Wednesday, April 15, 2009

FWD: The Undressing of Bill Self: A look back at Kansas Basketball

NOTE: This post is not my original work. I wish it were. It was originally found on Tigerboard.com, a message board for the use of fans of the Missouri Tigers.

To visit Tigerboard, you may not know it was for MU fans, by the sheer number of Kansas Jayhawk posters there, but trust me - it's a Mizzou site.

I'm copying and pasting the following from that site because it involves a detailed account of activities within the Kansas basketball program. Seems like when something negative occurs within the KU program, most media sources tend to hide it, or at least bury it until it becomes so old that no one really cares anymore. So in the name of Truth, Justice, and the Tiger way, please enjoy the following:

http://www.tigerboard.com/boards/missouri-tigers.php?message=6559640

The Self Years

**Note – this is not meant to represent a complete picture. It only contains information that has publically been brought to light.
2003 offseason

After going on national television and proclaiming “I don’t give a **** about North Carolina, Roy Williams in a surprise move takes the knife which he has used to stab anyone in reach in the back with the last 10 years and plunges it squarely in KU fans hearts - proclaims the KU head coaching job to be a stepping stone job by leaving for North Carolina, just as his predecessor did. Tears are shed by all parties.

In an ironic twist of fate, after being chastised by KU fans for coaching a brand of basketball that is a disgrace to the game and not really basketball after hammering KU out of the 2001 NCAA tournament, Bill Self leaves Illinois and is introduced as Kansas basketball coach

Darnell Jackson becomes Self’s first commit to Kansas as after receiving over $5,000 in illegal benefits during his recruitment.

2003-2004 Season

Kansas, under Bill Self, after only two games becomes ranked #1 in the Nation;

In its first game thereafter, #1 Kansas promptly loses to Stanford (64-58] surrendering its No. 1 ranking; Next, Kansas is blown out by Nevada (75-61); A week and a half later, Kansas suffers humiliating defeat AT HOME against Richmond (69-68];

Another week and a half later, Kansas loses to Iowa State (68-61); then is crushed by Oklahoma State (80-60), crushed by Nebraska (74-55) and crushed by Texas (82-67)

After finishing 3rd in the conference Kansas loses again to Texas in second round of Big 12 tournament (64-60);

Kansas loses to Georgia Tech (79-71) in NCAA tournament after beating heavyweights UIC, Pacific and Alabama-Birmingham;

2004 offseason
Departing players receive customary graduation checks from appreciative boosters. Team sets off on illegally organized barnstorming tour where they receive the gate money to supplement their income.

Omar Wilkes, Moulaye Niang, David Padgett announce they are transferring from Kansas basketball program;

Kurtis Townsend hired as assistant basketball coach; Townsend’s experience includes being a member of the staff at California (1993-1997) during one of the largest NCAA recruiting violation investigations in history which landed the school on 3 years probation. He followed that up as an assistant at Michigan (1998-2001) during the greatest recruiting scandal in the history of the NCAA, which resulted in four years of major sanctions for the school; As a bonus to the Kansas basketball program, Townsend brought along with him recruit C.J. Giles, formerly committed to USC when Townsend was coaching there. However, when Townsend left USC for Miami, G.J. Giles transferred along with him to Miami. Once Townsend was fired at Miami, C.J. Giles again transferred with him, this time to Kansas.

Julian Wright commits to Kansas without ever visiting campus; Wright, who had previously eliminated Kansas from his list apparently and inexplicably changed his mind and committed on the spot during a Self and Townsend in-home visit; Scheduled visits to various other schools are abruptly cancelled;

Perhaps not surprisingly, Rodrick Stewart, another one of Townsend’s former players and recruits, transfers to Kansas from USC;
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cbasketball/176969_locke09.html

2004-05 regular season

Kansas blown out in 20 point loss (83-62) to Villanova;

Kansas loses three in a row to Texas Tech (80-79); Iowa State AT HOME (63-61); to Oklahoma (71-63);

Kansas loses to rival Missouri (72-68];

In a strange and somewhat sad tradition, KU finishes second in conference Oklahoma but in an attempt to appear something they are not claim a conference championship despite losing the tiebreaker to them. Kansas knocked out of Big 12 tournament (78-75) in loss to Oklahoma State;

Self manages to accomplish something that hasn’t been done at KU since 1978, as Kansas is shocked in first round of NCAA tournament (64-63) by 14th seed BUCKNELL. It is the first NCAA tournament victory ever for Bucknell’s entire conference, and the first win by a 14 seed since 1999. The preseason #1 team ends its season by losing to a team with only 5 scholarship players.
Benefiting from having a game day coach and tactician, Illinois goes 37-2 and reaches the NCAA title game.

