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AyaK 10426 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-10-03, 06:51 PM (EST) "Throwing your pals to the wolves?" Gotta hand it to UGA President Michael Adams. He used to be the VP for university affairs at Pepperdine, where he struck up a lifelong (so far) friendship with a scumbag named Jim Harrick, who was the head basketball coach there. Later, Harrick moved on to UCLA, where he won a national championship ... and Adams moved on to become president of the University of Georgia. Then Harrick was fired by UCLA for recruiting violations (and for lying about them), one year after UCLA won the national championship. He ended up at Rhode Island, where he took a tiny school to the Final Eight -- and, if not for brainlock by Lamar Odom in the final minute, URI would have made the final four. As a result, his old buddy Adams hired him at UGA, despite a number of questions about how Harrick made URI so successful so quickly. Those questions, by the way, have resurfaced. Now the chickens have come home to roost at Georgia, too -- and there's Mike Adams, out in front, trying to look like this whole mess isn't his fault for hiring this ethically-challenged scumbag in the first place. However, he's not willing to fire his buddy yet; instead, he suspended him WITH PAY. Georgia withdraws from postseason, suspends Harrick So, let me get this straight -- the coach's son gave three star players A's in a nonexistent class, but there's no evidence the coach knew about it. Sure. Does anyone other than Mike Adams believe that? Will Adams save his own job? His political connections probably can't help him much right now, and the president of St. Bonaventure just bit the dust for what seems to be a lesser infraction, but you never know about those sports-crazed Georgians.   Top

Subject     Author     Message Date     ID    RE: Throwing your pals to the wolve... shakes the clown 03-10-03 1  RE: Throwing your pals to the wolve... true 03-10-03 2    RE: Throwing your pals to the wolve... SurvivinDawg 03-11-03 6        RE: Throwing your pals to the wolve... PepeLePew13 03-11-03 8            RE: Throwing your pals to the wolve... SurvivinDawg 03-11-03 9  The Cleveland State model AyaK 03-10-03 3    RE: The Cleveland State model SurvivorBlows 03-11-03 4        RE: The Cleveland State model SurvivinDawg 03-11-03 7  Closer to the Source SurvivinDawg 03-11-03 5    RE: Closer to the Source SurvivorBlows 03-11-03 10

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shakes the clown 3366 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Car Show Celebrity" 03-10-03, 07:40 PM (EST) 1. "RE: Throwing your pals to the wolves?" Sounds like Mike Adams is the carbon copy of the AD at Univertsity of Montana...I don't know the guy's name but he used to be the AD at Florida State when Pat Kennedy was the head coach. So, the guy goes and hires Kennedy, who is not as much of a scumbag as Harrick (but still shady nonetheless), but also not even 100th of 1% of the coach that Harrick is. Say what you want about Harrick, the guy got results at every stop inclduing being the only person since Wooden to win it all at UCLA. Kennedy, on the other hand, is without a doubt the worst coach in all of college basketball. His players not only didn't improve, they actually got worse. Kennedy often wouldn't even show up to practice, over half the team was ineligible at some point last year cause of grades. I could go on and on and on, but even writing about it still makes me want to run that asshole over with my car. But, its great to see PK take an NCAA team from last year to a sub .500 season this year including a first round loss in the Big Sky Conference. Now, how bout some irony. The guy who was rushed into replacing Harrick at UCLA is just as slimy and unlike Harrick, he's rigth there with Kennedy in terms of coaching ability. Steve Lavin will be joining Harrick on the unemployment line very very soon.   Top

true 9689 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-10-03, 08:17 PM (EST) 2. "RE: Throwing your pals to the wolves?" Interesting story, AK. Thanks for providing such thorough background info. I just don't get why so many schools put more emphasis on winning than they do education. Hardly something to be proud of. Does anyone other than Mike Adams believe that? Naa, and I'm sure he doesn't believe it either, unless he's just as stupid as he is scummy. CHEATERS.NEVER.PROSPER.   Top

SurvivinDawg 6816 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-11-03, 06:55 AM (EST) 6. "RE: Throwing your pals to the wolves?" Naa, and I'm sure he doesn't believe it either, unless he's just as stupid as he is scummy. He's not stupid, and to call him "scummy" without knowing him or his accomplishments is really low. I really want to emphasize my comments in my other message (below) about the work Adams has done in the academic areas of the University of Georgia. If I could just take you on a tour of the campus, then back in time just 10 years, you'd see the remarkable differences. Furthermore, Adams "gets it" when it comes to the relationship of academics and athletics in public perception. While a certain previous UGA president allowed athletics to be harmed because he thought academics and athletics were incompatible, Adams knows that UGA's athletics teams carry the UGA name everywhere, and this ultimately helps academics. And Alumni contributions to ACADEMIC causes seem to be a lot higher when UGA is winning SEC titles. You may not like it, but that's the way it is at a lot of schools. Why do you think these little schools that make the NCAA basketball tournament (but have NO chance of winning the whole thing) are so happy just to make it? Because it puts their name in lights, and the exposure helps them in far more ways than basketball. Again, the Alumni get out the checkbook for academic gifts when they see their roundball team in the NCAA tourney. So yes, academics are the primary reason for a university's existence, and Michael Adams has done great work in that arena. But athletics are part of the college experience, and to shy away from that is to waste an opportunity to help your school. Sure, some schools do put athletics ahead of anything else, and for some schools, the money made from athletics are the school's only lifeblood, or make the school more than it could ever hope to be without the athletics (a small, private school like Miami of Florida, for example). So don't curse the schools for that. Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged   Top

PepeLePew13 26140 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-11-03, 07:48 AM (EST) 8. "RE: Throwing your pals to the wolves?" >He's not stupid, and to call him "scummy" without knowing him >or his accomplishments is really low. Still, you've got to wonder about a guy who has become good friends with a guy such as Harrick and chose to hire someone with such a spotty track record. I don't dispute what Adams may have done academically or how he has changed the campus of UGA for the better, the point is that he has tied himself in with someone of Harrick's stature at more than one place. Mike Adams's name is tarnished because of this and for him to act like he had nothing to do with Harrick's problems is laughable. I'm still a fan of college athletics, but I don't follow it anywhere near as closely as I did 10 years ago because of all the stuff that has happened - recruiting scandals, good players leaving college early, people like Pitino and Harrick, and the constant questions over recruiting and boosters -- not to mention the repeated infractions by the Crimson Tide of Alabama that has caused the program to be on the brink of the death penalty after its second probation in less than a decade. March Madness is still exciting, but hard to get as attached to it knowing all the stuff going on behind the scenes. "When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."   Top

SurvivinDawg 6816 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-11-03, 08:03 AM (EST) 9. "RE: Throwing your pals to the wolves?" I understand your point, I'm just saying that we shouldn't throw out the baby with the bath water. As I said, Adams does have a black eye over this whole Harrick thing, but he has done good and this shouldn't be disregarded (although some UGA alumni are indeed quite angry with him right now). Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged   Top

