StepCross
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
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1. I'm a Pearl supporter, but honestly it can be hard to keep supporting him on this board, because the arguments in his favor are often SO BAD.
2. There is no conspiracy. This mess is not Matta's fault, or Craft's. Slive is not out to get us, nor is the NCAA. Pearl is not under unfair accusations or persecutions.
3. He screwed up. He lied, and that's not OK. It's against the rules of the NCAA. It's considered by the NCAA and by the University of Tennessee to be gross ethical misconduct.
4. With that said, the actual violations (aside from the lie) were not a big deal. The lie itself is not a huge deal from a common-sense standpoint...you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar, and your knee-jerk reaction is to deny. It's bad, and you're gonna get in trouble for it, but it's understandable. As I said, it's not OK, but it's nowhere near the level of paying players, cheating in recruiting, grade-altering, or the mountain of ugly behavior Dave Bliss engaged in at Baylor. I'd call it medium-bad.
5. Postseason ban is totally unlikely IMO. There was no competitive advantage (I mean, seriously...we ended up losing both Craft and Selby anyway, and it appears we may have lost Adonis Thomas due to this mess now), no ineligible players competed, and there will not be an institutional control finding.
6. What's likely is a suspension of Pearl himself.
7. Now in some sense, the NCAA caught itself between a rock and a hard place by suspending Dez Bryant for a whole year. Because frankly, what Pearl did is worse than what Bryant did, for several reasons. One obvious reason is that Pearl is an adult, and Bryant was a kid. Another is Pearl is an employee, Bryant was a student just wanting to play a sport as an amateur. A third is that (if I recall correctly) Bryant didn't commit any actual violations other than the lie itself.
8. So then, the NCAA is stuck with having to suspend Pearl for more than a year, or look like a hypocrite. But that's bad also (despite Elmore's opinion) because you have to leave some wiggle room for Really Bad Stuff. (again, like paying players, grade-tampering, etc.) If they suspend Pearl for 2 years, it will effectively end his career. Then the NCAA is in the unappetizing position of, "If you lie to us about a BBQ, we'll end your career. But if you dare to pay players, change grades, or anything really bad like that, we'll...um, still do the same thing: end your career." That sends the wrong message.
9. The SEC has actually given the NCAA some wiggle room on this, by suspending Pearl for 8 games. Now the NCAA can suspend Pearl for (let's say) November/December 2011, and it amounts to something like a year total. Together with the pay cut, the loss of road recruiting time, and the 1 scholarship per year they'll probably dock us for 2 years, that's enough to say "worse than Bryant, but not career-ending."
10. The other possibility is a show-cause order. The problem with that, though, is that it basically says "fire him or else," and Tennessee has made it clear they don't intend to do that. Of course, the NCAA could do it anyway, but I think that, too, sends the wrong message, because Tennessee has been quick, public, cooperative, and totally transparent about this whole mess. My GUESS (and it's only a guess, I'm not an expert at all about this stuff) is that the NCAA will prefer a suspension.
2. There is no conspiracy. This mess is not Matta's fault, or Craft's. Slive is not out to get us, nor is the NCAA. Pearl is not under unfair accusations or persecutions.
3. He screwed up. He lied, and that's not OK. It's against the rules of the NCAA. It's considered by the NCAA and by the University of Tennessee to be gross ethical misconduct.
4. With that said, the actual violations (aside from the lie) were not a big deal. The lie itself is not a huge deal from a common-sense standpoint...you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar, and your knee-jerk reaction is to deny. It's bad, and you're gonna get in trouble for it, but it's understandable. As I said, it's not OK, but it's nowhere near the level of paying players, cheating in recruiting, grade-altering, or the mountain of ugly behavior Dave Bliss engaged in at Baylor. I'd call it medium-bad.
5. Postseason ban is totally unlikely IMO. There was no competitive advantage (I mean, seriously...we ended up losing both Craft and Selby anyway, and it appears we may have lost Adonis Thomas due to this mess now), no ineligible players competed, and there will not be an institutional control finding.
6. What's likely is a suspension of Pearl himself.
7. Now in some sense, the NCAA caught itself between a rock and a hard place by suspending Dez Bryant for a whole year. Because frankly, what Pearl did is worse than what Bryant did, for several reasons. One obvious reason is that Pearl is an adult, and Bryant was a kid. Another is Pearl is an employee, Bryant was a student just wanting to play a sport as an amateur. A third is that (if I recall correctly) Bryant didn't commit any actual violations other than the lie itself.
8. So then, the NCAA is stuck with having to suspend Pearl for more than a year, or look like a hypocrite. But that's bad also (despite Elmore's opinion) because you have to leave some wiggle room for Really Bad Stuff. (again, like paying players, grade-tampering, etc.) If they suspend Pearl for 2 years, it will effectively end his career. Then the NCAA is in the unappetizing position of, "If you lie to us about a BBQ, we'll end your career. But if you dare to pay players, change grades, or anything really bad like that, we'll...um, still do the same thing: end your career." That sends the wrong message.
9. The SEC has actually given the NCAA some wiggle room on this, by suspending Pearl for 8 games. Now the NCAA can suspend Pearl for (let's say) November/December 2011, and it amounts to something like a year total. Together with the pay cut, the loss of road recruiting time, and the 1 scholarship per year they'll probably dock us for 2 years, that's enough to say "worse than Bryant, but not career-ending."
10. The other possibility is a show-cause order. The problem with that, though, is that it basically says "fire him or else," and Tennessee has made it clear they don't intend to do that. Of course, the NCAA could do it anyway, but I think that, too, sends the wrong message, because Tennessee has been quick, public, cooperative, and totally transparent about this whole mess. My GUESS (and it's only a guess, I'm not an expert at all about this stuff) is that the NCAA will prefer a suspension.
