Wednesday, December 5, 2007

The Return of Legion?

Since I wasn't one of the people who bashed Legion and said we didn't need/want him, I can say without conviction that I would be delighted to get him back. No questions asked; just take him back and play him. He's really good; let's not lose him.

June Jones is a clown. I don't want to go into much detail about what he said, as I realize he has to stick up for Brennan, but try not to bring Tebow into it. Timmy has shown that he can do anything that is needed of him; he can make every throw and he runs through linebackers. Leave him alone.

In honor of the impending UK/IU game, allow me to share with you my thoghts on Kelvin Sampson. He's a fucking dirty cheating whore-face. Clear enough? Living where I do, it's understandable to get a lot of news on Sampson and his star recruit, Eric Gordon. Except, that wasn't his recruit at all. In fact, it was Bruce Weber's. I understand verbals, and the fact that they are not binding. With Sampson's track record, however, I can't believe that some shady shit didn't go down in order to sign Gordon.

Being reprimanded twice for the same violation shows that it was not simple oversight; Sampson was cheating and he knew it. In May of 2006, he was banned from recruiting for one year after he and his staff made 577 phone calls too many. Clearly, they cared nothing for the rules. Ironically, it was during that next year that Sampson landed the already taken Gordon...soehow, without calling or meeting off-campus with him. Then, in October of this year, Sampson was again caught making illegal phone calls and participating in not awesome three-ways. Unfortunately, for Rob Senderoff, someone else had to take the fall. Thus, "lead recruiter" Senderoff resigned.

It's not that I believe that IU runs a dirty program; I think Kelvin Sampson does. In fact, I know he does. I refuse to believe that Eric Gordon had a simple change of heart, as do most of the folks in Champaign. I'm not writing this so that I have an excuse for the bludgeoning that may occur at the hands of Gordon and his teammates; I just am tired of the frequent praise rained-down upon Sampson for his success at IU. I certainly don't dislike Gordon or Jordan Crawford; they are both terrific basketball players (especially Gordon). I'm also (trying) not implying that they have been paid or received illegal gifts. I am, however, saying that what Sampson does and has done is not fair, and he should be more harshly punished. Obviously banning him from making calls or off-campus recruiting trips has no effect on him. He acts as if the NCAA violations and rules do not apply to him.

I suppose my point is that Sampson is a cheater and no one cares. I understand that his violations are minor, and he's not getting caught paying players. But if the NCAA had any balls, they would stop letting him walk all over them and do whatever he wants. What's the point of having rules that someone can break, and then, while punished, break again? Smells. Smells bad. Sampson's a fucking rat.

Oh, and don't call me a hypocrite and bring the Legion recruiting situation to light. He was let out of his LOI after Amaker was canned and then Gillispie got him.

Finally, I saw D.J. White at McCallister's yesterday and launched into the diatribe written above. He disagreed. Some of that is untrue. You decide, America!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Rantastic > Spotted Bass

Sorry, the bass is not getting it done and only updates its content once a month.

Tdubs