2005 Offseason
Departing players receive customary graduation checks from appreciative boosters. Team sets off on illegally organized barnstorming tour where they receive the gate money to supplement their income.
Alex Galindo and Nick Bahe announce they are transferring from Kansas basketball program;

Only 300 fans show up for Kansas basketball awards ceremony; Majority of seating for 2,024 remains empty; “The ones who didn't show up can sit behind their desk, their computers or whatever and complain till next season," said always-quotable Keith Langford.

Highly publicized bar fight involving starting guard J.R. Giddens occurs. Multiple witnesses report that Giddens was the primary instigator in an attack that saw 10-12 people beat Olathe resident Jeremiah Creswell with fists, bricks and bottles. Saying he was trying to defend himself, Creswell brandished a knife and stabbed Giddens and four others. Witnesses said KU forward C.J. Giles also threw a punch and tossed bricks at Creswell as he lay defenseless on the ground getting stomped.

At some point in June, Kansas athletic department receives anonymous tip regarding improprieties centering around J.R. Giddens and NCAA recruiting violations
Ronnie Chalmers, previously a high school coach in Alaska with only 5 years of experience, but more importantly, recruit Mario Chalmers’ father, is announced as Director of Kansas Basketball Operations; his son also elects to come to Lawrence

Keith Langford and Aaron Miles, never able to adjust to Bill Self’s slow and methodical hi-low offense, go undrafted in the 2005 NBA draft
Known for his lack of sportsmanship and being on scholarship despite stealing felony amounts of merchandise from Wal-Mart, J.R. Giddens has developed into a one dimensional player and is thus becoming expendable given all the off the court issues he brings to the table. Giddens announces he is leaving the Kansas basketball program under request from Self to get a fresh start elsewhere.
With only walkon Christian Moody ever avging more than 1 rebound a game at the D1 level as returning players, CJ Giles receives no similar treatment and remains on KU’s team.

Among other undisclosed violations and disclosed violations, such as the discovery of massive and rampant academic fraud within Kansas’ football program, Kansas announces that it also discovered that its basketball staff had traditionally engaged in a practice of allowing monetary payments to graduating players and other Jayhawk players who had exhausted their eligibility in violation of NCAA rules; A self-imposed two year probation is levied against their athletic department; Other sanctions are levied against women’s basketball and men’s football; Curiously, men’s basketball escapes all (self-imposed) punishment;

Rodrick Stewart suffers gash on head after getting having a bottle smashed over his head during a fight at a Lawrence, Kansas bar

Not exactly clear when, but Brandon Rush commits to Kansas basketball program. Rush narrowed his college choices to Illinois and Oklahoma. Then he couldn't qualify at Illinois. Then he couldn't qualify at Oklahoma. He decided he would have to enter the draft straight from high school as he couldn't qualify at a D1 university, except it looked as though he wouldn't be a first round selection, something his brother had already have happen to him. His brothers talked him out of it. Two weeks after school started he got into KU and even though he at times carried a 0.0 GPA in high school managed to get a 3.6 at KU while missing the first two weeks of classes. This strangely coincided with the same time frame which their compliance department was noted to be severely understaffed and inadequate by the NCAA and academic fraud was occurring.

Sherron Collins commits to Kansas amidst various media reports that he was steered by his coach/street pimp Anthony Longstreet, considered by Chicago Public League coaches as the new Landon “Sonny” Cox for his ability to recruit players to Crane; Scheduled visits promised to various other schools are abruptly cancelled; Afterward, Longstreet, without being prompted or even accused of taking money, bizarrely challenged local sportswriters to “get the proof, produce the canceled check.'' Thereafter, Longstreet refused to ever speak again on the subject. He explained, "Right now, I've been told to be quiet because this stuff is getting too ugly.”

Darnell Jackson ruled ineligible by NCAA Eligibility Committee for 9 games for receipt of $5,000 in benefits from a Kansas booster over a three year period while being recruited by Kansas;

A cbssportsline.com article suggests that J.R. Giddens is also ultimately wrapped up in the Darnell Jackson scandal, questioning: “Did Don Davis also have a "relationship" with Jackson's best friend and former AAU teammate, J.R. Giddens, the McDonald's All-American who signed with Kansas in 2003? Because if the answer is yes, Kansas has a big, big, big problem.”

2005-2006 Season
The Bill Self led Kansas Jayhawks start the 2005-2006 season unranked in the polls for the first time in 14 years;

Arizona, despite shooting 28% from the field, defeats Kansas (61-49);

The very next day, Kansas loses to Arkansas (65-64) dropping the program to 1-2 for the first time since 1987; "This is the worst-case scenario for us…" Self said. "I'm disappointed about it. I'm sure our players are. We can't change it."

