What is it with powerful people and their conceit that they can look someone in the eye and divine judgments conta to established facts? First, Dave Brandon claimed that he could tell more from an interview with Brady Hoke than he could from pesky statistics, such as a 47-52 career record. Now, Gene Marsh has opined that the NCAA Committee on Infractions will do the same with Jim Tressel:
"'What were you thinking? What motivated you to do this?'" Marsh said. "If that didn't matter, you wouldn't have a hearing. ... The body language, and how sincere the individual is, it matters a great deal. It is the show."
Or, put another way, the NCAA Committee on Infractions can use Tressel’s personal demeanor to make a judgment: (1) against the weight of the evidence; and/or (2) consistent with their personal prejudices.
2 comments:
I don't read that as saying that the NCAA can make a judgment against the evidence based on body language, but rather to say that the central point of the hearing is to see and hear the man explain his intent. The documents say what they say, but his testimony is going to be interesting -- does he say he screwed up, punto? Does he say he felt he owed confidentiality to his acquaintance? Does he say was concerned for the players' safety? Does he say he forgot? Does he say that he got scared and clammed up once the players got busted?
Speaking of pesky statistics, Hoke is 47-50, not 47-52. Nitpicking aside, he's 25-13 the past three years. People should not look at coaches as unchangeable robots. They get better and worse at their jobs just like everyone else. When Hoke first got hired at Ball State, he had never even been a coordinator, so perhaps it should not be surprising that his first few seasons were very poor. But his record over the past few seasons suggests he's grown as a coach.
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