Amazing how this works....

Yesterday, during the Indiana/Michigan St. basketball game, the big topic of discussion was the fate of Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson. The ever obnoxious, loud and annoying Dick Vitale spent the entire game calling for Sampson's dismissal. But, by the time the game was over, and Indiana had put on a wonderful display of basketball (and a huge woopin' on the Spartans), I couldn't help but wonder if Sampson had found the ultimate weapon to avoid the inevitable - winning.

Confirming that and more, Bill Rhoden in today's NY Times becomes a Sampson apologist:

Let me make the case for Sampson to remain at Indiana. One more chance. He has clearly blundered — maybe twice. Once at the University of Oklahoma and now, according to an N.C.A.A. report, at Indiana, which hired him in 2006. In pursuit of players, Sampson cannot seem to keep his fingers off speed dial.

I guess that we shouldn't be all that surprised to see this. Winning makes up for a lot of faults, especially in collegiate athletics. But Rhoden's complete lack of transparency here is so glaring as to make me want to throw-up. Just a couple of days ago, he called for the immediate lynching (yes, I'll use the word here, it's perfect) of Roger Clemens even though there is a lack of corroborating evidence.

But Sampson is Native-American, and Rhoden is black, so maybe the rules are different, even though Sampson has clearly been caught with his hand in the till for the second time after being warned by his superiors before he even took the Indiana job! Again, blatant journalistic dishonesty at the Times rears its ugly head; or is Rhoden just part of the cult of winning? Either way, I'm not impressed.....Hoops, anyone?