Kansas thereafter loses to Nevada AT HOME (72-70), falling to a record of 2-3 for the first time in over 30 years; After the game, ESPN TV cameras captured an exchange between Kansas University assistant coach Joe Dooley and 19 year old Nevada player Nick Fazekas. When Fazekas held out his hand to shake Dooley’s in an apparent show of sportsmanship, Dooley instead screamed “F*** YOU!!!!” directly at Fazekas. Afterward, Coach Bill Self reprimanded Dooley stating: "Obviously, in a hotly contested game like this one, emotions were high after the game. Coach Joe Dooley responded in an inappropriate manner to an exchange with a Nevada player.” Coach Dooley added: “"I have great respect for the Nevada team. They played well tonight. I responded in a negative manner to something that was said to me following the game. I certainly apologize to the Nevada program and this is not the manner in which Kansas basketball should be represented." However, replays of the exchange show Dooley’s statement to be less than truthful as Fazekas clearly did not do or say anything to Dooley prior to the exchange other than making the gesture of holding out his hand.

Kansas suffers its second loss in a week falling to St. Joe’s (70-67); The loss drops the Jayhawk’s record to 3-4 on the season and ran their record over the last 16 games to 6-10.

Reports surface regarding NCAA investigation into potential violations involving Kansas freshman Brandon Rush. The potential violations centered around Rush’s involvement with an agent and possible payment of travel expenses by NBA teams the previous summer during Rush’s workouts with the teams.

The NCAA suspends Brandon Rush after the NCAA determined that he had improperly received benefits from an agent after applying for the 2005 NBA draft. An appeal by Kansas is granted within one day and Rush is re-instated without missing any games.

Kansas loses to in-state rival Kansas State at home (59-55); Bill Self sets yet another record at Kansas marking the first time in the last 31 games against KSU and the past 12 years that Kansas has lost against KSU;

2 days later, Kansas loses to rival Missouri in overtime (89-86); This loss puts Coach Self’s record at 0-5 on the year for games decided in the final minute; Additionally, it places Self’s record at Kansas in the last 25 games at 13-12, barely over .500;

Micah Downs announces he is transferring from the Kansas basketball program
In a strange and somewhat sad tradition, KU finishes second in conference to Texas but in an attempt to appear something they are not claim a conference championship despite losing the tiebreaker to them.
Following up the once in the last 20 year accomplishment of losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament….Self manages to again accomplish this feat by losing to Bradley (77-73). Self has taken KU’s proud history of choking in the NCAA tournament and turned it up a notch. Considerable pressure mounts as ‘win at all costs’ goes into full effect when the fan base begins to call for his firing.

2006 Offseason

Christian Moody becomes the first Jayhawk player since the 1980s to not be eligible for his graduation checks from alumni, as the pending investigation causes KU to cease such open forms of paying their players. Later, his agent writes a note requesting video of him missing free throws to lose a game to Missouri be taken down from youtube.com as he feels it is hindering his client from finding gainful employment…all of which could have potentially been avoided had the NCAA not had rules against paying amateur athletes.

The NCAA responds that KU failed to demonstrate Institutional control and that the minor violations self reported in basketball in KU’s report do not seem to be all-inclusive. KU fans continue to say nothing will come of the allegations, at least those who are aware KU is under investigation as the news media fails to provide any coverage to the story.

KU placed on probation for major violations across multiple sports and for Lack of Institutional Control. The committee seems impressed with KU’s innovative strategy of eliminating the middleman (by electing to not maintain a compliance department, KU didn’t detect or report violations in a timely manner, which resulted in them being able to claim a statue of limitations on many violations and go unpunished), however they are still charged with:
Illegal payments given to potential recruits
Illegal payments given to current players with the approval of coaching staff
Illegal payments given to players after eligibility is exhausted
Providing illegal transportation to recruits
Providing illegal clothing and other benefits to recruits
Providing illegal transportation to family members of recruits
Making special arrangements to facilitate a vehicle for family members of recruits
Academic Fraud
Failure to report violations
Failure to employ a compliance auditor
Negligence to provide adequate oversight
Violation of probationary period
Lack of Institutional Control

KU placed on three years probation. Reduction in the total of grants-in-aid award in the men's basketball program to no more than 12 during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons; also reduced the total of official paid visits by a total of eight from the maximum number allowed during the 2006-07 and 2007-8 academic years. Dissociation of a representative of the university's athletics interest for a period of four years; annual compliance reporting required -- Summation, probation and a reduction in 2 scholarships to be taken in the years KU chooses for the above violations.

CJ Giles suspended indefinitely for failing to pay child support.

