And the NCAA isn’t about to damage any of it’s cash cows. Another case in point is USC- funny how the Reggie Bush getting paid thing just sorta went away, isn’t it.

It’s OK to burn CU to the ground over accusations though, that’s fine. Makes people think they’re actually doing something, ya see.

A few things.

Monk, as pointed out in the show, went above and beyond her role as staff. She says FSU didn’t stop her, but she never says she was told to do it, either. She was asked to resign by the school or be fired and is now suing the school even though she clearly violated NCAA guidelines.

Rouse was on campus less than 6 months. He’s hardly the person you’d want as your “expert” on the situation. He was kicked out of school and off the team, mind you, and once kicked off the team broke into his former teammate’s apartment and stole some items. You know how they knew it was Rouse? He cut himself breaking in the player’s window and bled everywhere and removed a receiver’s glove he wore (to prevent fingerprints, I’d assume) which was team issued to FSU players and had his “#1” stitched onto it. Not sure how reliable of a witness these two are.

As for some of Monk’s claims. She says that a football player had an IQ of 60. Do you HONESTLY believe that? Here’s a chart showing where an IQ of 60 falls. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/IQ_curve.svg We are talking SEVERE mental retardation. That’s like the lowest .5% of the population. You wouldn’t be able to wipe your a** or tie your shoe, let alone play college ball. As for admitting students that wouldn’t get in otherwise? Yes, we do that. So does Colorado. So does every school. They said “35 players’ average SAT was 340 points lower than the average for admitted non-athlete students”. Something like that, right? Just for example, Tim Tebow scored an 890. That’s 400 points lower than UF’s admissions. And that’s actually about the norm for them, ~400 points. It’s NOT uncommon.

As for Rouse’s claim about Antonio Cromartie, his agent came out today saying that he DID decline an interview. He also said "If I declined an interview, how did they get the quote that I admitted Cromartie had “language deficiencies”?" He vehemently denies the claim and even says that Cromartie is one of the most active NFL tweeters, which obviously requires being able to read or write more than a word every minute or two.

As for the intent of the story, it wasn’t to inform the public about wrongdoings at Florida State. It was entirely, 100% an act of defamation. A little background. The “reporter”, Tom Farrey, is a University of Florida graduate. And the email ESPN sent to FSU says it all:

Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:11:31 -0500
From: “Phillips, Jamila D.” <Jamila.D.Phillips@espn.com>
Subject: ESPN Interview Request For TK Wetherall (Sunday 12/13)

Hi,
 
Hope all is well. I wanted to place an interview request for TK Wetherall on ESPN’s Outside The Lines show on Sunday 12/13 at 9am ET. We are going to have a feature documenting the way by which FSU admits substandard students into the school to play sports. We will discuss how much the FSU situation is widespread and doesn’t the win at all costs mentality compromise academics. I know Reporter Tom Farrey reached out regarding Mr. Wetherall but I just wanted to extend the offer again.
 
Ideally we would like to do this interview on camera. Bob Ley is hosting.
 
Thanks in advance for your assistance and looking forward to hearing from you.

Jamila Phillips
ESPN Talent Producer
860-766-9084
<mailto:Jamila.D.Phillips@espn.com>Jamila.D.Phillips@espn.com
 
(NOTE: Same request was emailed to Coach Bowden via FSU Athletics Department staff)

What a professional, unbiased email, sincerely seeking to interview the higher ups at FSU. Quit the bullsh*t, ESPN. They never wanted interviews, as they wouldn’t have fit their motives. Being able to say “Our requests for interview were declined” met their needs much better, and sending a provocative email was the best way to ensure that. The link to that email is here: http://www.seminoles.com/genrel/121109aaa.html

In conclusion, the lowering of academic standards for athletes at major institutions is a very real issue. It’s also a very old issue, and is most definitely NOT limited to Florida State. The fact that ESPN failed to mention any of this shows the lack of professionalism in this report and highlights some of its very basic flaws.

If you still think FSU should have it’s athletic’s programs disbanded, so be it, but at least NOW you know the whole story.