Saturday, September 25, 2010

Eric Bledsoe investigation is over

Eric Bledsoe's ordeal, if you can call it that, is over.

But that doesn't mean it has to make sense.

Friday evening, a Birmingham, AL, law firm published a report from a three month investigation into Eric Bledsoe's grades during his time in high school. The outcome? The law firm found that the teacher's reasoning for changing Bledsoe's Algebra III grade was "not credible" (read the entire report here), but the firm couldn't find enough evidence of wrong doing. The Birmingham school board decided that the findings were not sufficient, and thus Bledsoe's grade will remain an A and his eligibility will remain intact.

In other words, the law firm believed the teacher was lying, but no one could prove it. Kentucky's Elite 8 in 2010 will live on. Kentucky fans celebrate!!!

For the rest of the college basketball world, it looks like the Wildcats -- and John Calipari -- once again got off on a technicality. And while that may be true, the issue isn't the technicality. As anyone that has seen an episode of Law And Order knows, its not about what you know, its about what you can prove. Did Bledsoe get his grades changed? Yes. Is there reason to suspect that the change was less than kosher? Yes.

But grades get changed all the time in high school. I once talked a teacher out of giving me a C in a class by agreeing to write a paper late in the year. Who is to say that Bledsoe didn't do something similar?

The bottom line is this: Eric Bledsoe was originally cleared by the NCAA. He played in the games last season. And, personally, I would rather have Bledsoe's questionable grades hold up than see Kentucky punished by having a season vacated, which has to be the dumbest punishment in the history of sports.

Now that this saga is over with, we are one step closer to being able to talk about actual basketball. REJOICE!


No comments: