Posted by Don on 1/23/2008, 5:57 pm, in reply to "For Don: thought you would like this article"
75.60.28.3
Th NCAA is a joke. They'll be even more of a joke when they allow USC to skate on the Bush crap. Speaking of which, Bush is/was just the tip of the iceberg.
--Previous Message--
: NCAA, weather put Pryor party on ice
: Students had planned block party for top QB
: recruit
: Kelly Fraser
: Michigan Daily News Editor
: 1/22/08
:
: On Thursday afternoon, LSA senior
: Christopher Breece got a voicemail message
: on his cell phone from an NCAA
: representative.
:
: The message was short and direct -
: "literally 10 words long," Breece
: said.
:
: The representative called to tell Breece he
: couldn't throw the block party he was
: planning because it would violate NCAA
: recruiting guidelines.
:
: Breece conceived the party as being in honor
: of high school football star and Michigan
: prospect Terrelle Pryor, who visited the
: University this weekend on a recruiting
: trip. Pryor is rated the No. 1 high school
: football prospect by rivals.com, a website
: that evaluates high school athletes
: nationwide.
:
: The NCAA forbids schools from holding
: parties for recruits to prevent the recruits
: from being exposed to illicit activity that
: could sway their decision.
:
: Breece created the "Terrelle Pryor
: Greenwood Block Party" and the
: "Planning Stages of the Official
: Terrelle Pryor Greenwood Block Party"
: Facebook events with his housemate LSA
: senior Steve Frey early Tuesday morning.
: More than 1,500 people confirmed on Facebook
: that they would attend the first Facebook
: event.
:
: Jennifer Kearns, an NCAA spokeswoman, said
: the party's original description violated
: the organization's policies because students
: are considered extensions of the
: University's athletic department under NCAA
: bylaws. According to the bylaws,
: representatives of athletic interests
: include anyone who has participated in
: promoting a school's athletic programs.
: Kearns said that includes student fans.
:
: Breece said he tried calling the number back
: Thursday, but failed to get through. He then
: called the NCAA headquarters in
: Indianapolis, Ind. and spoke with a
: representative who confirmed that hosting
: the block party would be a violation.
:
: Breece was then referred to the University
: Athletic Department's Office of Compliance,
: which monitors athletic department
: activities and reports violations to the
: appropriate governing body - either the Big
: Ten Conference or the NCAA.
:
: Judy Van Horn, associate director of
: athletics, told Breece that the party, as
: advertised, should be canceled.
:
: "We felt like it was a bad
: concept," said Matt Stolberg, assistant
: athletic director for compliance.
:
: The NCAA implemented tighter recruiting
: practices in 2005 after the University of
: Colorado football program was accused of
: engaging in illegal recruiting practices.
: These included cases in which Colorado
: football players had bought alcohol, drugs
: and hired strippers for recruits. Numerous
: female students at Colorado also filed
: lawsuits, accusing Colorado football players
: of rape while recruits were visiting the
: campus.
:
: Stolberg said it was the first time in his
: memory that students at the University of
: Michigan have planned a party for a recruit.
:
: Rather than scrapping the party altogether,
: Breece worked with the athletic department
: to change the party's theme to be "in
: support of Michigan football" so it
: wasn't specifically aimed at Pryor. Frey
: said he was willing to cooperate with the
: Athletic Department because he didn't want
: to do anything to jeopardize Pryor's
: eligibility should he decide to come to
: Michigan.
:
: "The original intent was to show him
: how much support the Michigan community has
: for the football team and its players,"
: Frey said.
:
: Breece and Frey tried several times to
: cancel the original Facebook events, but the
: site wouldn't allow them to delete the
: listings. Breece created a new group called,
: "Greenwood Block Party Showing Support
: for Michigan Football" and posted
: messages on pages for the previous events,
: explaining that the events were cancelled
: and that the new event would take its place.
:
: Breece also sent a Facebook message to
: members of the event explaining the NCAA
: policies and the changes to the party.
:
: In the end, though, the block party wasn't
: the blowout Breece and Frey envisioned. The
: bitter, 10 degree weather kept most
: party-goers home and confined the few who
: showed up to a couple of houses along the
: block.
:
: Breece admitted that he failed to take the
: weather into account when he planned the
: party.
:
:
:
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