If You Have To Break The Rules At Least Be Discreet

"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."

And when you've lost repeatedly there's a chance that you'll do anything to become a winner. Including, breaking the rules in a very non-discreet fashion. At least that appears to be what Bradenton Prep did on their way to compiling winning records in football, basketball and tennis.

The report lists 19 violations of FHSAA regulations that led to three years probation for the football, boys basketball and boys tennis programs as well as a $38,000 fine.

Recruiting, allowing players to live with school personnel, accepting students who are under disciplinary sanctions at their former school, is that how you build a winner?

In the case of Bradenton Prep, the answer seems to be yes.

Not long ago the school's athletic program was an afterthought - except for the boys tennis program, which has always been among the best.

Look at it now.

Yes, look at what the school was able to accomplish through various rules violations. Instead of building the programs slowly, the school opted for the fast track approach and did its best to go from worst to first.

The football team won the Class 1B regional title last fall in just its second year of existence and fell one win shy of playing for a state title.

In 2006, one year after losing by nearly 100 points in a district tournament game, the boys basketball team played for the district title and advanced to its first-ever regional tournament with a roster that drew criticism from nearly every school on the schedule.

And how did school officials respond to the criticism and allegations? By calling their accusers jealous, and telling everyone that they were just trying to improve their academic performance of course!

Bradenton Prep officials maintained everything was on the up-and-up - the athletes transferring to Bradenton Prep were doing so purely for the chance at a Bradenton Prep education.

The howls from coaches, administrators and parents at opposing schools suggested otherwise. But it was the position of Bradenton Prep officials that they would rather their school be an academic powerhouse than an athletic powerhouse.

That might very well be the case. But Bradenton Prep, according to the FHSAA, apparently wasn't shy about skirting a number of rules to increase its enrollment if that increase brought in a few athletes.

Those athletes, we have to assume, weren't recruited to ride the bench.

And it wasn't shy about the sudden success of its athletic program, claming the finger-pointing was born out of petty jealousy by schools used to easy victories against the Patriots.

Honestly, if the school had gone about this in a much more covert way I have a feeling that they wouldn't have been busted by the FHSAA. As the article points out "stories of recruiting and other misdeeds by coaches and administrations are not uncommon for any high school, especially private schools". However, you rarely ever hear of any of those allegations being investigated too deeply, and it's even more rare that a school is placed on probation and fined almost $40k. Though, when you flaunt it like Bradenton Prep did you're just asking for trouble.

Not So Fast Arlen

Senator Arlen Specter has been pretty vocal about the NFL's investigation into spying by the New England Patriots. Though, since he's a senator from Pennsylvania it's understandable because the Eagles lost in the Super Bowl, and the Steelers were defeated by the Pats in two AFC Championship games. He's sticking up for the home teams, and covering all the bases. However, maybe he should have been a little bit more lowkey regarding possible lawsuits.

Goodell has also met with Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who asked pointed questions about taping of both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles. The Patriots beat the Eagles in the 2005 Super Bowl and the Steelers in two AFC championship games.

"As commissioner Goodell has repeatedly emphasized, `Nobody wants to hear from Matt Walsh more than the National Football League,' NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Sunday night.

In addition to the negotiations over Walsh's testimony, Willie Gary, who played in that game for the Rams, filed suit in New Orleans last month accusing the Patriots of fraud, unfair trade practices and engaging in a "pattern of racketeering." Three fans joined in the suit.

Specter subsequently said that his interest might be covered by that suit.

"I think now that the lawsuits have been started, that I got the ball rolling, and the plaintiffs' lawyers are picking it up," he said.

Oh, they are Arlen?

Lawyers for a former St. Louis Rams player and three fans plan to withdraw a lawsuit that accuses the New England Patriots of cheating in the 2002 Super Bowl.

In court papers filed Monday, the plaintiffs' attorneys say they sued last month in an attempt to secure sworn testimony from former Patriots employee Matt Walsh, who allegedly taped a walkthrough practice by the Rams before New England's Super Bowl win.

But the lawyers for former Rams player Willie Gary call it an "exercise in futility" because they suspect Walsh would exercise his constitutional right against self-incrimination if he is ordered to submit to a deposition.

On Monday, they asked a federal judge in New Orleans to dismiss the case. The case was filed in New Orleans because the Louisiana Superdome hosted the 2002 Super Bowl, which the Patriots won 20-17.

They do reserve the right to refile it if they wish to do so, but at this time it appears that their lawsuit is going to make much headway. Though, I don't think that many people other than Senator Specter thought that it would. However, I do give him kudos for playing the politician role perfectly.

Women Tennis Players, Being Asked To Fix More Than Just Pies

Who knew that professional tennis could be so seedy and full of cheaters? As if those prior incidents weren't bad enough, it seems that women tennis players have also been asked to throw matches.

