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What's up with realdawg.com? By Malamute, Updated 3 July 2004
-- Glass is half full, number one: Since the Rick Neuheisel imbroglio began 13 months ago, the UW has been under intense media scrutiny, most of it being harmful to its image. Since that time, several NCAA violations within the UW athletics program have been uncovered: (1) the small stakes gambling pools involving athletics personnel, (2) Neuheisel’s participation in two high-stakes auctions, (3) the undercharging of recruits for boat rides to Neuheisel’s home in Medina, (4) impermissible booster contact with recruits as a result of the boat rides and (5) the “Dr. Feelgood” prescription pill scandal. Except for the latter, all of this constitutes a “lack of institutional control,” which the NCAA is pondering; a ruling is due in a matter of weeks. LOIC carries severe penalties that could lead to a possible loss of scholarships and a post-season bowl ban with lost revenues. During the past year, Neuheisel was fired for reasons involving his participation in high-stakes gambling pools, his initial lies to NCAA investigators and his lies about a job interview with the 49ers. Former AD Barbara Hedges retired prematurely, being under fire for her handling of the “Feelgood” matter. Almost lost in this maelstrom of troubles are a couple of the UW's notable accomplishments. For the second time in 11 years, the Washington athletic program placed in the top 10 in the final rankings for the Directors' Cup, which is presented annually to the best overall collegiate athletics program in the country. The Huskies finished eighth this year and eighth in the 1997-98 academic year. "This is a tremendous reflection of the hard work and effort put forth by our student-athletes and coaching staffs," interim athletic director Dick Thompson was quoted as saying. "Think about it. We finished eighth among more than 300 schools. That's a fantastic accomplishment. I could not be prouder." Secondly, during the last reporting period by the NCAA, the UW has achieved football graduation rates that rank in the top 31 out of 117 Division-IA schools. The UW reported a football graduation rate of 67% of its student athletes. As hard as it is for some to say, Neuheisel and Hedges deserve the lion's share of praise for these accomplishments. Under their watch, the building program within the UW athletics department is second to none in the nation. -- Glass is half full, number two As you know, we take no sides in the website wars involving Husky athletics, the two feuding sites being dawgman.com and realdawg.com. As far as I know, the owners of the sites are good friends; it’s just that their members are feuding among themselves, arguing, in the main, about which site is better. Both Dave Samek (dawgman.com) and Ruth Robbins (formerly of Rivals.com) are good friends of mine. Their sites are good for Husky athletics, reflecting a positive image. I'm just a fan of Husky football, neither an expert nor an insider. I peruse those sites and the print media for my information, having a lot of time to spare. In August, I will masquerade as George Plimpton and hobnob with the sportswriters at Evergreen State College. Over at rivals.com, HuskiesDigest.com has replaced Robbins' realdawg.com. According to scuttlebutt, Ms. Robbins has departed rivals.com amicably, with no ill will towards others; differences as to how the site should be run are cited as reasons for her departure. Since I’m a fan of realdawg.com and one of its first posters and contributors, I donned my Sherlock hat and managed to locate its new internet URL. You can find it in the Links section of this website, as well as below. Link: (RealDawg) Pay Ruth a visit. I am posting over there as “Rich Linde.” -- Nitpicking Todd Turner On Softy's show on Friday, when asked if he had a passion for one sport, AD Todd Turner jokingly said he would be a golfing guy, rather than be a football or basketball person per se. "I (am) ashamedly a golf supporter...I chaired the NCAA golf committee for three years while I was at North Carolina State and Vanderbilt and played a couple of years of collegiate golf when I was in school," he said. According to an article written by Matt Pulle of the Nashville Scene, Turner’s golfing credentials are somewhat lacking at the collegiate level. (See the “The Gotcha Game: Did Vanderbilt athletic director Todd Turner play golf? Should anyone care?”). As AD at UConn, Turner’s bio said that he was a four-year member of the University of North Carolina golf team, when, in fact, Turner played a few junior varsity matches his freshman year and, after that, never again competed for the Tar Heels -- that one year being somewhat short of a "couple of years of collegiate golf," as he told Softy. His bio as AD at North Carolina State University and Vanderbilt makes no mention of having participated in intercollegiate golf. He removed his golfing credentials from the Connecticut biography, stating that, although the bio was correct, it was causing a controversy. Turner practiced with the North Carolina golf team but never played with the team, which might be what he was referring to when he said he played a couple of years of collegiate golf. If that is true, then I can say I played a year of collegiate golf, having played the University golf course while taking a P.E. class at the UW devoted to golf. Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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In
this article, Malamute takes a glass is half-full approach to Husky athletics,
as well as answering the question: Where, oh, where has realdawg gone? You can find its
URL in the Links section of this website, as well as inside. Did Todd Turner
stretch the truth on Softy's show Friday? Did Malamute play a year of collegiate
golf?