HOOPS MADNESS
HOOPS MADNESS: Usually, March Madness refers to the frenzy caused by the basketball conference tournaments followed in rapid succession by the NCAA tournament. Not this year. #21 Georgia has self-imposed a ban from the SEC and NCAA tournaments and the President of St. Bonaventure has resigned over two major scandals with their basketball programs.
I only follow college basketball casually but I am a big fan of college football. The degree to which fine academic institutions have willingly compromised their integrity in order to pursue the money and name recognition that comes from big-time athletics is both sickening and outrageous. Jim Harrick, although a top notch basketball coach, is well known as a dirtbag by even causual followers of the game, having been fired by UCLA on the heels of a national championship and earning further disgrace at Rhode Island before moving on to UGA. That any institution of higher education would be willing to associate with him is despicable. The St. Bonnie situation, where players just decided to skip the rest of their season, with the acquiescence of the coach and athletic director, is just bizarre.