Giles re-instated to team, then 5 days later kicked off team for misdemeanor battery to his girlfriend. No bricks were thrown or heads stomped.

2006-2007 Season

KU loses at home to Oral Roberts (78-71). Midway through the second half ORU forward Caleb Greene begins openly mocking and laughing at the crowd as they become increasingly upset that their All American’s appear helpless to stop him.

KU upsets #1 Florida in overtime. KU fans consider it one of the great regular season wins in school history…until it is revealed that multiple key Florida players had mono and were playing through exhaustion during the game.

KU returns to earth as they lose to Depaul (64-57)

KU’s young nucleus gels, and they win their first real conference championship under Bill Self. Unhappy with actual accomplishments, KU fans claim their third straight conference championship in embarrassing fashion.

Despite what most consider Self’s best coaching job to date, he is under enormous pressure as the NCAA tournament get underway as most feel a repeat of the last two years will cost him his job. While in typical KU fashion they fail to play to seed, Self’s Jayhawks do advance before being knocked out by UCLA (68-55)

2007 Offseason


2007-2008 Season

Brandon Rush arrested for failing to appear in court. The hearing is ultimately delayed until after the basketball season.

Self reaches another legacy milestone, as he leads the Jayhawks to their first lose to KSU in Manhattan in 24 years (84-75).

In a strange and somewhat sad tradition, KU finishes second in conference to Texas but in an attempt to appear something they are not claim a conference championship despite losing the tiebreaker to them. Contrary to Self’s 1 actual title, KU fans claim a fourth straight.

In a perplexing outcome, KU is awarded a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament despite beating zero top 25 RPI teams in the regular season or winning their conference. They benefit by this strange seeding by receiving a draw of playing a 16 seed, an 8 seed, a 12 seed, and a 10 seed to get to the final four.

Self begins to be courted by Oklahoma State to take over their head coaching vacancy. Terrified that their last two coaches have left them for better jobs, KU beings to make a strong push to retain Self despite the distraction it is causing.

The beneficiaries of a historic collapse by Memphis, who led by 9 points with 2 minutes to play and could have done about 5 different things to ensure KU had no chance of getting back in the game, KU wins its second national title* of the modern era. They are the first team ever to win a championship while on probation for cheating, and every player on KU’s roster who played more than 21 minutes in the championship game had a shady story surrounding them:
http://www.tigerboard.com/boards/missouri-tigers.php?message=5760318

2008 offseason

Self claims he wants to stay at Kansas, but won’t rule out talking to OSU. Eventually the draw of no oversight and little NCAA interference is too great and he elects to stay at KU.

Reports surface that Darell Arthur, KU’s leading scorer in the championship game, did not actually pass high school and passed through the NCAA clearinghouse by submitting fraudulent transcripts. As an ineligible player, per NCAA rules KU would be required for forfeit all games in which Arthur was a participant....which would result in KU being the first ever 40 loss team in a single season, the worst season in the history of the NCAA.

Listing of NCAA rules he was in clear violation of:

10.1 UNETHICAL CONDUCT
Unethical conduct by a prospective or enrolled student-athlete or a current or former institutional staff member (e.g., coach, professor, tutor, teaching assistant, student manager, student trainer) may include, but is not limited to, the following:
(d) Knowingly furnishing the NCAA or the individual’s institution false or misleading information concerning the individual’s involvement in or knowledge of matters relevant to a possible violation of an NCAA regulation;

(g) Failure to provide complete and accurate information to the NCAA or institution’s admissions office regarding an individual’s academic record (e.g., schools attended, completion of coursework, grades and test scores)

10.4 DISCIPLINARY ACTION
Prospective or enrolled student-athletes found in violation of the provisions of this regulation shall be ineligible for further intercollegiate competition, subject to appeal to the Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement for restoration of eligibility. (See Bylaw 10.3.2 for sanctions of student-athletes involved in violations of 10.3.) Institutional staff members found in violation of the provisions of this regulation shall be subject to disciplinary or corrective action as set forth in Bylaw 19.5.2.2 of the NCAA enforcement procedures, whether such violations occurred at the certifying institution or during the individual’s previous employment at another member institution.

14.01.3.3 Unethical Conduct. A prospective or enrolled student-athlete who is found to have engaged in unethical conduct (see Bylaw 10.1) shall be ineligible for intercollegiate competition in all sports.

14.11.1 Obligation of Member Institution to Withhold Student-Athlete from Competition. If a student-athlete is ineligible under the provisions of the constitution, bylaws or other regulations of the Association, the institution shall be obligated to apply immediately the applicable rule and to withhold the student-athlete from all intercollegiate competition. The institution may appeal to the Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement for restoration of the student-athlete’s eligibility as provided in Bylaw 14.12 if it concludes that the circumstances warrant restoration.

