If true (and I'm not saying it isn't), that still doesn't explain the disparity between the punishment given to LSU and the punishment given to Michigan. The NCAA plays favorites--that's the problem. GEAUX TIGERS
Thorny, no doubt about that but a big part of the reasoning was that Michigan's abuses came out in a court case and they couldn't deny them, whereas LSU's were the result of an NCAA investigation and Brown still deny's the results. They cited lack of institutional control on LSU's part due to Brown's unwillingness to cooperate while Mich. immediately reacted, forfeited all those games, returned money, etc. Now, I agree that Mich may have known much more than they lead anyone to believe way before the court case made everything public and should have received a much harsher penalty. It's all kind of like one criminal plea bargaining and the other taking his chances in court for the same crime. The NCAA gets pissed when you fight them.
Logan Young was a bit more than "rouge." The court transcripts point out that Mal Moore conducted more than two-hundred cellphone conversations with Logan Young in the weeks following the emergence of the Means story. Logan Young was an instrumental member of Alabama's famed "pipeline" for many, many years....... and everybody perceived all that success was just good coaching, huh?
This is and has been my biggest beef with the NCAA, lack of consistency in enforcement, lack of consitency in penalties and bizarre investigation methods. Brown may have been guilty but the bottom line is at least a couple of those investigations were witch hunts because of Brown publicly defying the NCAA. They flung enough crap around that something finally stuck to the wall and we got an unfair punishment compared to other schools guilty of much worse. Im not arguing Browns guilt here, just the NCAA's inconsistent management of investigations and their goofy decisions. Furthermore it appears the Bama investigation, this Logan Young case and the case mentioned by bayoutider has effected the way you deal with the NCAA. Bama cooperated fully and completely and almost got the death penalty. Miss St was accused of a much wider range of violations but they fought it tooth and nail. Jackie Sherrill basically told the NCAA to go fug themselves and openly threatened them with law suites. The Miss St response to the NCAA charges was defiance instead of cooperation and in the end they got a slap on the wrist. A penalty that did not fit the crime. Then you have the Auburn Basketball case. The Auburn officials also fought this tooth and nail even accusing an NCAA investigator of unsavory tactics. They even tried to call this investigator as a witness in their hearing but the infractions committee wouldnt allow it. What were they hiding? In the end Auburn got a slap on the wrist but probably should have gotten more. Now the real interesting story going on in the NCAA world right now is the case against Missouri. Some people interviewed by the NCAA quietly taped the interviews. The transcripts I've read make the investigators sound like the criminals instead of the people they are trying to investigate. I suspect that regardless of what the NCAA has on Mizzou, they are going to drop this one or trump up some token charge that Mizzou will agree with in order to keep those tapes from coming into evidence at an infractions hearing. The NCAA is in a major mess. Its time to get it cleaned up once and for all because these rogues have been running around unchecked far too long.
