Nice to have the inside dope vito90 but your post doesn't really address the question. The question is should Neuheisel lose his job because he was in an NCAA basketball pool. Personally I think it's ludacris that a college coach might lose his job over an NCAA pool. Come on ... every guy who's into sports plays the NCAA pool. If Neuheisel loses his job over that I'll officially start rooting for the 'six super conference secession from the NCAA' scenario.
Betting $5,000 on college sports and winning $20,000 is a huge deal. That's high-stakes gambling, regardless of whether he has the money to burn, and that kind of risky behavior makes a coach or player susceptible to inappropriate influence from gamblers he owes money to. At the very least, Neuheisel should be subjected to the same scrutiny and criticism as the Georgia football players who sold rings and memorabilia for $3,500 on EBay, which turned out to be legal under the NCAA rules. In my personal opinion, this will likely be the end of Neuheisel's job. I've never understand how someone who is so fake and disloyal could rise so far in college coaching.
The question is should Neuheisel lose his job because he was in an NCAA basketball pool. Well, he should, because he broke a established rule. If the rule is dumb or unpopular or being ignored wholesale, then get it off the books. If this was Rick's first run-in with the NCAA powers that be, then maybe he gets latitude. But his presence now officially hurts the UW program. Remember there's two issues. The NCAA can suspend him or fine him but they can't touch the UW's program because this violation was of a personal nature separate from his role as coach of the team. I don't think the NCAA has grounds to fire him do they? Do they have jurisdiction over who coaches a member school's team? But it's the AD's job to protect the program, which I predict they will do today by letting him go.
He's lying through his teeth. There's no way he didn't think this was against the rules. In the Seattle Times 2 days ago they quoted him as saying (approx) "It was just a game ... with some guys I thought were friends." OK, now say that out load. Obviously he didn't think it was OK, he just thought that there was no way anyone would ever find out about it. How hard is it to point out to your buddies that you happen to be the football coach at the UW?
Ironically, the NCAA can't suspend, fine or fire Neuheisel. He is an employee of the University of Washington (or more appropriately, the State of Washington) and they're about the only ones who can mete out any punishment - unless the Pac 10 has some sort of proviso governing the coaches as the Big 10 does. Since he's a coach of an NCAA member institution, theoretically they could punish the program on some level, although matters will most likely be left up to the school. Of course, were he an athlete... In any event, I expect Slick Rick to come public with his 'gambling problem' in a day or two, setting the table for his rehabilitation and soon to be needed job interviews.
Rereading the article somehow I glossed over the fact that Neuheisel bet $5000 to win $20,000 (probably due to working on five hours sleep). That doesn't sound like an NCAA pool, it sounds more like a final four pool where everyone gets one of the final four teams, winner take all. In that type of pool the pick is usually randomly selected as well, which is just gambling. Neuheisel might as well bet a coin flip. That may indicate a underlying problem. So upon reflection, I was wrong. What Neuheisel did was a big no-no.
Listen up, yo. Rick's fate may not be clear cut. It looks like the administration had given him the green light to participate in certain betting pools outide the athletic department. Verbatim from a memo from the Assistant Athletic Director: The bottom line of these rules is that if you have friends outside the (athletic department) that have pools on any of the basketball tournaments, you can participate. You cannot place bets with a bookie or organize your own pool inside or outside of the (athletic department)." Hoo boy. My school's gonna have to cough up some settlement dough.
Wow, what sort of knucklehead doesn't follow that up with: "Now, while it may be ok in the eyes of the NCAA, we'd prefer you didn't put money on any sporting events. It could backfire and make us look like idiots." Or is that expecting too much?