A judge rules in favor of the women Sherrod Collins sexually assaulted in an elevator in May of 2007, granting damagers in excess of $75,000. She accused him of exposing himself and rubbing against her on May 18, 2007, in an elevator at a University of Kansas apartment complex. Collins does not bother to show up to court. It is the first time the case is made public, allowing Collins to participate in the entire 2007-08 season.

The school district that provided fraudulent transcripts for Darell Arthur for passing grades in classes not attended and work not done conducts and internal investigation on itself. Amazingly, they find themselves not guilty. No follow up investigation or questions are ever asked by the local media.

Lawrence officials elect not to go to trial in Sherrod Collins sexual assault case. The woman files a civil suit as her only option of pursuing justice and Collins remains on the team.

It becomes apparent that key recruits the Morris twins are not going to qualify academically. Faced with the proposition of having only 1 player on the roster over 6’7, Self arranges for the Morris twins to finish up their high school classes in Lawrence.

Ronnie Chalmers, no longer the son of a KU player after Mario declares early for the NBA draft, vacates the Director of Basketball Operations position. No word yet which upcoming recruit’s family member will fill this vital position.

While living in university paid for housing prior to being eligible for scholarship benefits, 18 year old Markieff Morris drunkenly shoots a lady with a BB gun from his dorm room window. Jayhawk towers is declared a less safe environment for women than Bagdad, as KU players will molest you in the elevators and sniper you as you attempt to flee the building. Deemed too important to next year’s season, no action is taken and KU anxiously awaits the determination if the Lawrence high school replacement classes are enough to clear him academically.

Mario Chalmers and Darell Arthur are kicked out of the NBA rookie camps for smoking marijuana. Both players are fined $20,000 and required to attend next year’s camp over again.

Two weeks after school starts (shades of Brandon Rush before them), the Morris twins are cleared to play ball for KU. "While it may have taken a bit longer than we had hoped, the important thing is that the process worked," Self said regarding having them take classes in Lawrence.

Dallas School District re-opens case regarding Arthur not really being a college eligible player. Ashmore, Arthur’s Math teacher said when Arthur was failing Algebra I as a freshman in the fall of 2002, his coach asked for leniency. Ashmore said when he refused, Arthur was abruptly moved to another class. A closer examination of Arthur's grades reveal that his English III grades of 75, 60, 70 and 65 don't actually add up to a 70 as is reflected on his transcript. In fact, the average should be 67.5, meaning he should have failed the course that is needed to graduate. "Like I said, he [Arthur] just kind of checked out that third six weeks," Yourse, his English teacher said. Melanie Kidd was Arthur's theater arts teacher in the fall of 2004. She said she remembers Arthur failed the course during the final six weeks. Arthur made a grade of 50, she said. According to his transcripts, Arthur's grades for the last six weeks of theater arts are also missing. A block of grades from Arthur's Algebra II were also missing on the transcript from the fall semester of 2005. All that is present is a final grade, which was changed from "failing" to a passing grade of 70 nine months later in September the following year.

2008-09 Season

KU loses to Syracuse in the CBE Classic, allowing Self to add another notch to his belt as he leads KU to their first regular season loss in Kansas City in 25 years.

KU again accomplishes this feat, this time losing to 2-6 UMass in Kansas City. They join Holy Cross and Arkansas-Monticello as the only teams the minutemen have defeated in their 9 games.

Explaining how KU can fall so quickly from championship* to not ranked Self states, “We’re two possessions away from being (10-0) and ranked in the top 10 in the country.” Unfortunately in reality they don’t appear in the top 35 nationally in votes.

Three days later KU gets destroyed by Arizona, and no longer receives any votes of any kind for ranking consideration. Self puts forth no hypothetical’s on where they should be ranked.

During a ‘no contact period’ as defined by NCAA rules, Self pays a visit to the #1 unsigned recruit in the nation, and to demonstrate his respect for NCAA rules states in front of witnesses:
Self: "I'm not supposed to be talking to you, and you know that, but I just wanted to tell you that was a great win."
Quit the bravado for someone piloting a program on serious probation.

Despite holding arch-rival MU to 16 points in the first half, KU goes the last 8 and a half minutes of the game with only 1 bucket from the field and committed 27 turnovers to lose on the last play by 2. "We did such a poor job attacking and we did a bad job with shots," Self said.

Confirmation comes in the Darell Arthur case, that his grades were artificially changed and that his ‘graduation’ from high school wasn’t legit. Per NCAA rules that use of an ineligible player results in forfeiture of all games participated, KU falls to 0-78 for the prior to years – the worst two year record in the history of NCAA basketball. Self falls behind James Naismith for last place all time in winning % at KU with a 0.428.

