Calling out Olympic doping vs. calling out NCAA cheating. Parallel here?
I read an article in today's Wall St. Journal on the rarity of Olympic athletes speaking out against doping and the lax penalties imposed by the IOC. Most prominent is the Lilly King (swimmer) calling out the Russian Yulia Efimova for being allowed to compete after a previous doping suspension. Lemme tell ya, that took guts. It's one thing to call out the Kenyans, but I might not recommend pissting in Putin's corn flakes.
Makes me think of the parallel to college recruiting and the NCAA penalties for violations. At what point will someone REALLY speak out about the cheating at many Power 5 schools? We've all read the various cryptic posts from the recruiting sites where they say, "I KNOW what 5* RB Mr. X was offered by XSU, but I can't really say what happened on this site." Our own Mr. Harbaugh smack-tweeted the Alabama asst. coach about their glass house, but no one has really come out and said, "This is just bullshit. We know who cheats. We have the evidence (thank you, Laremy Tunsil). Why are all schools expected to compete when so many are known to cheat?"
Do you think anyone will break the code of silence and call out a school like Lilly King did to a Russian? Will it come from Congress? A scorned coach? A disgruntled player? Do you think there will ever be the tipping point to effect real change?
August 10th, 2016 at 8:43 PM ^
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August 11th, 2016 at 8:28 AM ^
I think even if you do have concrete proof, calling out a school won't help you. It's not like the NCAA will do anything about it.
It's different with doping and the IOC because they're at a point where there's still some hope that some sort of punishment will happen. I mean, the Russian track team did get kicked out of the Olympics. Can you imagine the North Carolina basketball team getting kicked out of the NCAAs for four years? That would be the equivalent, and that (or worse) is exactly what should have happened to the Tar Heels. Instead, absolutely nothing happened.
There's shame involved with doping, too. Lance Armstrong (not the Olympics, granted) is a pale shadow of his pre-doping heroic status. North Carolina? Ole Miss? Buckeyes? Still going strong, no shame at all. Nothing like the consensus shunning that was visited on Armstrong.
And that all just goes to show you how bad the NCAA is. When the IOC is significantly less corrupt at a major function of its job than you are, you are bad. Really, really bad.
I really can't wait until 12 guys delay the start of an NCAA tournament Final Four game by an hour just to start some change. #Burnitdown
August 10th, 2016 at 8:46 PM ^
Unfortunately so many are doing it that it really would be a glass-house, situation. I mean, by many accounts, plenty of Michigan players over the years have had some extras given to them. In my honest opinion, I don't think it compares to what goes on in the SEC and other schools across the country, but it's a bit hard to speak out when it could very well be going on in your own backyard. And people aren't going to listen to BYU and Colorado St. and Iowa St. coaches bitch about the top teams and their shenanigans.
August 10th, 2016 at 8:46 PM ^
August 10th, 2016 at 9:09 PM ^
start a real fight.
I thought perhaps something would come of that allegation, what with a sitting AD leading the charge and all. Yet it petered out pretty quickly all the same.
I've wondered since then, why? Why did that allegation get no traction? Was it because the Gary's wanted no part in such a fight (thereby sealing all evidence)? Or was it due to glass house worries (thereby taking Hackett out of the fight)?
I'd love to hear any rumors on this; I'm not privy to any myself.
August 11th, 2016 at 1:17 AM ^
So when an allegation comes out like that, it's like saying "hey, the sky is blue." It's an absolute "well, duh" moment for reporters so it doesn't get reported. And it definitely doesn't get reported because it's essentially hearsay.
If you really wanted to cause a shit storm, allegations won't do anything at this point because we've all heard them about every single school (Michigan included). What you REALLY need is a paper trail or video proof and that'll never, ever happen because everyone involved is so sophisticated and insulated from their schemes.
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August 11th, 2016 at 9:00 AM ^
August 10th, 2016 at 8:57 PM ^
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August 10th, 2016 at 9:05 PM ^
The NCAA isn't dirty. They're somewhere between powerless and inept.