AyaK 10426 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-10-03, 08:27 PM (EST) 3. "The Cleveland State model" LAST EDITED ON 03-10-03 AT 08:28 PM (EST) In general, you need two things to be successful as a college coach: some real coaching ability, and good players. You can be successful without the first (see Pitino, Rick), but the second is essential. Basically, college basketball has become a breeding ground for corruption because it really is semi-pro ball, and everyone except the players is making megabucks. The players get NADA for participating. So, if you can find a way to sneak in otherwise-ineligible players, or to bring players to you by paying them, and then somehow keep them eligible, you should be able to win -- and, if you actually can coach, you can win it all. Look at what happened to UMich with the Fab Five. Little did we know that those five people chose to go to Michigan because that's where the most under-the-table goodies were located. I'm still hopeful that Chris Webber, unlike Bill Clinton, will get to do some federal time for perjury. shakes, you make the point that Harrick was the first person to win it all at UCLA since John Wooden. How did John Wooden win at UCLA? Ever hear of Sam Gilbert? Even Jerry Tarkanian, talking about the Wooden era, said, "The only team with a higher payroll was the Lakers." It's almost funny that Tark has standing to blast someone else's amorality. That's why Wooden went 16 years without a title then somehow won 10 titles in 12 years. It wasn't just that he became brilliant. Hazzard, Goodrich, Alcindor, Walton, Johnson -- Sam Gilbert paid them all. (Larry Brown was the one who got screwed for that, when the NCAA finally investigated while he was head coach.) How long will we keep the charade going that these players are "amateurs" who just want a chance to go to college? Cleveland State had a head coach named Kevin Mackey, who used to be an assistant to Dr. Tom Davis and Gary Williams at BC. Mackey came to CSU and immediately turned CSU basketball around. He brought in the brother of an NBA player ... a guy who had been a playground legend in NYC ... a couple of JUCO transfers ... and CSU became a powerhouse. Unfortunately, Mackey got busted when high on crack, and the whole thing tumbled down. Mackey is a great coach (and later won two minor-league championships), but he didn't make any good friends like Mike Adams, so he never got another shot in college. Cleveland State, like Rhode Island after Harrick left, has never fielded a good team again. My point is simply this: a few coaches can run a clean program and win consistently; a few more coaches can run a clean program and win sometimes; but most coaches who win consistently cheat, even if (like Mackey) they really can coach. Oh, and most college coaches can't really coach, so if they run a clean program, they lose. Period.   Top

SurvivorBlows 15230 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-11-03, 00:54 AM (EST) 4. "RE: The Cleveland State model" LAST EDITED ON 03-11-03 AT 01:04 AM (EST) Cleveland State, like Rhode Island after Harrick left, has never fielded a good team again. I have to take offense to this last part. Harrick has only been gone from URI for three seasons -- that's not much of a sample size, hell, we might as well say that ever since Gonzo's hit, the Yankees have never won the World Series again... (and ya, that sounds great, but even as a Sox fan, I have to admit it's a bit misleading.) Of course URI tanked when he left, because they put the team in the hands of a guy who'd never been a college head coach before and had only been hired by Harrick because of who he was -- Lamar Odom's personal handler (is it supposed to be a SURPRISE that Jerry DeGregorio is now a LA CLippers coach?) The Odom thing was pathetic... Odom just happens to play his senior year at a prep school called St. Thomas Aquinas in New Britain, Conn where his coach just happened to be a guy named.... Jerry DeGregorio! Jerry DeGregorio gets hired at URI in July and a few weeks later -- surprise, surprise, Lamar decides he wants to come to URI (where if I remember right they played all kinds of night classes or something like that games to get him in for the following season.) Then Harrick leaves in late March '99 after one year of Odom (two years in all) -- but then he comes back --- and then he leaves again... After Harrick is finally gone, in a transparent attempt to keep Odom and make him happy, URI puts Odom on the search committee to pick the new coach. And surprise, surprise, less than two weeks later the committee decides to make DeGregorio the new head coach -- a guy only two years ago was coaching high school and had Lamar living at his house (nothing shady there.) Then like a month after naming DeGregorio the head coach -- for the sole reason bevause they hoped it would make Odom happy -- Odom announces he's taking off for the NBA and URI is basically left holding their hat with a high school coach coaching the team (which frankly they deserved at this point.) Any chance of having a decent team the next couple of years after that gone... Lamar was gone, the recruiting class was in shambles, the recruiting class for the next year was pathetic (who the hell was going to come play for a guy who two years earlier was a high school coach and only got his asst job as part of a plan to snare Lamar?) and finally after a 5-25 record during his first season and a equally horrible second season, DeGregorio announced in late February 2001 that he was going to "resign" at the end of the season. At the time of his announcement I think the team was like 5-20 on it's way to a 7-23 season (clearly the team "rallied" after hearing the coach was leaving... gotta send him off in style.) Then, to bring this all full-circle, in spring 2001 URI hired St. Bonaventure head coach Jim Baron to be it's head coach. Last season, his first and still dealing with the mess Jerry left behind, the team went 8-20. This season, they are 16-10, 9-6 in the A-10 and generally considered one hell of a surprise. Anyways, that's my long-winded defense of URI basketball... it's not that theey haven't won since Harrick left... it's that they spent THREE YEARS cleaning up the mess he left behind. And after all the crap they put URI through, I can only hope Georgia is as lucky (sorry Dawg!) -- make a bed with the devil, you deserve to sleep in it... it's a painful way to learn a lesson, but needed (especially in the SEC) URI had NCAA success before Harrick and they'll have it again... they'll just never be a regular Top 25 program -SB PS Don't ask my anything else about college basketball... other than URI and Providence College and the many stops of snake oil salesman Pitino (who shamefully started coaching at BU) -- I seriously know nothing.   Top