KU gets crushed by 11th place Tech, losers of their previous 6 games, 84-65.

KU wins its second outright league title under Self. In embarrassing fashion but consistent with ku tradition fans attempt to portray themselves as something they are not, unhappy with actual accomplishments, and claim a fifth straight league title.

KU loses in the first round of the conference tournament to Baylor 71-64. Self notches another first, as KU becomes the first 1 seed to ever lose to a 9 seed in conference tournament history. It is KU’s first opening round loss since 1989.

After huge wins over North Dakota State and Dayton, ku loses to Michigan State. Unable to cope with having a less successful season than their rival, ku fans turn to such bizarre methods as claiming head to head scoring margin and that losing to a team who advanced farther than the team MU lost to actually means they had a more successful season.

No graduation checks are publically distributed.

2009-10 Offseason

After promising more scholarships than he has available, Self pushes two lesser role players out the door to make room for potential incoming recruits.

Sherron Collins elects not to test the European free agent market and barring being jailed announces he will return to ku for the upcoming season. Anthony Longstreet breathes a sigh of relief at remaining on the payroll and he isn’t faced with the ethical dilemma of going public for another year. Elevators everywhere are deemed unsafe for female riders.

24 comments:

Unknown said...

OMG, you have to be kidding me! You seriously let KU get to you this much?! Hilarious but yet I feel sorry for you.

Sandy Murphy said...

What's your opinion on the the 1994 NCAA wins Mizzou had to vacate?

Anonymous said...

How clean is Mizzou? What about 1994? Dr. Ricky Clemons? Carmento "Them crackas be shakin" Floyd? The bar brawl at Athena? How many final fours does Mizzou have? What about National Championships?

Scott's Evil Twin said...

Mike, I just get tired of hearing about Mizzou's arch rival not catching flack for their mis-deeds. Mizzou gets villified for their mistakes and when KU screws up, its kept hush-hush.

Sandy, the 1994 situation sucked big time. I just remember thinking no no no no no, this can't be! But yeah, it did. And people heard about it, didn't they? Mizzou got busted for it as I recall.

Anonymous, I don't deny Mizzou's problems, but Ricky was simply a con artist who got busted. Carmento didn't make the cracker statements, that was another employee of the athletic dept, and yes it was an embarrassment. The bar brawl incident resulted in suspensions and I'm pretty sure barroom brawls are not against NCAA rules. What does final fours and championships have to do with it? That is not the issue here, but it seems to be a common comeback from KU fans.

Austen - bye bye. I don't tolerate unwarranted personal attacks. You're just another example of why I take issue with KansAss fans.

Incidentally, there are many beaker posters on message boards I follow who are capable of classy, intelligent posts. Let's try and demonstrate that here, shall we?

Sandy Murphy said...

Hey, you're a standup guy for responding to us and taking the "flack." Geez. Never thought I'd compliment a Tigger fan.

Scott's Evil Twin said...

Thanks Sandy. For what its worth, I admire the way KU bball always seems to reload each year instead of rebuild. It makes the rivalry that much more enjoyable when the result doesn't appear to be decided before the opening tip.

Unknown said...

Quite honestly Scott if I thought this posting deserved a “classy, intelligent” response I would have left one. Again, I’m just shocked somebody would put this much time and energy into a web page like this. How about being “intelligent” yourself and actually spend that time working with a charity who needs a web site or for that matter just posting something productive for your own alma-mater. What you have here is non-sense dribble that nobody really cares about. Catching the drift yet?

Scott's Evil Twin said...

So Mike, what you're saying is that I should be more like the people of Kansas and the media and pretend that none of those things happened? Just sweep it under the rug? Along with my general point, you are also missing my initial comment: This article was not my original work. I didn't go to the time and energy of gathering all of this data and preparing it, someone else did (hence, the link back to the original post on Tigerboard). I merely agreed with what was being expressed and wanted to share it.

Unfortunately, you are correct on one level: a lot of people don't care about this information. The media and NCAA are just two groups who didn't care because they didn't make an issue out of it. I tend to think there would a lot of people who would care about it, if they were aware of it. So here it is, like it or not.

Call me kooky.

Unknown said...

No, people don't care about it - seriously. Do yourself a favor and look outside the mid-Missouri bubble in which you live. It's a big world out there and there's as much, if honestly not more, "travesties" going on in college sports. Hell, you as an MU fan shouldn't be throwing stones at all. You're obviously bitter and the fruits of your labor are being wasted.

Scott's Evil Twin said...

Thanks for playing. Moving on...

