Saturday, December 10, 2005

GOTH & the Athletic Director

Just when the sordid LOTA/GOTH (Lady Of The Afternoon/God Of The Hardwood) interlude vis-à-vis basketball affairs at the University of Kentucky had apparently been laid to a well-deserved rest not long ago (no rape, just hanky-panky), the other GOTH episode, which should have ended months ago, kept wending its way along and persists unto this good day, the GOTH in this case being one Randolph Morris, a UK player who announced last spring that he would stand for the National Basketball Association draft, but made the tragic(?) mistake of going about it in the wrong way, i.e., verbally aligning himself with an agent-institution of some kind, which without doubt represented him with regard to various NBA teams, thus placing his amateur status in jeopardy/termination – whichever. Alas, the player had judged himself to be better than he was and was totally neglected by all NBA teams. What to do?…Why…just go back to UK and continue on his merry slam-dunking path to the NBA.

Not so fast was the word from the National Collegiate Athletics Association, and therein lay the rub. The NCAA ruled him ineligible, using as proof such things as Morris’s acceptance of more than $7,300 from NBA teams – or at least in services such as air fare provided by those teams – in violation of NCAA rules. The university – actually mostly the athletic director, Mitch Barnhart – has fought tooth-and-nail to have Morris reinstated, but to no avail with regard to any participation during the current season. Magnanimously, however, the NCAA reckoned Morris could play a couple more years after sitting out this season. Not so fast has been Barnhart’s attitude – as a lawyer is being paid $240 per hour to get things turned around – exhibited by his seeming not to realize that a weaker verdict would open the entire university system to unspeakable abuse by its “scholarship” athletes.

Okay…the team needs – or at least Barnhart and the coach seem to think it needs – this tall guy in a bad way…actually, it does. Winning in basketball is everything at UK, all the other sports merely trifles in comparison. But, could Athletic Director Barnhart have other considerations in mind? After all, his take is only about a half-million big ones a year, with the UK president threatening to overtake him in terms of salary, though Barnhart, as per his contract, will begin collecting another $120,000 if he is at the university 30 June 2006 – a distinct given. This money is being saved for him at the rate of $30,000 per year…to help out with the groceries.

Another reason Barnhart may be uptight about Morris has to do with another sugar-stick of his contract, to wit, another $25,000 if the basketball team (even the women’s team) just makes the NCAA tournament (64 teams) – another given. This means that Barnhart has collected an additional $75,000 for 2003-04-05. If either team makes the “final four,” Barnhart gets another $25,000, so the AD may be more than just interested in poor Morris’s education. Barnhart also gets $50,000 a year in something called “discretionary incentives,” such incentives, if any, being determined by the UK president – okay, hard to believe, but it’s in the contract. For instance, if the prexy thinks Barnhart’s fight for Morris’s eligibility is a worthy incentive – VOILA! Oh yes, if any other team – perhaps the golf team or tennis team – makes an appearance in an NCAA tournament, Barnhart gets another $5,000, to which another $5,000 is added if a national title is won. Lowly professors, with or without tenure, can just eat cake.

The real bonanza would occur, of course, if the football team made it to either the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, or Orange bowl, since Barnhart would collect a cool $100,000 for such an appearance, win or lose. That isn’t likely to happen, BUT, he gets another $30,000 if the football team makes it to any bowl, no matter how far down the pecking order of validity, apparently. Get this: Barnhart was required to pay Oregon State $100,000 for jumping ship there to come to UK. Contracts mean almost nothing in the world of sports, where integrity is said to be so important. The UK Athletic Association furnished the dough, but Barnhart doesn’t have to pay it back (principal or interest) if he stays at UK for five years – through 2007.

So…it’s easy to see why the AD, instead of seeing athletes ply their trade, may see dollar marks in action when they run, jump, pass, dunk, slam-dunk, throw, catch, tackle, trash-talk…yeah, get the picture. Morris means a lot to Barnhart, and you can take that to the bank. Oh yes, UK also furnishes Barnhart two cars, but he probably drives only one at a time. It took quite a few months AFTER Barnhart arrived on the scene to work out his “contract,” and one can see why. Now…if the football team could just make it to the Crabapple Bowl! Oh well…maybe the AD can yet make a killing, since the women’s basketball team is undefeated at this writing (8-0), while the men stand at 6-3 while Morris is the subject of yet another appeal by the $240-per-hour lawyer, whose total take is expected to be up to $10,000, win or lose. Only in Kentucky!

The struggling taxpayer looks at all this unmitigated waste…and wishes Morris well.

And so it goes.

Jim Clark

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