ZERO KELVIN!

Thank you, thank you... that's all for me, goodnight!

Okay, no, that's not all for me. Just couldn't save that joke any longer. Those of you who don't get it, clearly didn't study for your science classes.

What I did want to say is something I was talking to Boilerdowd about earlier in the week regarding this whole Sampson mess. And it was brought to my mind again this morning when I heard Jay Bilas (among others) on ESPN radio actually acting like it was silly to fire Sampson over this since they were "just phone calls."

Goodness, I thought Bilas was smarter than that. This is like the morons out there who claimed President Clinton "shouldn't have been impeached for getting a BJ in the Oval Office." He wasn't, you mouth-breathing retards. He was impeached because he lied under oath -- perjury.

And this isn't "just phone calls" -- it's that he then was told not to do it and did it hundreds of more times, creatively skirting the rules (or so he thought) by having assistants do his dirty work. And he then was asked about it by the University and the NCAA and lied and misled them. IU and NCAA no likey this.

Erik Kusillias also said this morning on ESPN radio that he considers these infractions "like speeding tickets." He went on to say if he got a few speeding tickets, he wouldn't be hauled off to jail. Fair enough, but let's say you got 677 speeding tickets. That we know of. I think then you might go to jail. And then it becomes more than minor.

And more than that, I simply cannot understand how these jackasses (especially Bilas) don't get the severity of this. The IU fans, alums and administration all seem to get it -- it makes IU a cheater school and they aren't okay with that. I've never had so much respect for IU fans as when I've seen them booing Sampson despite the fact that he's clearly a good coach. The fact that many of them want him out is impressive. The fact that some of the more unintelligent ones want "Bobby" back does subtract from my respect level, but still.

Getting back to the severity issue, Boilerdowd commented to me that Sampson and Bill Belichick are almost the same guy. Both are so arrogant that it doesn't matter to them what the rules are or even if they are caught cheating... they'll continue to do whatever the hell they please because they've come to believe the rules don't apply to them for some reason. The only caveat I would add to this is that Belichick is the head coach of a professional team, made up of professional paid athletes, mostly grown up into their 20s and 30s. And Belichick's mandate is win. Win, win, win.

Sampson, on the other hand, is the coach of a college team. And if you work for a University in any capacity -- especially if you deal with students, which Sanctions does -- then you are also an educator. And for any University to allow a known cheater and many times repeat offender to educate their young, impressionable students is bordering on criminal.

Sure, phone calls aren't the same as bags of cash. But isn't that a slippery slope?

Hey, honey, a hand job isn't really sex, since I'm just sitting here doing nothing with my hands behind my head.... so technically, I'm not "cheating," per se.

I don't think so.

And once again, it's not just the hundreds upon hundreds of impermissible phone calls. It's the sheer number. It's the fact that he's been caught doing this before and hurt his former program by doing it. It's that it was written into his contract that if he got caught doing this again, he'd forfeit money and/or be fired. And it's that when he was caught again, he chose to lie about it and commit the NCAA equivalent of obstructing justice.

Why? Because Kelvin Sampson thinks the rules don't apply to him. He's special. He's above it all because he's the head coach. And you know what? The kids are listening. They see what's going on. And when young, impressionable people see a person they look up to and greatly respect break the rules and act cavalier about it and basically give off an air of not giving a shit because they think they're superior, well, I'll ask you... what kind of trickle-down effect do you think that has?

We often wonder where athletes get their poor morals, poor values and lack of respect for common decency and law from. Well, in some cases, you look no further than their role models. Guys with no decent parental role models often turn out to be difficult, childish, bratty adults. And when a guy has no chance at a decent role model, well, that's sad and it sucks and it's something we all wish we could fix.

BUT... when you send your kid to play basketball at Indiana University, it's pretty fair of you as a parent -- and the administration, fans and alumni -- to expect the kids to be given proper examples of how to live their life and what is important... such as be honest, have integrity, don't cheat, don't lie, don't be a selfish prick.

At IU, they're getting an example -- and don't discount how huge of an influence these head coaches of major programs can have on these kids -- of precisely the opposite. A guy who breaks the rules, swears he won't do it again (and signs a contract to that effect), then does it again and gets busted... and then lies about it! And then gets defiant about it!

And as I said, the kids are listening. As Boilerdowd pointed out below, they are now supposedly about to mutiny against IU.

Way to go, Coach Sanctions. The kids are listening.