Unknown said...

hick repost my comment

cliffnotes: mizzery boasts about their journalism school. they have a huge place in the media, especially locally. aren't these the people who are "sweeping" it under the rug?

mike tells responders to be classy, but on his own site, he is pushing an erotic novel he wrote. hmmm. i bet he is smaaaaart.

Scott's Evil Twin said...

Well, since you were kind enough to reword your post (hint: keep to the subject and leave the personal attacks out of it and your posts won't get deleted. Apparently you still need work in that area, Fred.)

Newsflash: Not all graduates of Mizzou's J-School are sports reporters. Not all sports journalists are Mizzou grads. When one pro-KU sports editor was contacted to ask why the recent situation involving 2 KU football players wasn't reported on, the response was that they didn't have room to report all the news. How could this not warrant coverage?

Btw, I do hope the young man who was hit is doing well - is there a prognosis for his return?

And who the hell is Mike? Sure isn't me. But yes, even though it has nothing to do with this blog topic, I wrote an erotic novel which I publicize on this site. Why not? You got a problem with that? Too bad. And the book has been well received too. It has no pictures though, so you probably wouldn't be interested.

Unknown said...

There actually is no rivalry. Rivalries consist of two teams who are competitive with one another year in and year out. What's the all time series record in the last 10 years? Try again.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Unbelievable bias. Get a life Misery fan. You tell posters not to attack you, what do you think they are going to do after reading your ignorant, biased rants. Get a life

Scott's Evil Twin said...

Austin - Touche, and good flame. I will applaud that one because admittedly, with the exception of the last 2 years in football and this past year in basketball, Mizzou hasn't been much of a challenge. It will be great to make the rivalry actually mean something again.

Anonymous - The original post is 3 1/2 months old. You're a little behind the times. I guess the internet hasn't quite reached all parts of kansas yet. But the thing you should know is, it's my blog, therefore I control the content. You want to comeback with something intelligent like Austin did, or Sandy Murphy above, fine we can discuss it.

Besides - we are way past this by now, but I guess there isn't much else to discuss over in beaker land so you've got to get your entertainment somewhere. Good luck with that.

Mike S said...

Excellent article...one question though. Did the NCAA ever rule Arthur ineligible? If so then I'd hope they'd come in and take that trophy right out of AFH.

Scott's Evil Twin said...

Mike - I don't think they did (at least I'm not finding any information online that would confirm such a thing), but I'm thinking they likely just brushed it under the rug since DA left the beakers for the NBA after winning a national championship in 2008. Sure, it would be nice to see kU stripped of the title, but I doubt we'll ever see it. Too many bigger issues with kU have already been overlooked by the NCAA as it is, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

Anonymous said...

Scott, this thing has lots of holes..... Stop with the Darrell Arthur not eligible, vacate National Title year wins talk. Can't happen even if the NCAA discovered his grades were changed! Why you ask??!! The NCAA Clearinghouse cleared him before he ever got to Kansas, that's the NCAA's job or else every college out there would have to idependently investigate every players they recruited. The ClearingHouse is there to prevent that madeness from happen. So even if Darrell grades were discovered "changed", Kansas isnt liable... So no wins taken away.
The only way Kansas would get in any type of trouble is if Kansas knew about or influenced the grade changing. But when the alleged grade changing happened, Arthur was being recruited by multiple schools still (LSU, Baylor, Texas, Kansas, etc).... So obviously no school had any reason to "help" Darrell nor would they anyway.
That's just one big example of your blog being misleading and filled with false opinions. And yes it's your right to post whatever you want in your blog but wow. This is the biggest case of jealously I've ever seen. This would make most Missouri fans sick and mad that you've belittled them as fans...

Scott's Evil Twin said...

Anonymous - have you read through the other comments? Did you notice my disclaimer at the top of the post? I didn't write this material. In fact, I even credited what I believed to be the original source.

But, I will agree with some of what you have stated. The clearinghouse DID clear Arthur to play. I don't see how kU can be held accountable for that.

In and of itself, I can see where one would think this to be a case of sour grapes. But when you add it to the list of other misdoings, it looks like just another case of favoritism by the NCAA towards the beakers. The NCAA cleared Arthur to play, but it makes me wonder just how much effort did they put into doing that?

As for other Missouri fans, if you go back to the source of this information (follow the link, it shouldn't be too hard, or just go over to insidemizzou.com or possibly even Tigerboard), I think you'll find many Mizzou fans feeling the same way about this that I do.

Thank you for your support.

Anonymous said...

Wow, talk about penis envy!

Anonymous said...

