The situation at Indiana University regarding the major ethical violations of their coach, Kelvin Sampson, who is alleged to have cheated and lied to the NCAA on numerous occasions, reminds me of the classic actions of a corrupt government.
The corrupt are not punished– they’re rewarded. Indiana knew that Sampson had been accused of numerous ethics violations in his previous job at Oklahoma, yet they took him anyway because he could get them what they wanted: recruits like Eric Gordon, and wins, unlike the previous coach Mike Davis, who was known to be running a clean program. Clean programs don’t always get you wins, just as clean political campaigns don’t always result in a win for the gracious competitor. Instead, voters routinely reward completely corrupt or immoral politicians, re-electing them again and again, for what reason? I’m not really sure. Longtime incumbents in Congress can get better positions on committees and “bring home the bacon” to special interests in the district, and the voter can be lazy and not read up on all the issues or the challengers, just voting by the “D” or “R” by the person’s name.
Official reports of corruption make no difference until they’re really, really bad– or, they are just ignored. Sampson was up to his old tricks for Indiana again before he even officially left his job at Oklahoma, yet the Indiana administration didn’t seem to care or notice as long as he brought in blue-chip players, even after the NCAA first brought up the issue of Sampson cheating last October. Does this remind you of anything? After investigations, government officials are sometimes found to be lying or corrupt, but by the time the report comes out, nobody cares anymore and we’re already waist-deep in the policies enacted due to those very corrupt officials. The NCAA says Sampson “failed to deport himself … with the generally recognized high standard of honesty” and “failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance within the men’s basketball program.”
Dissent is squashed. Like a fascist government, Indiana has also now taken the next step and banned fans from games who may want to criticize the current coach or the administration’s decision to fire the all-time winningest college basketball coach, Bobby Knight, five years ago.
Public relations matters more than ending actual corruption. Unlike Sampson’s backroom dealing and illegal phone calls, Knight ran a clean program behind the scenes and his transgressions took place in the public eye– yelling at players, throwing chairs. This is all relatively minor in the grand scheme of things because Knight’s players knew what they were getting into when they signed on, but it makes a big impression on people watching at home. Just as voters don’t care about a lawmaker’s legislation when they find out the person is trolling airport bathrooms, universities don’t care about how a coach acts off the court as long as they maintain their temper when the TV cameras are running. It makes for better public relations, you know. Sampson didn’t resort to such hysterics, so he was safer than Knight, even with ethics violations in hand.
Just as a coach who can win games by any means necessary, however unethical or illegal, is given free rein by his university, government officials are often given free rein as long as they reward the special interest groups that will get them elected again, however unconstitutional or unethical the kickback. It’s a sad state of affairs, in both sports and government.
Indiana University, Bobby Knight, Kelvin Sampson, Bring Back Bobby, corrupt college basketball coaches, government corruption
Subtlety is the art of saying what you think and getting out of the way before it is understood —
Unknown
We must all hear the universal call to like your neighbor like you like to be liked yourself —
George W Bush
formidable quibble
February 21st, 2008