ys into the Pacers hands. But Anthony said hell keep doing it, insisti

Lets be clear up front: North Carolinas response to the NCAAs notice of allegations is a little arrogant, a little elitist and, well, a lot right.The school is essentially saying that, yes, the courses in the African-American Studies department were a sham. And yes, a disproportionate number of athletes took those sham courses. But, the school counters, the NCAA shouldnt be able to charge the school with lack of institutional control or failure to monitor for two reasons:Its not the NCAAs businessSitting next to the scores of mens and womens basketball players and football players were everyday students.To the casual reader it is downright laughable. What else does the NCAA have to do other than to maintain academic integrity among its athletes? And since when is the retort, well everyone else was doing it, too a good defense?As ridiculous as the argument sounds, theyve got a point.In what is arguably the biggest case, in both scope and the brand name of the school being investigated, to fall on its enforcement staffs desk in decades, the NCAA may very well have a difficult time landing its two most serious charges. For that, it has no one to blame but itself and a thick rulebook that intentionally glosses over academic integrity.The NCAA membership worked long and hard studying and trying to decide what should and shouldnt be a bylaw, what is and is not within the manual, athletic director Bubba Cunningham said. The quality of the class, we understand and have said for some time didnt meet our normal standards, but that doesnt mean its a violation of a bylaw.There are two issues at play here.First up: What exactly is the NCAAs job? From the organizations own mission statement:Our purpose is to govern competition in a fair, safe, equitable and sportsmanlike manner, and to integrate intercollegiate athletics into higher education so that the educational experience of the student-athlete is paramount.The key words are to govern competition. Nowhere does it say that the NCAA has a say so in the governance of or determining the merits of an institutions academic courses. In fact, the same organization that somehow has deemed itself worthy to determine if thousands of high schools meet their standards for initial eligibility is purposefully standoffish when it comes to telling colleges and universities what is and is not up to snuff.Once an athlete is enrolled in school, the NCAA monitors whether he or she is making the proper progress toward graduation -- i.e., taking enough, and passing enough, courses; making sure that student athletes are graduating at a proper rate. If not, the NCAA penalizes schools.But it does not -- nor does it want -- to police whether the courses athletes are taking are worth a fig. Its the NCAAs version of a separation of church and state.Weve got sports; you get class.The organization, in fact, hasnt created a by-law regarding academic integrity since 1983.For many, many years we have had presidents on the council and faculty athletic representatives on the council and each and every time when theyve looked at what the role of the NCAA is relative to academics they stay out of it, Cunningham said. They dont want the NCAA in the classroom. ... We work with our accrediting agency for academic issues. The NCAA Is our athletic agency. They each have different jurisdictional responsibilities.The second problem for the NCAA? The number of regular Joes and Janes who took the same courses as the athletes did. The NCAA tried to point to the paper classes as an impermissible benefit, a gift given to athletes to help them along because of their stature as big men and women on campus. Critics naturally and logically argue that if the academic support staff steered athletes to these courses they were, in fact, receiving an extra benefit.But UNC is asking, if everyone on campus was given the same chance to take the courses, no matter how fraudulent they were, how can it be construed as a benefit given only to athletes?The simple answer: It cant.The NCAA knows it cant, which is why in April the organization announced new rules regarding academic misconduct. Schools now must adhere to strict academic integrity policies. A violation of those policies now will equate to an NCAA violation. Heres the kicker from the NCAAs own press release:Additionally the proposal recognizes schools cant predict every type of academic integrity issue that could occur. Therefore, some misconduct committed by staff members or boosters that doesnt violate a schools academic misconduct policies may still violate NCAA rules.In other words, well know it when we see it.Surely under those rules, North Carolina wouldnt have passed the smell test.In adjudicating UNCs case, the rules are too little too late, enacted after the NCAA began its investigation.Instead the school is allowed to make what, by all accounts, is a nervy, illogical and downright laughable defense.And it just might work.Air Max 97 Canada Sale . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. Wholesale Air Max 97 . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. http://www.discountairmax97canada.com/ .Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. Discount Air Max 97 Canada . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. Cheap Air Max 97 For Sale . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night.GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- The New York Knicks will not concede they have a "big" problem -- yet. They know the Indiana Pacers have a size advantage, realize that Carmelo Anthony is going to get beat up banging against a bulkier body, and understand that a change to a lineup with a conventional power forward may become necessary. Not now, but check back if they lose Game 2 on Tuesday night. "Im not saying I wont do that. But Im just saying right now weve only got one game under our belt. ... The small lineup that we started didnt cost us," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Monday. "And I dont consider Melo a small. You guys might, but I dont." He is, though, when it comes to his matchup against the Pacers. Listed at 6-foot-8 and 235 pounds, Anthony has a quickness advantage playing against power forwards, and hes big enough to defend many of them. But Indianas David West is 6-9 and 250, playing his natural position hes been an All-Star at, and hes one of the toughest competitors around. The Pacers outrebounded the Knicks 44-30 on Sunday in their 102-95 victory in the opener of the second-round series. "Were a big, physical team," Pacers centre Roy Hibbert said. "Their specialty is their offensive firepower and weve got guys that could hold down the paint and the perimeter, too. So we just try to make everything as hard as possible for those guys and use our length and athleticism." Anthony was in foul trouble and shot only 10 of 28, and a couple of his teammates even expressed concern about the pounding he took. But Anthony offers no excuses and his coach makes no concessions, saying the guys who started werent the problem since the Knicks led after the first quarter. "I thought we came out, we held our own the start of the game, had nothing to do with who started at the 4 or the 5," Woodson said. "Melos played big guys all year. Last I checked, statistics-wise weve been pretty damn good this year with Melo playing at the 4 spot, so I dont see any reason to change at this point right now." But something is affecting Anthony. The NBAs leading scorer has made just 35 of 110 shots over his last four games and his shooting percentage for the post-season is down to 38 per cent overall and 26 per cent from 3-point range. Point guard Raymond Felton wondered if the Pacers were targeting Anthonys sore left shoulder that he wore a strap over in Game 1 to keep in place. Teammate Kenyon Martin said he didnt think Anthony should have to "wrestle andd tussle" with West and that perhaps the Knicks should start a bigger lineup.dddddddddddd (He would be the obvious candidate to start). "I think K-Mart is coming from a concerned standpoint as a teammate from me getting beat up so much, but weve been going through and dealing with the same thing all year long," Anthony said. "Im fine. Ive been bruised up, beat up all year long, so as far as them guys targeting the shoulder, I cant worry about that." Martin is only an inch taller and weighs less than Anthony, who shifted from his normal small forward spot to the power forward last season when Amare Stoudemire was injured and stayed there this season when Stoudemire remained out. The Knicks flourished with the small lineup and an emphasis on 3-point shooting. "Kenyon is no bigger than Melo, thats kind of how I look at it," Woodson said. "Well just gauge it and see how it goes tomorrow and if weve got to make that adjustment, Ill be the one to make that call." Stoudemire could become an option to get big man minutes later in the series if hes cleared to return from right knee surgery. He took part in 3-on-3 scrimmages Monday, looking winded but expecting to practice Thursday and be in uniform Saturday. "Game 1 was tough for us, but were going to retaliate in Game 2 and see how that goes, and then from that game well see what type of adjustments we need to make. And then if Im able to play, then I will," Stoudemire said. The Knicks said most of their problems stemmed from being outworked, but theyve got other issues. Hibbert (14 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks) dominated his matchup with Tyson Chandler (4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 6 fouls), and Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith continued his shooting woes by going 4 of 15. "I thought both teams played extremely physical. Its going to be that kind of series," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "I dont think weve won that physicality battle or anything like that. I think they played extremely hard and physical, and so did we." With the Knicks unable to hit from the perimeter, they were forced to drive at Hibbert and other big defenders, which plays into the Pacers hands. But Anthony said hell keep doing it, insisting again the Knicks effort was more of a problem than the Pacers execution. "For the most part, everything came down to effort yesterday," he said. "In our minds, we cannot get outworked like we did yesterday and that will be the adjustment." ' ' '