Connecticut Newspaper Almost Makes Good Move

Who doesn't want to hear about Geno's constipation?

Wheew, that was a close one.  For a minute there I thought a newspaper was going to do something that would truly enlighten their readers and give them a unique, exclusive perspective.  Thankfully, I won’t have to rethink the way I view the world because the Hartford Courant’s one good idea is being ‘re-evaluated.’  I read that to mean their one, scary, new idea is being bashed by people who fear change and still hold prominent positions in journalism.

The largest daily newspaper in Connecticut hired Alysa Auriemma, daughter of UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, to write a monthly blog giving her insider’s perspective on her father’s team.  The Courant sports editor said he thought the blog would give readers “a slice of something they could not get elsewhere.”  You know, as opposed to the day old or more news they usually print that everyone with their original teeth has already seen elsewhere.

A so-called media ethics expert and other journalists say the blog would be a conflict of interest.  Interest being the keyword here because people might actually have some interest in the newspaper, which is a conflict with everything the journalistic community has been working for in recent years.

Think about the sports stories and columns you usually get from newspapers.  Either they give you a rundown of each big play in chronological order and some stats, or you get the opinion of some guy who watched the game and stole quotes from a coach’s press conference.  I’m not, uh, saying the latter is a bad thing because who doesn’t love the opinion of some guy who watched the game…uh, right?  But, why read the newspaper when you can get far more obscene opinions on the Internet?

Alysa Auriemma’s blog would at least give the paper unprecedented access to one of, if not the most, popular athletic programs in the state.  Sure, it might omit some critical points or embarrassing details, but it would almost assuredly include something that no other reporter would be able to uncover.  But I guess that’s not something newspapers should be interested in.  In a way, I admire newspaper reporters and their ethics.  Their refusal to print any details from the leaked grand jury testimonies and list of baseball players who tested positive for banned substances in 2003 because those documents were obtained in an unethical way is inspiring.  I’m assuming they omit stories about such things because obviously I don’t read newspapers.

As far as Alysa Auriemma’s insider status and possible conflict of interest, I think sometimes it can be a good thing.  Peter Gammons does a respectable job reporting on baseball despite his love affair with Boston.  Then again, I can hear Lou Holtz screaming about Notre Dame’s run to the BCS title game this year from the library I’m currently sitting in.  But that shouldn’t be a problem for Alysa because if she starts going on and on about how unstoppable the Huskies are this year and how they are a lock to win the National Championship, she’ll probably be right.

Tags: basketball, Connecticut, Geno Auriemma, NCAA, UConn

Connecticut’s Business School Needs Ethics Prof

Josh Nochimson also embezzled a tenth of Rip's poon

Remember Josh Nochimson, the former student manager for UConn’s men’s basketball team who allegedly broke NCAA rules and convinced a recruit to become a Husky by buying him things?  Well, if you don’t, just read that last sentence again but start it with “Josh Nochimson is”.  He’s making news again, by the way.  This time, instead of a shady student-manager, as a shady business manager for Rip Hamilton, who has accused Nochimson of stealing $1-million from him.  For the record, that’s about one-tenth of Rip’s annual salary and about $1-million more than Nochimson deserved. 

A federal lawsuit has been filed in Pennsylvania with Hamilton saying Nochimson used Rip’s credit card to buy airline tickets, game tickets and other items.  I hope the other items are Ferraris and Lamborghinis because it would take a while for flights and sporting events to add up to a mil.  Then again, the embezzlement is supposed to have taken place between 2003 and 2008, and Connecticut must have signed more than 20 players over that period.  Am I saying that Rip Hamilton’s money was used to buy improper benefits and gifts for UConn recruits?  I’m not not saying that.

Evidently, Nochimson also used 1.4 million frequent flier miles that Hamilton had accrued.  Before that, I was on Nochimson’s side, but you can’t steal a brother’s frequent flier miles.  That’s cold.  Ice cold. 

Quick side note, how the hell does Rip get so many frequent flier miles?  I don’t think it counts when you fly on the team charter or another private jet.  Does he have some baby mamas all over the country that we don’t know about? 

