9710100132
DETROIT FREE PRESS
971010
Friday, October 10, 1997
METRO FINAL EDITION
1C
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1997, Detroit Free Press
U-M ADMITS NOTHING...
EVEN IF SCHOOL AVOIDS BLAME, ITS STANDARDS WERE JEOPARDIZED
It was less of a press conference than the first day of a college class, where
the professor hands you a massive reading assignment. Reporters who gathered
at the Michigan Union on Thursday were given these heavy 250-page reports,
with black plastic bindings and beige covers. They were told, essentially, to
go home and study.
"We haven't read it all ourselves," U-M president Lee Bollinger said.
"We just received it last night," athletic director Tom Goss said.
This was at best a little naive, and at worst, disingenuous. After all, a
seven-month investigation into the U-M basketball program is a top-shelf item
for both men. And they did manage to lead their remarks -- and their press
release -- with the conclusion that "no major NCAA violations were uncovered."
Someone had to read the report to know that, right?
But this was not unexpected. The school paid for a neutral examination. And
while declaring itself relatively healthy, it also discovered what I've been
saying all along: U-M is not the police. Neither is the NCAA.
Which means this: Nobody has to talk to them.
So you had a major investigation into an alleged money-giver, Ed Martin -- in
which Martin refused to be interviewed.
You had a major investigation into what some former players might have taken
while they were students -- guys like Chris Webber -- but those players
refused to be interviewed.
You had a major investigation into unidentified sources of news reports -- but
those sources were never interviewed.
So what exactly do you have here?
You have an expensive, 250-page exercise that had to be done, and that may or
may not accomplish what Michigan hopes it does: Dissuade the NCAA from a
full-blown investigation and potentially crippling sanctions.
And, as always, the only question that matters still remains: Did anybody do
anything wrong?
A no-brainer
The answer to that is yes. Ed Martin did something wrong. Without a doubt, he
gave things to players he should not have given; without a doubt, he tried to
purchase plane tickets for a player's family; without a doubt, he tried to pay
for apartments and hotel rooms in an effort to ingratiate himself to big-time
ballplayers, so maybe they would like him more, remember him when they went
pro, pay him back one day with status, maybe money.
That's wrong. It's not NCAA wrong. It's not U-M wrong. It's plain old
common-sense wrong. To try to buy your way into the hearts of athletes --
especially those who might suffer from such advances -- is dangerous and
pathetic. You don't need a 250-page report to tell you that.
So the question is: How close was Martin to the Michigan program? Seven months
ago, U-M determined he was a booster (technical term: "a representative of
athletic department interests") but in this latest report, they say that is
"debatable."
Well, obviously, the more distance U-M puts between itself and Martin, the
safer it will be.
But as I asked Goss on Thursday -- and as I say right here -- if Martin really
did the things he is accused of, does his not being a booster suddenly make it
OK?
"Absolutely not," Goss said.
Right. Folks, let's not lose track of what this whole thing should be about.
It is not about attacking a university. It is not about attacking the press.
It is not about "beating" the NCAA.
It's about how you want to run a college sports program. Bollinger said it
nicely Thursday: "The standard for Michigan is not to take pleasure in
avoiding NCAA sanctions.... Our standards are far higher than that."
Good. Then let everyone know where you're placing the bar.
Where's Coach Fish?
You can't have coaches allowing sycophants to get next to the players --
especially sycophants with money. Doesn't matter if the coach witnesses any
wrongdoing or not. He has to guard his kids like a lioness guards her cubs. If
it costs him recruits, so be it.
And if anything suspicious happens, he can't delay in reporting the
wrongdoing. I know NCAA rules are ridiculous. I, personally, would never coach
under them. But if you do choose to coach under them -- and you take the money
for doing so -- then you undeniably choose to abide by them, letter by letter.
Steve Fisher was admonished for not doing these things. He has suffered
plenty. I have known him for years, and despite accusations to the contrary, I
believe he did nothing wrong intentionally. At worst, he permitted himself
benign ignorance, or he trusted too much, believing his players when they
said, "Coach, we're not breaking any rules."
Fisher was not there Thursday. That looked bad. He was on vacation, and
"people are entitled to their vacations," Goss said. That is true. It is also
true that if a top recruit needed to see Fisher fast, he'd likely get on a
plane and be there. Isn't a seven-month investigation at his own school at
least that important?
Or maybe Fisher knows more than anyone that this report changes little. That
the NCAA has been unofficially poking around, and may continue to do so. It's
not like Fisher to celebrate anything before it's over.
In the meantime, give Michigan credit for doing what it had to do, even if the
key people did not cooperate. And try to remember that, while it looks like an
adversarial relationship, both the media and the university should be after
the same thing: A clean program that makes fans proud -- and a desire to clean
up anything that is less than that.
"Our challenge was to find the truth and take action on the truth," Bollinger
said as he glanced at the report. "We have what we have."
Yep. Two hundred and fifty pages, and just as many questions as answers.
To leave a message for Mitch Albom, call 1-313-223-4581.
THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED ARTICLE.
COLUMN; REACTION; REPORT; U-M; INVESTIGATION; SUMMARY; NCAA;
SCANDAL