PonyFans.com

Who helped the northwestern players who wanted to unionize?

Great statement from the players and classy move on their part. Whether they sue or not, is something that's down the line. Right now, its just a classy letter and I'm very proud of these young men.

Exactly. It is imperative that someone stood up to defend our players, coach and our university. Although I realize there are pros and cons for SMU doing that directly, it would have been a crime to not have this information out there.

My question is why CBS? Why not ESPN which is the gold standard in sports and would be seen by all sports fans. It needs to be released to them also. Quickly.

CBS shows us the most love on social media

I love this letter. It is terrific. It raises the question as to whether the students/players have any ground with the ncaa to appeal as opposed to the university? Has this ever happened before where there are two groups (school and players) appealing?

CBS may show us the most love, but let's get the message out to the biggest number of people.

It is on ESPN. Andy Katz kind of echoes my thoughts.

Andy Katz ‏@ESPNAndyKatz

Andy Katz Retweeted Gary Parrish

All good points but no process within NCAA if school won't appeal -- which it says it won't on ban. Stay tuned.

Andy Katz added,
Gary Parrish @GaryParrishCBS
SMU players issue statement to @CBSSports, call NCAA’s postseason ban unfair.
READ: http://cbsprt.co/1VS45Wt

The DMN still doesn't have it but all the media outlets will pick this up eventually.

Like I said, Andy Katz has a point.

Love the open letter. I think this is a good way to respond by putting a face to the sanctions as opposed to just an institution. I do wonder about the statement "We also wish to make known that the NCAA's conclusion that the SMU Men's Basketball program is not compliant with NCAA rules is simply incorrect."

We did self report these violations and they are indeed not compliant with the rules, so this statement makes the whole letter lose a little credibility in my eyes. I completely agree that the punishment did not fit the crime and the letter does go on to make that point very well.

Maybe I am splitting hairs and I know that the bigger picture of the letter is what is important, but that sentence jumped out at me right away.

Feel free to correct me if I am missing something.

I think it does show that these guys have a chip on their shoulder which should make for some good times at Moody this year!

Many in media who will regard this as rah-rah PR shenanigans were the same who said O'Bannon lawsuit was a waste of time. NCAA is a PR driven organization, as was perfectly evidenced by terrible PSU soup sandwich and continued attempts to mitigate and UNC punishments. They saw the power a retired former player had and likely fear the potential of a team of current players whose claim of unfair punishment will likely be buttressed by limited UNC and test taking scandal punishments issued to P5 programs. This is close to the perfect storm, and if pressured, may result in NCAA proactively taking action to limit potential negative PR and resulting financial implications.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Blunt Pony wrote:Love the open letter. I think this is a good way to respond by putting a face to the sanctions as opposed to just an institution. I do wonder about the statement "We also wish to make known that the NCAA's conclusion that the SMU Men's Basketball program is not compliant with NCAA rules is simply incorrect."

We did self report these violations and they are indeed not compliant with the rules, so this statement makes the whole letter lose a little credibility in my eyes. I completely agree that the punishment did not fit the crime and the letter does go on to make that point very well.

Maybe I am splitting hairs and I know that the bigger picture of the letter is what is important, but that sentence jumped out at me right away.

Feel free to correct me if I am missing something.

I think it does show that these guys have a chip on their shoulder which should make for some good times at Moody this year!

I agree with you. That was probably something Turner asked to have added in there for whoever wrote this for the player to sign off on. Turner has to look god for the Knight Commission.

Puckhead48E wrote:Many in media who will regard this as rah-rah PR shenanigans were the same who said O'Bannon lawsuit was a waste of time. NCAA is a PR driven organization, as was perfectly evidenced by terrible PSU soup sandwich and continued attempts to mitigate and UNC punishments. They saw the power a retired former player had and likely fear the potential of a team of current players whose claim of unfair punishment will likely be buttressed by limited UNC and test taking scandal punishments issued to P5 programs. This is close to the perfect storm, and if pressured, may result in NCAA proactively taking action to limit potential negative PR and resulting financial implications.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

So are you saying the players need to file a lawsuit like O'Bannon? I think O'Bannon filed when he had played and earned some money in the NBA to pay for attorney fees, right? And didn't Penn St appeal the sanctions?

That could be a reference to this being a one time event vs systemic, or perhaps the fact the class was not relevant to admission. I agree the punishment does not fit the crime. I don't think the NCAA's will come to that conclusion proactively on their own, but will have to be forced there (I.e. Lawsuit with resulting settlement).

You don't have to have a super strong case to inject reason and clutter up the NCAA at just the wrong time for them.

If the school appealed and a lawsuit was file then I think we have a chance. But the NCAA just has to note that the players own school would not appeal the penalties so why should they retract the post season ban.