Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Pump it up!

Hey, you think Dick Vitale and Jim Nance et al will even mention this next season?

We're having fun but how about the NCAA issuing a directive that any high school player associated with a Pump club basketball team will need to go through a 'special cleansing process -- say something like purgatory -- before his college eligibility can be officially determined. Maybe a special separate NCAA Clearinghouse should be set up for those individuals with any hint of the Pump taint

Plus, how about a special NCAA committee designed to examine any college coaching hire with even a whiff of Pump involvement?

The bottomline is the NCAA needs to quit chasing flyspecks on the wall when the living room is overcrowded with 800-pound gorillas (and we apologize to the silverbacks and blackbacks for such an NCAA association).

But in reality, this all reminds us of a portion of the ever-so-clever dialogue in "Casablanca" between casino owner Humphrey (Rick) Bogart and police chief Claude (Captain Renault) Rains:

Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?

Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]

Croupier: Your winnings, sir.

Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.

[aloud]

Captain Renault: Everybody out at once! 

Ticket scandal rocks Kansas
Jason King, Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel
Yahoo! Sports
May 26, 2010

LAWRENCE, Kan. A high-ranking member of the University of Kansas athletic department and the father of a prominent Jayhawks’ athlete allegedly made more than $800,000 in a ticket scalping operation that was orchestrated by college basketball power brokers David and Dana Pump, Yahoo! Sports has learned.

The scope, breadth and duration of the scalping business – which included Big 12 and NCAA tournament tickets – extended beyond Kansas to other schools, a source told federal authorities...

Go here for the remainder.

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