No more Penn State blogging! I promised myself, but not you,
no more Penn State! Enough of the two tragedies; first the victims of Jerry
Sandusky, and second the NCAA questionable mugging of Penn State.
Then Joe Nocera wrote a column in the New York Times Tuesday. Joe is an outstanding columnist for the
Times. He has written several columns this year pillorying the NCAA for its
arbitrary and capricious rules and decisions, feckless behavior, and overall
incompetence (all my words – not his).
Joe has strongly argued that the NCAA should give Penn State
the death penalty. He was disappointed therefore by the sanctions imposed on
Penn State by the NCAA. Hence his Tuesday column.
The column though pushed two of my buttons , two
quasi-repressed buttons – University of San Francisco basketball and Fr. Lo Schiavo, S.J..
I earned my Bachelors and JD degrees from USF in 6 ½ years
from 1964 – 1970. Basketball was the soul of the University as the legacy of
Bill Russell carried through the 1960’s. USF won two national titles, winning
60 straight games, being the first team to start three African Americans, Bill
Russell, K. C. Jones and Hal Perry, in the NCAA finals. USF had the second best
team on the West Coast in the 1960’s, but second to the great John Wooden UCLA
teams. The stars during my stay at the Hilltop included Ollie Johnson, Joe
Ellis, Russ Gumina, Erwin Mueller, Larry Blum, and Huey Thomas.
The Jesuits were incredible – highly educated, excellent teachers
and outstanding leaders, with one exception, the Dean of Students and then Vice
President of Student Affairs. Fr. John J. Lo Schiavo, S.J. Fr. Lo Schiavo,
President Emeritus, is esteemed, being the living history of 6 decades of USF.
He is the ambassador to the San Francisco community.
I though thought him to be arrogant, hypocritical, and smarmy.
One example should suffice. He appointed a student, whose
name shall remain nameless, a student of dubious academic credentials, to Alpha
Sigma Nu, the National Jesuit Honor Society. The student’s family was a major
contributor to USF.
That was 1966. Let’s skip to 1982, three decades ago.
What could a news junkie in Springfield, Massachusetts do? The
internet did not exist. ESPN (1979) and CNN (1980) were in their infancy.
Fortunately the AM radio picked up WCBS, the all-news
station from New York City.
One afternoon, while writing an article, I heard this heart
stopping, breaking news flash on WCBS: “Father Lo Schiavo, President of the
University of San Francisco, announced the suspension of the basketball team”
for an indefinite period (three years).
Fr. Lo Schiavo was heralded nationally for placing academic
integrity over sports, a powerful sports program. Among those applauding the
decision were ironically Bobby Knight and Joe Paterno.
Basketball had become in Fr. Lo Schiavo’s eyes a monster
with numerous violations threatening the academic integrity of the school:
recruiting, academic, and now criminal. Papers and exams were faked for
students (rumors which existed when I was a student). Quintin Dailey, the star
player, was accused of assaulting a coed in her dorm room. He also admitted to
getting paid for a summer job for which he performed no work. He pled guilty to
aggravated assault, served no jail time, and played in the NBA.
That was it. The death-penalty was self-imposed. The basketball
program never made a sustained comeback. The university has the Phoenix as a
symbol, but basketball has never had a Lazarus rebirth from the basketball
dead. A few NCAA and NIT tournaments, but Gonzaga now dominates the conference.
Friends at USF told me the real story was that Fr. Lo
Schiavo was so upset by his earlier appearance before the NCAA that he vowed it
would never happen again. It didn’t, and he didn’t. There’s no need for a NCAA
investigation when the school falls on its sword.
That sounded like the Fr. Lo Schiavo I had come to know. He, as President of USF, had lost control over the basketball program. Rather than looking inward to himself, he sacrificed basketball.
That’s what Joe Nocera recommended for Penn State – to follow
the example of USF and Fr. Lo Schiavo. I don’t recommend that for any school.
Fortunately I have Michigan football to still root for.
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