You don't mention any of Missouri's downfalls, which makes it look as if you are just slamming Kansas University because of sour grapes. I remember Quin Snyder and Ricky Clemons (who was having a physical relationship with the assistant A.D.'s wife), the notorious "Paige" arena incident, and how Paige Laurie was too good to go to Mizzou, but not too good to cheat her way through USC, the fact that the Laurie family gave millions to fund the building of the arena, but refused to allow the court to be named after the best coach in Mizzou history, Norm Stewart, the bar-brawl that ended with the MU player attacking a bar patron with the butt of a shotgun, etc. Mizzou has had much more trouble in its past, and players and coaches tend to be more thuggish, allowing their actions to play out in a public venue.
There has been a rivalry between the two states since prior to 1860, when Missouri deemed itself a "slave" state, and Kansas, an abolitionist one. John Brown travelled, from Lawrence, initially through Missouri, which created a trail of detest, which he sought to right. He took the armory, with his fellow farmers, and the rest is history. Missouri will always have the "bad guy" label, and Kansas, the "good guy" image in this rivalry. That's just the way that it is. You can't change it, nor can I. I will be that way long after you and I are both cold in the ground, and turned into worm feces. Sorry. Nice try, though.

UKHowell84 said...

Ran across this today and really enjoyed it. I am a UK fan that moved to the St Louis area about 5 years ago and all I heard about was KU is great and KU is this and KU is that. Reading this post and the KU fans responses confirms that they really are just over inflated. They literally celebrate "consecutive" conference championships and I've also seen their "championship" banners as they say they have FIVE championships because they are counting NIT wins. Go ahead and insert lame NIT joke about UK, I've heard it a million times. The KU fans I have ran into, my boss, friends of family, friends of mine, and just in general all think KU is the cream of the crop and does no wrong. Then when I refute the two Cal "cheating" issues (Camby and Rose) they have nothing to say. Cal turned Camby in when learning he took money, so how is he a cheater? The NCAA Clearing House declared Rose eligable and then later on changed their minds. Any coach in the nation would have played Rose after the NCAA said it was okay. So how does that make Cal a cheater? Accusations against a person with no facts = hot air. Simply saying someone is a cheater doesn't make them one. They say Cal is shady and how else would he get top recruits? How does Bill Self do it then? Bill Self also doesn't have this image cast on him by the general public and also doesn't have a certain Pete Thamel taking jabs at him every chance he gets. What ground does KU have to stand on after learning about all of the money they have illegally given to players? After reading all of this stuff about Arthur they should have nothing to say about the Rose situation, not to mention any of their other stories. I understand that all programs have issues and as you have accepted the problems at Mizzou in the past, I accept past problems brought on by Sutton. Which is the last time UK was in trouble. That being said it is a real eye opener to see how much trash these guys talk. Especially the Mike guy telling you to move on and not worry about it and how it's pathetic that you complain about KU's scandalous history. Thanks for the read concerning the CLEAN Jayhawks program

Scott's Evil Twin said...

Hey there UKHowell - I had almost forgotten about this post! At times, when the kU crowd was commenting, I was kind of flattered, that they actually thought I came up with the info in this post. But at some point, I realize you just have to smile and nod, back away slowly, don't make eye contact, etc...

But wow, this post is really over 4 years old? I've almost moved away from writing completely, including blogging, though the ideas still come. Like maybe how kU took their football & basketball and went home after Mizzou switched gears and moved over to the greatest athletic conference ever - The SEC! Coach Cal has been a winner pretty much everywhere he's been, hasn't he? Combine that with the UK name and its no wonder he brings in top recruits year in and year out.

UKHowell84 said...

Cal has won everywhere he has been. One of the problems people have is that he left both UMass and Memphis after each incident at each school. The violations were not on Cal, and Cal has never received an NCAA violation. Dick Vitale even wrote an ESPN article defending Cal, yet people still cast a bad light on Cal. The first at UMass was given to Camby and the second was issued to Rose. Coaches across all sports leave and move schools and jobs a lot until they land their ideal job which is usually at a prominent school or program. Being that the violations weren't his fault I don't see anything wrong with him bettering himself in his career. Coaches are like NFL quarterbacks in this regard, receiving all the praise when they win and all the hate when they lose. It was very interesting for me to read all of the things you had found concerning corruption in the Kansas program because it literally is swept under the rug. All of these bad things they have done I literally had to go digging through the internet and researching to find. Yet, if Cal were to sneeze or a UK player were to get in trouble the whole world would know about it. Such as false allegations that Anthony Davis received 6 figures to come to UK. While Duke player Lance Thomas had a 60,000 dollar jewelry incident that almost no one heard about. Or PJ Hairston and all of his trouble at UNC, yet he will still play. Or when Cal if vilified for getting one and done players. Yet no one says the same about Self, Coach K or any other big coaches that do the same. It is a difficult position to be in because of the vast majority that do not read for themselves, they instead just jump on hateful bandwagons