standard kicks in.  The NBA didn't want the teams to get around the intent of the trade just to satisfy the salary cap requirements on trades.  Here, Stackhouse was going to return to the Mavs after a short term, so he really wasn't "traded".  Ah, but you have to love loopholes.  When a player no longer is playing but hasn't filed with the NBA office his retirement papers, he can stay the property of the team he last played for.  Therefore if he wants to "unretire", such as Chris Webber last year halfway through the season (we should call this the Roger Clemens Rule), he can play for the team he last played for.

And that is how this trade got done.  By some miracle (read, a new contract for going to the Nets, "attempt" a comeback for a period of time, and then decide that your legs just won't carry you the rest of the season) Keith Van Horn decided it was time to attempt to add to his career stats.  Lets be real.  While the NBA says they looked into the reasons for Van Horn coming back and they are legit (if you are faking they will know - now how in the world will they know?, not everyone is Stackhouse and is going to tell everyone what they really are thinking), why in the world would he comeback to a team that has lost the season series to the Knicks?  He can't be trying to make a post-season push like Kidd.  But for sweating for a month or so he will collect some good $$$.  Enough dollars that you and I could retire on.  For a month's fake work.  And you thought the supposed college jobs wre you wouldn't even have to show up to the booster's business to get paid were a scam.

But our question is, NBA, why is one okay but the other not?

The on-again / off-again /on-again trade of the Nets point guard supreme to the Dallas Mavericks is a joke.  Besides the questions as to why Dallas wants Kidd (we know, he is a great guard, but they need help in hte forecourt, not the backcourt if they want to challenge LA and Phoenix).  The affair became funny when Devean George envoked his right not to be traded.  We could all understand that, why leave the playoof contender and luxury conditions that Mark Cuban provides for the swamps of New Jersey?  But then Jerry Stackhouse had to open his mouth.

Here is where the silliness begins.  The plan, as according to Stackhouse, was for him to join the Nets and after a short period of time (and probable rest), he would be bought out of his contract (after all, New Jersey already has two players that play his position in Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter) and he would resign with the Mavericks in time for the stretch run.  But he had to open his mouth and now, supposedly, the NBA has stated that Stackhouse cannot be a part of the deal because of the deception (David Stern denies that the league office says Stackhouse cannot be part of the deal).  Deals like this happen all the time, but its done so the NBA doesn't take it in the face when its to get around its rules.  All Stackhouse had to do was shut his mouth, spend a month or less in dreary New Jersey, get bought out, and return to the Mavs.  And the beauty - they would have Kidd to lead them to a potential Western Confrence Final.  Now its possible he will remain a Mav and without getting Kidd, which means the team will be poorer.

It is possible the deal will be ressurected, and it sounds as if it is with Keith Van Horne replacing Stackhouse.  But it was so close that to his own benefit that Stackhouse not only blew it for himself but for his team by being heard, whereas he should have just been seen.

A week ago Bobby Knight stpped down as the head basketball coach of Texas Tech University.  A firestorm ensued for his timing - it was selfish, it was irresponsible, he would have taken a chair to any of his players if they were to quit on him, and it was loyalty.  In Coach Knights own code of ethics, he saw that with a new president coming in at Texas Tech they potentially may not honor the agreement to have Knight's son, Pat, take over as head coach when Knight steps down.  What are some more wins on a Hall of Fame career when he could step aside and allow his son ten games to get his resume together in case he is released at the end of the year when Texas Tech conducts a formal search for its next head coach.

There is no question regarding Bobby Knight's antics over the course of his career.  They taint his accomplishments.  It makes it difficult to answer the question "would you send your son to play for Coach Knight?".  There are no ifs here, you either say yes or no.  And if its no, its because you base it on chair throwing, reporter dumping, whipping of a player at a news conference, etc., etc., etc.  Poor choices at humor and expression.  Things that would get his players in trouble if they did it.  At the same time he was a coaching genius.  Revolutionizing game preparation.  There was a time where you didn't want to give "Coach Knight two days to prepare" because that was all he would need to defeat you.  There is also the loyalty that he shows to his former players, such as Landon Turner who is confined to a wheelchair after an auto accident.  It was Knight that arranged for him to be taken care of.  Now he is trying to do the same for his son, as any father would do.  Yes, he has not completed his contract, and he has left the players that he recruited, but he was going to leave at the end of the year, the team is not perfroming at a championship level, therefore, there is nothing for the team to lose and everything for it to gain if the "new" Coach Knight shows that he has learned at the knee of his father how to coach the game.

Wow, the new Spit Ball results are crazy.  Two weeks ago T-Gauge had a lead so large it seemed all the excitement was sucked right out of the competition.  It was like watching Flavor of Love 3 or the Knicks play the Spurs .. . Ya know the end result so why bother.  Not so fast, Taron's spit caught fire.  The voters in 2008 felt the flow and have spoken, over 2,000 voters have pushed Taron into the top spot past T-Guage.  There is still time in this round and we will be announcing the prizes very soon.  What's the deal with Lil Slice everyone who peeps her spit says she's got fire in her flow . . . She needs the votes to be crowned the Queen of Spit Ball.  Brooklyn we are surprised by the lack of support.  To all you Spit Ball fans holla at your friends and tell them to vote!

The Phoenix Sunsa are banking on a change of scenery and a little rest before the play-offs will allow Shaquille O'Neal to rise from the ashes of poor health to lead the Suns to the NBA Finals.  When it comes down to it, the Suns lost nothing in the transaction.  Shawn Marion was leaving at the end of the season for a pay day and has been disruptive in the lockerroom.  It might be a simple case of addition-by-subtraction.

But from the Suns view, they know the game they play of going up-and-dwon the court will not exist during the play-offs where the game changes to a half=court battle.  Sop Shaq won't make it up and down the court like a gryehound, but they don't need him to and don't want him to.  They want his half court presence to give the explosive Suns another dimension and take away the chance of playing the jump shooters tight.

Will Shaq make a difference?  Maybe not on the court, but who here doesn't expect to be glued to the television during the Western Conference play-offs.  Oh, and by-the-way, you got to think that the Mavericks are seriously considering Jason Kidd as a means to counter-act the acquisition of Pau Gason by the Lakers and now Shaq by the Suns.  PLay-offs cannot come quick enough.