Oh The Humanity

I find a lot of problems with the NCAA. However, I just read this article about Abar Rouse and it again points out flaws in the system. Rouse is the assistant coach who taped Dave Bliss' phone calls when he decided he wanted to portray Patrick Dennehy as a drug dealer after his murder.

I remember exactly where I was when I heard Dennehy had been shot. I was working the University of San Francisco basketball camp. Dennehy was a recognizable name from the Bay Area. We were walking through the rec center after a game and saw the news flash across the espn screen.

I never met Dennehy. However, Bliss trying to disparage his name after his death is one of the greates wrongs I have ever heard a college coach accused of doing. I am glad Rouse taped the conversation and outed his boss. It was the just thing to do as a human being.

Somehow, while Rouse cannot get a job, Bliss has been able to find work in the CB and with Athletes in Action. What a great role model for a Christian group! This really is unbelievable.

Kelvin Sampson gets caught cheating - AGAIN! - and he gets an NBA assistant job. Bliss lies to police and tries to portray a dead player as a drug dealer and he moves to a minor league coaching job. But, the guy who tapes the conversation gets screwed.

On July 26, Dennehy's body was discovered.

Desperate to save his own hide, Bliss told his assistant coaches he wanted to float the story that Dennehy was a drug dealer, thereby explaining away the money Bliss had given to him.

Fearful that he would be fired if he didn't go along with the plan, Rouse recorded a conversation with Bliss. According to one newspaper account, Bliss had put a copy of Rouse's contract, highlighting the portion that showed he could hire and fire assistant coaches, on his desk after Rouse told Bliss he wasn't comfortable with the plan. On the tape, Bliss is heard saying, "Our whole thing right now, we can get out of this. Reasonable doubt is there's nobody right now that can say we paid Pat Dennehy because he's dead. So what we need to do is create reasonable doubt."

Let's look at that. One person attempts to lie to the public about his player and portray him unfavorably to make his program look less bad. Another person tapes this conversation. And, the pariah in the coaching community is the guy who taped the conversation. I think that says enough about the coaching community that favors unwavering loyalty to doing the right thing. I don't think I can have any less respect for a coach than I do for Dave Bliss.

Many coaches, including Hall of Famers Jim Boeheim and Mike Krzyzewski, have said that Rouse had crossed the line. "If one of my assistants would tape every one of my conversations with me not knowing it, there's no way he would be on my staff," Krzyzewski told "Outside the Lines" in 2003. The rank and file has fallen in step.

Really? Coach K and Boeheim believed Rouse, not Bliss had crossed the line? Wow, did I just lose a lot of respect for them (well, I lost a lot of respect for Coach K when he refused to comment on the lacrosse scandal and back his friend, the Head Coach).

I can't imagine working for a person who values loyalty over a right or wrong. Isn't that why we have all these stunning documentaries on gang life on A&E and the History Channel? To show what happens when you value loyalty over right and wrong?

Is that the lesson these coaches teach their players: right or wrong, protect each other?

Is that why the Palace Brawl escalated because other players ran to defend Artest rather than stepping in and bring him back to the court and doing what was right? At the time, everyone said the players were a bunch of "thugs" and "too street." Maybe, they were just well-coached.