Since being fired by Rip, Nochimson has decertified himself as an NBA agent, so that money train has jumped the tracks.  Also, the recruiting scandal at UConn means he’s probably not welcome to work with any collegiant basketball program.  But, there are still avenues open to him.  He’s a college graduate who has alienated many people and likes to take shortcuts.  Sounds to me like Bootlegger Sports is about to add a third writer.

Tags: basketball, Detroit Pistons, Josh Nochimson, NBA, NCAA, Rip Hamilton, UConn

UCONN Might Have Made Mistakes? Noooooo…

Whaa? Agents and free shit are against the rules? Since when?

 After Connecticut beat Purdue to advance to the Elite Eight, Sporting News and Yahoo! Sports interviewed UCONN coach Jim Calhoun about the allegations that he cheated like a river boat gambler while recruiting Nate Miles.  Unfortunately Calhoun broke from tradition by not asking the reporters if they were “really that stupid,” and instead repeated exactly what his agent, attorney and athletic director told him to.

“Could I have made a mistake? Sure.” Calhoun said. “The (rules) manual is 508 pages. Someone could’ve made a mistake.”

Yeah! Leave the poor man alone.  How would he know that college players can’t have agents?  Or that you can’t supply them with free transportation and meals.  Or that you can’t call them an unlimited number of times during their junior year of high school.  Who’s Kelvin Sampson again?  Never mind that.  Who made all these crazy rules, anyway? And when?

Nevermind the fact that they did all this for a kid who already had a restraining order against him for beating up his girlfriend.  The fact that he got expelled for violating that restraining order is a moot point.

Here’s where Calhoun has a problem.  It’s clear to everyone outside the state of Connecticut that he’s a shitbag, but in an attempt to avoid harsh NCAA penalties he has to play stupid.  It’s hard to play stupid when you repeatedly and publicly call others out for it without looking like a shitbag all over again. 

Who knew that cheating, being a raging hard-on, and recruiting Chris Brown wannabe’s was a bad idea?

Tags: college basketball, Connecticut, Jim Calhoun, NCAA Tournament, UConn

More Shockingly Obvious News

They say Blake Griffin's a good student. I don't see it.

Graduation rates of teams involved in March Madness has been a hot topic the past few days and a study conducted by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports has revealed what only the most sexist wife-beaters would dispute: women are better students than men. 

Their report shows that 11 of the 16 remaining schools in the women’s tournament have better graduation rates than any of the remaining men’s teams.  The men’s players at Duke and Villanova proved to be the nerdiest the best students with a graduation rate of 89-percent while 4 women’s teams, UConn, Ohio State, Stanford and Vanderbilt, recorded perfect graduation rates. 

Certainly, there are many qualifiers that could explain the discrepancy between the sexes.  Women’s players could be more mature upon enrolling in college, fewer women’s players transfer to other schools and female athletes don’t spend all their study time chasing booty.  Well, that last one is debatable on a case by case basis. 

The most influential factor, however, is that most men playing for a top tier basketball program assume they will make the NBA.  If you walk up to a D1 male college basketball player and ask him what his plans are after he leaves school, 9 times out of 10 he will say ‘hopefully, I’m going to make the league and then (fill in the blank with some ridiculous business venture, gift for parents or travel plans)’.  The other 1 out of 10 will not speak English fluently or will ignore you because of your lack of tits. 

Women’s players don’t have the same luxury.  The WNBA employs fewer players and has been on the verge of collapse for years.  Plus, the players make about 1/8 of an NBA player’s salary.  There’s really no sense dreaming of playing for $65k a year for 3 years.  That money certainly isn’t going to encourage anyone to blow off their classes.  Unless of course you decided to major in journalism, communications, liberal arts or some other idiotic specialty that will make you less than a WNBA contract.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to daydream about being a WNBA player and being able to afford to eat.

Tags: basketball, Duke, NBA, NCAA, Ohio State, Stanford, UConn, Vanderbilt, Villanova, WNBA