Answer Saturday! (Part 3)

Q: Zovoz said:
Scott, does anyone review NCAA committee candidates? Were the people on the USC case appropriate, fair choices in your opinion?

For example:

The COI chairperson, Paul Dee, has been with University of Miami since 1981, first serving as VP and General Counsel, then Athletic Director.

Under his nose the program hit the skids:
• 80 student athletes, 57 of whom were football players, falsified Pell Grant applications in exchange for kickbacks from the players themselves.
• The scandal secured more than $220,000 in federal grant money.
• Federal officials describe the scam as "perhaps the largest centralized fraud ... ever committed" in the history of the Pell Grant program."
• In addition, the University provided over $400,000 worth of other, improper payments to Miami football players.
• Finally, the University had failed to wholly implement its drug-testing program, and permitted three football student-athletes to compete without being subject to the required disciplinary measures specified in the policy.

Or, how about Missy Conboy, the Senior Deputy Director of Athletics at Notre Dame and a 23-year veteran of their athletic department.

She's participated in the decline of one of the nation's most prestigious college football programs; with the significant caveat that the school's most hated rival, USC, has been driving nail after nail into the program's coffin with its own success. Could she really be objective?

BTW, I'm also curious if you've asked the opinions of any former Appeals Committee members that are also affiliated with USC what they think is likely to happen next?

Thanks,
-S

A: I think Paul Dee is a curious choice and I was unimpressed with his performance at the press conference the day the sanctions were announced because there was so much he failed to address. He is very entrenched, however, within the NCAA and is not going to be removed. Missy Conboy was an extremely strange choice for the committee given her employment at Notre Dame. She supposedly did not participate when a TV ban was discussed but all the other penalties were in the interest of Notre Dame, whether she was objective or not.
Regarding the appeal, the standard is very high. And the appeals committee upheld 10 of the past 11 cases, which is not encouraging for USC.

Q: I DIg Go Go Girls said:
Do you think the World Cup play has been mediocre through the quarterfinals?

A: Yes. I've been disappointed in the World Cup overall. Some of it might be due to the controversial jabulani ball but that does not explain the lack of inspiration among so many players. Even today, watching Spain-Paraguay, seeing striker Roque Santa Cruz go through the motions was disappointing. Not to mention the entire England team.