SurvivinDawg 6816 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-11-03, 07:03 AM (EST) 7. "RE: The Cleveland State model" I can only hope Georgia is as lucky (sorry Dawg!) -- make a bed with the devil, you deserve to sleep in it... it's a painful way to learn a lesson, but needed (especially in the SEC) One reason Adams has thrown his friend to the wolves is an attempt to mitigate the damage the NCAA might do to the program. By cooperating fully, bringing in the NCAA guy immediately, and taking UGA out of the SEC and NCAA tourneys, Georgia is hoping to be "lucky" and get some puppy points with the NCAA. And I think the penalties won't be too harsh (although this is wishful thinking in my part, to be sure) because of this cooperation and swift handling of the matter. The lesson here, for ALL schools, not just the SEC, is not to hire coaches with bad reputations. Georgia did, and got what they deserved. Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged   Top

SurvivinDawg 6816 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-11-03, 06:38 AM (EST) 5. "Closer to the Source" LAST EDITED ON 03-11-03 AT 07:06 AM (EST) Being fairly close to the UGA situation, and following it much more closely than most of y'all probably are, I need to make a few comments here: 1. However, he's not willing to fire his buddy yet; instead, he suspended him WITH PAY. Yes, with pay. First, the University's lawyers have been camping in Athletic Director Vince Dooley's house and office. It is they who have suggested the suspension with pay. UGA, the NCAA and the SEC are still investigating the matter, and the investigation is not over. I think Georgia acted correctly in suspending Harrick, Sr. until they go through the due process to terminate his contract. I'm sure, AyaK, that you understand the need for due process and correct and deliberate legal procedures at this point. Last, I heard on the radio this morning that the NCAA is giving UGA (and President Adams) kudos for their handling of the matter. They've got the coach suspended, and he'll likely be fired when UGA gets its legal ducks in a row on this whole matter. 2. So, let me get this straight -- the coach's son gave three star players A's in a nonexistent class, but there's no evidence the coach knew about it. Oh, we all know the real truth, but knowing and proving are different things. Again, UGA is making sure it has its legal ducks in a row here. As of now, there really is no EVIDENCE to link Harrick, Sr. with Harrick, Jr.'s foibles. Of course, as head of the Basketball program, it's the head coach's overall responsibility. And I was born at night, but not last night... I'm sure that Harrick, Sr. knows what's going on. Also, the class is not nonexistant. It WAS taught. There were 21 students, only 10 of which were scholarship athletes. The basketball players didn't show up for the class and still got A's. As far as I've heard, ONLY the basketball players were so well treated, but the investigation continues, I'm sure. Last, what Dooley tells us in a news conference, and what is really going on, are different things. I'm not saying Dooley's lying, I'm just saying he's not telling us everything, he's not going to tell us everything, and frankly he SHOULDN'T tell us everything while the investigation continues. 3. Will Adams save his own job? I sure hope so. Adams does get a black eye for this one, but he's done a hell of a lot of good for the University in other areas, particularly in academic areas. He has, almost singlehandedly, raised Georgia's academic standing astronomically. The evidence of this can be seen in the new and improved facilities on campus, the higher quality of the students accepted to UGA (I'd still make it if I applied today, but not with as large a margin as when I was there in the 80s), and UGA's standing in the academic community. Adams also had to give Dooley a swift kick in the pants about the football program and Jim Donnan. I'll go out on a limb and say that THAT has worked out okay, with the hiring of Mark Richt and an SEC Championship trophy in the closet (and I don't hear a single word about Richt's program having problems, and don't expect to, either). As to basketball, our previous coach, Ron Jirsa, was a total joke. Yes, Adams gambled and lost in hiring Harrick. In Adams' defense, at the time everyone only knew about the UCLA thing, the other stuff at URI had not truly surfaced yet. In fact, URI re-opened investigations of things only AFTER Harrick got in trouble at UGA. I'm not trying to defend Harrick at all, here, just putting it in a bit of perspective. But I do concede that Adams' friendship with Harrick did cause him to give Harrick a chance that Harrick otherwise would never have had from UGA. Last, Harrick has buried himself with his disastrous TV interviews, his denials that don't ring true, his excuses that have been refuted by other people (Dale Brown), one of his own players, and then URI. Harrick probably will get fired over the Ethics charges, part of which are (as Dooley said) "not telling the truth." Edited to add: I will concede one point about Adams: In all the news conferences he's given, any strong actions (such as the suspension and ultimate firing of Harrick, Jr. and now the suspension of Harrick, Sr.) have been attributed to Vince Dooley. "I agreed with Coach Dooley's decision" seems to be Adams' favorite line. Hey Mike! You usurped Dooley when you fired the football and basketball coaches, and you usurped him in hiring their replacements! Now why aren't you usurping him in all these decisions to deliver suspensions in the basketball program, hmmm?!?!?! Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged   Top

