Montana's mess being brought up in the shadow of Penn State

[BisonBacker]

Just had this article emailed to me http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/stewart_mandel/07/12/penn-state-freeh-report-joe-paterno-football/index.html?sct=cf_t11_a0
Montana's program being mentioned in the College sports story of the century as far as criminal activities allowed condoned or covered up. Ouch is all i can say. Sorry if this was posted elsewhere I didn't see it but its newsworthy. Discuss......

[frozennorth]

i'm not sure of many of the fine details, but the cases are similar.

[KNUTS]

There probably is some truth to it, but it just goes to show you how lazy the media has gotten when all they do is cut and paste instead of doing any journalism themselves and getting the whole story. I for one am fairly confident that this will all go away quietly and U of M will be left alone to defend themselves as to how they somehow got the big three to sweep more stuff under the proverbial rug.

[darell1976]

I wonder if the NCAA will go after Montana?

[KNUTS]

I wonder if the NCAA will go after Montana?

Yep

http://www.grizcentral.com/
Engstrom comments on NCAA probe of UM football

05/31/2012 07:57 PM by Breanna Roy (KPAX News)

MISSOULA- University of Montana President Royce Engstrom says the National Collegiate Athletic Association has already visited campus as part of its investigation. But he says the NCAA has yet to tell him what aspect of the football team investigators are examining.

Engstrom received notice from the NCAA back on January 30th and he told reporter Breanna Roy Thursday that a week or so after that two people with the NCAA met with him in his office at Main Hall. But Engstrom says they didn't interview him.

They did review what's been stated in the letter, that the NCAA would be investigating possible violations of the football program, without stating specifics. Engstrom says while he wasn't expecting the investigation, he also wasn't entirely surprised by it.

"I have to say, honestly, with the visibility that this issue has gotten both here in Missoula and beyond Missoula, I guess it shouldn't come as a big surprise that the NCAA would want to ask some questions, so in one way I was surprised, but not completely."

When asked if he was aware of any other outside investigations of the university, Engstrom told us that we are now aware of all three probes that he knows about. The other two involve the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education.

The NCAA said it would have a status report on the investigation in July.

[darell1976]

Yep

http://www.grizcentral.com/
Engstrom comments on NCAA probe of UM football

05/31/2012 07:57 PM by Breanna Roy (KPAX News)

MISSOULA- University of Montana President Royce Engstrom says the National Collegiate Athletic Association has already visited campus as part of its investigation. But he says the NCAA has yet to tell him what aspect of the football team investigators are examining.

Engstrom received notice from the NCAA back on January 30th and he told reporter Breanna Roy Thursday that a week or so after that two people with the NCAA met with him in his office at Main Hall. But Engstrom says they didn't interview him.

They did review what's been stated in the letter, that the NCAA would be investigating possible violations of the football program, without stating specifics. Engstrom says while he wasn't expecting the investigation, he also wasn't entirely surprised by it.

"I have to say, honestly, with the visibility that this issue has gotten both here in Missoula and beyond Missoula, I guess it shouldn't come as a big surprise that the NCAA would want to ask some questions, so in one way I was surprised, but not completely."

When asked if he was aware of any other outside investigations of the university, Engstrom told us that we are now aware of all three probes that he knows about. The other two involve the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education.

The NCAA said it would have a status report on the investigation in July.

Would a playoff ban kill UM football? I think recruits would shift to other BSC schools (UND, MSU, etc.)

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I'm a big fan of Stewart Mandel, and I understand the point he's trying to make, but I'm uncomfortable how he takes a case that is in itself extremely complex and sort of lumps it in with Penn State. He's trying to say that both Penn State and Montana's presidents and ADs were put in situations where they had bad problems within the athletic program and instead worked to minimize the bad publicity rather than deal with the problem directly, which is accurate. But they are just so different. Penn State's was a cover-up for continuing crimes that occurred for at least a dozen years - and perhaps even longer than that. It's just not the same.

[Green26]

No crimes were covered up at Montana, whether by football players or anyone. The SI paragraph/article is completely inaccurate. I'll quote it below and give the true facts, putting them in brackets in the story.

"Because it's an FCS school, the story didn't garner nearly the same attention as Penn State's, but the details are no less disturbing. The Grizzlies' head coach and AD were recently fired, and the Department of Justice has launched an investigation following a series of suspiciously handled sexual assault allegations against football players [Not true. This was not the reason for the investigation. There are no suspiciously handed sexual assault allegations against football players.]

E-mails exposed a university vice president, Jim Foley, suggesting retaliation against an alleged victim who went public with her story and criticizing a newspaper's use of the phrase "gang rape" to describe a woman's accusation that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by four players." [This is not true. The vp merely asked, in an internal email, whether an accuser in a university proceeding, which is supposed to be confidential, could go to the press like this accuser did. The vp did not suggest retaliation in any respect, but that didn't stop the Missoulian from saying that in a story. The vp would have a defamation claim against the paper if he wanted to bring it. Yes, the vp asked why, in an internal email, the dean had said the incident was a gang rape. Turned out, it wasn't. The police refused to pursue the case in Dec. 2010 and again in early 2012, due to lack of evidence. It was apparently a round of blow jobs for 5 guys, of which 4 were players. The accuser's friend disputed her story. The guys apparently had the woman on video, laughing and being into it. Also, the players won their hearing in front of the university panel, on a 7-0 vote, and several graduated shortly after that.]

The SI reporter doesn't have a clue. He could get a job with the Missoulian.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Yes, all the journalists are wrong and UM is right.........we get it you are *****ing delusional.

Foley did threaten retaliation against the student that made the accusations and if you read the email you would have to agree or be...........you.

xcoffeex

[Green26]

Here's the email. There is no threat to punish the accuser in it.

“Is it not a violation of the student code of conduct for the woman to be publicly talking about the process and providing details about the conclusion?” Foley emailed then-Dean of Students Charles Couture in March. “Help me understand please.”

[frozennorth]

I bet Montana gets the death penalty before Penn State does.

[UAalum72]

I bet Montana gets the death penalty before Penn State does.
Nah, the NCAA has already shown its toughness; or to update an old joke "The NCAA is so mad at Penn State they put Cal Tech on probation"
Lack of institutional control (http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/NCAA/Resources/Latest%20News/2012/June/California%20Institute%20of%20Technology%20cited%2 0for%20lack%20of%20institutional%20control)