When the complaint is "Player X took $5000" how can they prove it? They don't have subpoena power, they can't search a players dorm, can't depose a recruit under oath, so when it comes down to it the NCAA can't really do anything to combat 99% of what's going on.
August 10th, 2016 at 9:11 PM ^
the NCAA is not without resources. They can fund a parallel to WADA (World Anti-Doping Assoc.) to provide them the evidence they need. They can hand down probation, death penalties, etc. Catching and hammering a few would probably deter a lot of schools from cheating with abandon.
August 10th, 2016 at 9:53 PM ^
August 11th, 2016 at 10:04 AM ^
Whenever anyone at Ohio State divulges violations, someone from the "Sacred Brotherhood" calls them and reminds them that being alive is fluid and could change in an instant. Then they recant their stories before they can meet with the NCAA for an "official deposition."
The NCAA needs to use statements made in interviews as evidence. Instead, they schedule a deposition for a few weeks later, giving the seamier elements plenty of time to influence the "memories" of ex-players.
If they really want to enforce their own rules, they need to be serious about it and change their standards to ensure that witness tampering doesn't work. Or they could just get rid of the 95% of the rulebook that makes it "illegal" for players to rightfully cash in on their extended 15 minutes of fame.
Sadly, they will do neither.
August 10th, 2016 at 9:16 PM ^
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August 10th, 2016 at 9:13 PM ^
Nothing to see here...
August 11th, 2016 at 1:18 AM ^
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August 11th, 2016 at 12:50 PM ^
August 10th, 2016 at 9:19 PM ^
The other thing to think about is would players really want to stop this? Like, sure, some guys will pass on the bribes, but will they be willing to out the paying schools such that their less scrupulous buddies can't get theirs? It's easy for coaches and fans to complain, but I can understand why players don't speak out both for their own self interest and to protect their friends.
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August 11th, 2016 at 1:23 AM ^
So if you shit on and rat out a bunch of coaches the NFL guys are going to notice and that's going to directly impact your future earnings.
Would be like publicly MF'ing your way out of Verizon before going to apply to work at AT&T. Gonna go real bad for you.
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August 11th, 2016 at 7:54 AM ^
like Louisville basketball? ..a lot of fans are complicit in this too, in that as long as their team is good they don't care.If they get caught, the "So, everyone else is doing it too" rationalizations come, and if they don't, noone cares (How many stories do you hear about, "I saw/heard/knew/was told player X got Thing Y from School Z" from fans of all schools).
August 11th, 2016 at 12:51 PM ^
August 10th, 2016 at 9:30 PM ^
August 10th, 2016 at 9:35 PM ^
August 10th, 2016 at 9:47 PM ^
Was pretty badass how King called her out after the Semifinal swim then went out and beat her in the final.
August 10th, 2016 at 9:50 PM ^
August 10th, 2016 at 9:56 PM ^
Lots of people in football are probably reluctant to snitch because (1) the backlash will expose anything even slghtly bad in their own past or program and (2) the world of American football is small, and the coach you snitch on may be in the NFL when you are ready to make the jump.
I'd say that the situation with the players is more like the Thin Blue Line mentality the police have; yeah, person X took a payoff, but he/she is still one of us, and who are we to point fingers? There are plenty of people out there that don't like us already, so evidence I give about corrupt program X or Division Y is just going to be used as ammunition for the argument that all NCAA football/all police are corrupt.
The gain from seing a few bad actors punished doesn't seem worth the loss of respectability for your own efforts in that field. So good people who have information that woulld hlp see justice done prefer silence because they don't trust the public to react intellectually.
August 10th, 2016 at 11:23 PM ^
year. The last two Olympics their swimmers were absurdly doping. The one girl pulled away in the last 50 meters like she had a Evinrude outboard.