SurvivorBlows 15230 desperate attention whore postings DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold" 03-11-03, 09:38 AM (EST) 10. "RE: Closer to the Source" Last, Harrick has buried himself with his disastrous TV interviews, his denials that don't ring true, his excuses that have been refuted by other people (Dale Brown), one of his own players, and then URI. Harrick probably will get fired over the Ethics charges, part of which are (as Dooley said) "not telling the truth." I can't speak of Adams, but I can confirm the above... I don't know how much if it's been getting back down to Georgia, but the Providence Journal has been all over the Harrick ESPN interview, pointing out 2-3 boldface lies about URI matters. You have to do a free registration to read them online, but the Journal has had some good coverage of this thing that Georgia folks might be interested in: http://www.projo.com/sports/billreynolds/projo_20030309_9ren.b7192.html http://www.projo.com/sports/billreynolds/projo_20030304_04rencol.beef9.html http://www.projo.com/sports/billreynolds/projo_20030308_08rencol.136a9.html "What kind of journalism is that?" he wailed to Vitale, in reference to ESPN's Jeremy Schaap, who tried to talk to Harrick in a parking lot at the University of Georgia. "This is just sports." Just sports. As if no one should take it all that seriously. As if the rules are just something to stretch the way you stretch a defense, just one more obstacle you have to x and o around, just another opponent to beat. ... In Harrick's view of the world, he was a victim. Of jealousy. Of envy. Of people who didn't appreciate the job he'd done. Just as he's trying to portray himself as a victim now. A victim of Tony Cole, who Harrick says is a bad guy, even though Harrick knew all about Cole's troubles long before he brought him to Georgia. A victim of all the innuendo and rumors that he and his son gave players money and orchestrated academic fraud. And no doubt a victim of the NCAA, too. We all know how URI took a chance on Harrick after Al Skinner left for Boston College. How URI president Bob Carothers talked about the age-old theme of second chances, of redemption. And of how it all worked out so well that first year, the Rams going to the Elite Eight, Harrick redeeming himself, wiping away mich of the UCLA tarnish. Jim Harrick back in the spotlight again. You might think it would have been enough. ... But there he was with Vitale the other night saying he's never heard anything about his stay at URI that wasn't positive. There he was saying he graduated eight out of the eight players he recruited at URI, a blatant lie. There he was saying he'd never heard anything about basketball office assistant Chris King's allegations of NCAA improprieties, even though he'd been quoted in this newspaper five weeks ago commenting on the situation. I can't remember the exact numbers, but if I remember right just about all of Al Skinner's former players who played for Harrick graduated. ...and of Harrick's players, I think 1 out of 7-8 graduated.   Top

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