TSSAA

[rollbigred1]

Anyone hearing anything?

[slowrunnertn]

Anyone hearing anything?

About What?

[inappropriate203]

Anyone hearing anything?

Why don't you enlighten us Daniel?

[Indian]

Having all private schools and public schools together. 1.5 multiplier for non-aid privates, 2.5 for aid privates.

 

I'm joking, but that might blow up the internet at least in this state.

[rollbigred1]

Having all private schools and public schools together. 1.5 multiplier for non-aid privates, 2.5 for aid privates.

 

I'm joking, but that might blow up the internet at least in this state.

Interesting article in the January 9,2012, edition of the Nashville City Paper. It stated the TSSAA investigation of MBA is on going.

[KWoodroof]

In April, when this issue broke, the fundamental question facing the authorities at MBA was the the general objective of the school's response. Is the goal to limit the damage, or fix something that's broken. Clearly the decision was to limit the damage.

 

As such, the school confined its admissions to matters that were either already public knowledge, or appeared likely to become public knowledge in the near future. The one person who was indisputably linked to the incident was fired...or not, but somehow was no longer associated with the program. The matter was closed when the TSSAA sent the school a letter indicating satisfaction with these tokens. One would assume such a letter would have the tone of a reprimand, or at least an admonishment of sorts. This one read more like a valentine or a reference.

 

This particular response rests on the hope that the explanation will be accepted, and there will be no further questions. "Optimism" is not a particularly sound strategy. I'm reminded of a line from the British comedy Blackadder Goes Forth in which the main character's attorney indicates that he plans to "play the mindless optimism card pretty heavily."

 

And clearly this strategy has failed with gusto, on multiple levels. First, and rather obviously, it hasn't worked because it wasn't true: there were other cases. Second, the TSSAA doesn't seem to buy it. Third, and in my view most importantly, rather than beginning to address the damage to the school's reputation for integrity, it has created an even bigger breach.

 

The course not chosen would have been more painful in the short run. If I had been the emperor, I would have brought in (at MBA's expense) an outside investigator to conduct a thorough inquiry. There would have been a directive to all staff that failure to cooperate fully with the investigation would result in termination, and any alumni/boosters who chose not to cooperate would no longer be welcome on campus. The results of the investigation would be made available to anyone who wanted to read it, with the names of students redacted. I would also have announced that MBA teams would withdraw from all post-season competition for the next two school years. I would stress that when men of integrity make mistakes, they admit them with genuine contrition and accept the reasonable consequences of their actions.

 

And then I would have resigned my position as emperor.

[BuckLateral]

Interesting article in the January 9,2012, edition of the Nashville City Paper. It stated the TSSAA investigation of MBA is on going.

 

According to the article in this morning's Nashville City Paper, the attorney for the TSSAA met with MBA officials in early December. MBA's attorney says that the schools is cooperating with the TSSAA on the matter and expects to have it resolved in the near future.

 

Here is a link to the article:

 

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/city-paper-investigation-improper-financial-aid-given-mba-athletes

Edited January 9, 2012 by BuckLateral

[big red big blue]

someone told me back in the fall at one of the games that the school had begun an investigation as part of the explanation that "this stuff has been going on for years", had come up with some not-very-good findings, and was preparing to submit eveything to the TSSAA. My impression is the stuff cited in the article was what this internal investigation uncovered. What I suppose we will learn soon is whether or not MBA was going to provide all these details to the TSSAA and take some serious punishment, or planned to cover it up, thus giving someone motive to get it into the hands of the City Paper so it sees the light of day.

[retiredtothebleachers]

In April, when this issue broke, the fundamental question facing the authorities at MBA was the the general objective of the school's response. Is the goal to limit the damage, or fix something that's broken. Clearly the decision was to limit the damage.

 

As such, the school confined its admissions to matters that were either already public knowledge, or appeared likely to become public knowledge in the near future. The one person who was indisputably linked to the incident was fired...or not, but somehow was no longer associated with the program. The matter was closed when the TSSAA sent the school a letter indicating satisfaction with these tokens. One would assume such a letter would have the tone of a reprimand, or at least an admonishment of sorts. This one read more like a valentine or a reference.

 

This particular response rests on the hope that the explanation will be accepted, and there will be no further questions. "Optimism" is not a particularly sound strategy. I'm reminded of a line from the British comedy Blackadder Goes Forth in which the main character's attorney indicates that he plans to "play the mindless optimism card pretty heavily."

 

And clearly this strategy has failed with gusto, on multiple levels. First, and rather obviously, it hasn't worked because it wasn't true: there were other cases. Second, the TSSAA doesn't seem to buy it. Third, and in my view most importantly, rather than beginning to address the damage to the school's reputation for integrity, it has created an even bigger breach.

 

The course not chosen would have been more painful in the short run. If I had been the emperor, I would have brought in (at MBA's expense) an outside investigator to conduct a thorough inquiry. There would have been a directive to all staff that failure to cooperate fully with the investigation would result in termination, and any alumni/boosters who chose not to cooperate would no longer be welcome on campus. The results of the investigation would be made available to anyone who wanted to read it, with the names of students redacted. I would also have announced that MBA teams would withdraw from all post-season competition for the next two school years. I would stress that when men of integrity make mistakes, they admit them with genuine contrition and accept the reasonable consequences of their actions.

 

And then I would have resigned my position as emperor.

 

Very good post. Very good, indeed.

[Byronhasfleas]

Did the City Paper article really have anything new in it? Seems that some old news is being dredged-up and that the TSSAA and MBA people are confident that the appropriate review/investigation has been conducted with full cooperation. I seriously doubt that there will be anything to come of it. In the meantime, we're still waiting for the former/deposed coach to burn-off the rest of his severance package and then take a new job with a school that needs a new leader of men! Did anyone ever confirm who the original "$1500 check" came from? Seems that would be easy enough to confirm from any investigation. Might it have come from someone within the family?

[big red big blue]

Did the City Paper article really have anything new in it? Seems that some old news is being dredged-up and that the TSSAA and MBA people are confident that the appropriate review/investigation has been conducted with full cooperation. I seriously doubt that there will be anything to come of it. In the meantime, we're still waiting for the former/deposed coach to burn-off the rest of his severance package and then take a new job with a school that needs a new leader of men! Did anyone ever confirm who the original "$1500 check" came from? Seems that would be easy enough to confirm from any investigation. Might it have come from someone within the family?

 

you may be right, but that's certainly not the word on the street today. If MBA knows where the $1500 came from, it hasn't made it public. In fact Brad Gioia had already fired Daniel when he told the CP in April that he didn't know where the money came from, and accepted Daniel's statement that he didn't know either (google the article and read for yourself). So either BG was lying to the media, or the source of the money wasn't a factor in Daniel's dismissal. Either way, I agree with you--finding the source of the money would have been easy, and should have been a priority, much more so that firing the coach who handed it off.

[RollRedPhoto]

I noticed this disclosure at the end of the City Paper article:

 

Disclosure: Three directors of SouthComm — the parent company of The City Paper — Townes Duncan, DeWitt Thompson V and Mark Oldham, have ties to the school. Duncan and Oldham had family attend MBA, while Thompson is an alumnus, and his father served on the MBA board of trustees.

 

I've never heard of any of these guys, but a colleague at work told me about them. I did a google search for each name, plus +Ensworth as a search term. The top search results revealed much about the sources (and perhaps motivation) for this article.

 

The disclosure in the article is far, far from complete.