August 10th, 2016 at 11:49 PM ^
August 11th, 2016 at 7:34 AM ^
U.S. swimming does have doping scandals, and the dopers are punished. Try googling "Angel Meyer" or "Angel Martino." (Exec summary: top U.S. sprinter in the 1988 Olympic Trials. Expected to medal. Kicked off of the team when her test came back positive for steroids.) Or more recently, Jessica Hardy. (Same/same 2008 trials.) That's why they're not HUGE scandals.
The difference with the Russians is that the Government was directing the testing lab to report all Russian athletes' samples were clean. The reason for the blanket ban in track and field is not that all the Russians were cheating; it's that their federation and their government made it impossible to know who the cheaters are.
We should note that U.S. swimming is in the enviable position of being soooo deep, that the U.S. team can afford to kick off all dopers, and have someone almost as good take their places. We should also note that there are documented cases of unintentional doping. In other words, the athlete used a nutritional supplement that supposedly had only substances the IOC allows, but the batch the athlete got was tainted at the production facility with banned substances. A U.S. and a Brazilian swimmer, whose names escape me, in two separate incidents.
August 11th, 2016 at 8:28 AM ^
I think that in swimming there is another big factor at play and that is the fact that a swimmer's time serves as a de-facto drug test. In baseball, football, and others there is a ton of subjectivity involved when we start suspecting players of doping - "player X gained 35 lbs after his rookie year", "player Y looks way too ripped", etc. Its very hard to be 100% (or even 95%) certain that doping is invloved. With swimming there is an absolute objective measure of performance - the clock. World class swimmers have a long history of competition and swimmers are well aware of each other's times, so when all of sudden a swimmer suddenly sees a huge drop over a short period of time its a pretty dead give away that they were doping.
August 11th, 2016 at 12:02 AM ^
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August 11th, 2016 at 6:28 AM ^
What is Tren?
August 11th, 2016 at 6:33 AM ^
https://www.steroid.com/tren.php
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August 11th, 2016 at 8:18 AM ^
the nectar of the Gods :)
August 11th, 2016 at 8:17 AM ^
Nobody in college athletics should ever get caught it is so easy to use. Rarely are PED's tested for. The only time PED's are even looked for is when those big NCAA trucks pull up to the college and randomly test athletes. When I was an athletic trainer at bowling green...that happened once...one...time. And it is truly a random pool of athletes. Many NCAA athletes will never get tested for PED's their entire time in college.
Most schools will have the athletes get drugs tests at least once a year but these are not PED tests. These are standard 9 panel drug tests that cost about $10 at the schools health center.
Hey I like tren like the next guy but due to the deleterious effects on cardiovascular fitness most athletes will avoid it. Most of the college football players or athletes that ask me what to take I recommend sticking with test prop throw in an oral and roll with it. They don't need an elaborate cycle like a bodybuilder.
I was speaking with a MAC football player last month (a lineman) who did this last offseason:
100mgs test prop EOD for 10 weeks
50mgs dianabol/day for the first 6 weeks
GHRP6 mostly for appetite stimulating effects
He put on roughly 35 pounds and all those compounds are long gone out of his system very quickly. I know some people get upset and butthurt by these posts but I'd tell everyone (this isn't directed at you at all) to get a grip. We pack in 100,000 people to watch 20 year olds bash their heads in, we shoot them up to numb the pain and give them pain pills like there is no tomorrow...and yet we get all sensitive with PED's.
August 11th, 2016 at 12:27 AM ^
August 11th, 2016 at 7:22 AM ^
I'm not so sure, many schools' identities, including ours and the Big Ten, are tied closely to Athletics and ADs and coaches often carry some weight on-campus in their own right. (Think if Schlissel tried to remove Harbaugh for reasons UM Football fans didn't agree with, would Schlissel keep his job through that backlash?)
August 11th, 2016 at 8:32 AM ^
August 11th, 2016 at 10:46 AM ^
I agree it will never end as long as people look to improve performance. And, frankly, I hope it doesn't. PED's are as American as apple pie and it woudl be a boring sports world without them.
August 11th, 2016 at 12:54 PM ^