Five or six players on the WTA Tour have been approached to throw tennis matches, tour chairman Larry Scott said Tuesday.

"I've said several initially, and I think five or six would be in the ballpark," Scott told The Associated Press. "I don't want to go into any more details because it's part of an investigation.

"But we were surprised by the amount of gambling on tennis in general, and the number of players approached."

Scott said that the WTA has determined that no matches have been affected by gambling. And he also has threatened any player involved with gambling on matches with a life ban.

I am surprised that tennis has seemingly been targeted very heavily by gamblers, and those looking to gain an edge when placing a wager. Though, I suppose it could be because tennis is an international sport, and it doesn't seem to be policed as closely as some sports. Though, I could be wrong in that assessment. Whatever the reason, it appears that officials are serious about keeping any form of cheating out of their sport.

The Gold Medal That Might Go Unawarded

When you devote your life to training to become an Olympic athlete the highest honor is receiving a gold medal. Unfortunately, sometimes athletes engage in various methods of cheating, and those that are awarded the gold medal have to be stripped of them. You might think that just handing them off to whoever finished second is the best way to right the wrong, but that's not always the case.

The IOC postponed the reallocation of the five Olympic medals returned by Marion Jones following her admission that she began doping before the 2000 Sydney Games.

The International Olympic Committee had been expected to rule on the medal changes -- which could affect more than three dozen athletes -- during its three-day executive board meeting that started Monday.

But board member Denis Oswald said the IOC wants more information from the BALCO steroid investigation before deciding whether to upgrade doping-tainted Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou to Jones' gold in the women's 100 meters.

Yes, I'm sure that we're all aware that Marion Jones wasn't 100% clean when she won her gold medals. The IOC is taking them from her no doubt, but what isn't clear is who will get them. While we've all heard of Marion Jones, most of us might not have heard of Katerina Thanou or her weird story surrounding a missed drug test.

Normally when an Olympic medalist is disqualified, the standings are adjusted so that the next-place finisher moves up and those below also go up a spot. However, there is reluctance among some IOC officials to upgrade Thanou because she was involved in a high-profile scandal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

"If we upgrade her we would have to be sure," Oswald said.

One option under consideration is leaving the gold medal spot vacant.

"This is an open question all the time," Oswald said. "We have to study the legal basis and the flexibility we have."

Thanou and fellow Greek runner Kostas Kenteris failed to show up for drug tests on the eve of the games and claimed they were injured in a motorcycle accident. They were forced to pull out of the Olympics and were later banned for two years.

Without evidence that Thanou was guilty of any doping violation in Sydney, the IOC would need other reasons for not awarding her the gold.

In October, lawyers for Thanou, Kenteris and their former coach, Christos Tzekos, said investigations have found no evidence that the three were involved in BALCO and that Greek prosecutors had dropped a probe into the case.

So, for now at least, the gold medal doesn't really belong to anyone, and there's a good chance that no one will end up with it. It will be interesting to see what the IOC finally decides, especially with the 2008 Olympics fast approaching.

There's No Loafing In Tennis

Tennis star Nikolay Davydenko is having a rather odd year. He's currently ranked #4 in the world, but three months ago he came under fire for alleging fixing a match against Martin Arguello. Now, he's been fined $2,000 for not "giving his best effort".

Nikolay Davydenko, already at the center of a betting investigation, was fined $2,000 for lack of effort a loss at the St. Petersburg Open.

The ATP said Friday the fourth-ranked Russian was fined for lack of "best effort" in his 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 loss Thursday to Marian Cilic.

The top-seeded Davydenko won the first set in 27 minutes, but drew a rebuke from chair umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq in the third set. Davydenko double-faulted four times in the second set and six times in the third.

Officials are still investigating irregular betting that took place prior to the Arguello match, and it seems that, for now anyway, Davydenko really is a prime suspect of match fixing.

Though, what happened to innocent until proven guilty?

Now We Know What Belichick Has Under That Sweatshirt

All this time we've wondered what New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick hid under that sweatshirt. Was it some Pete Carroll style abs? Maybe a six pack of Sam Adams? What about a blackbook full of married women's phone numbers?

Or maybe a hidden camera that records through a tiny pinhole in the Patriots logo?

If that's the case, he wouldn't be the first New England Patriots employee accused of violating the NFL's policy on sideline cameras. He wouldn't even be the first this season.

NFL security confiscated a video camera and its tape from a New England Patriots employee on the team's sideline during Sunday's game against the Jets in a suspected spying incident, sources said.

The camera and its tape were placed in a sealed box and forwarded to the league office for investigation, the sources said.

The Patriots' cameraman was suspected of aiming his camera at the Jets' defensive coaches who were sending signals to their unit on the field, the sources said. The league also is investigating some radio frequency issues that occurred during the game.

The league's competition committee could conduct a conference call about the incident, which violates NFL policy, and ultimately recommend a penalty that could cost the Patriots a future draft pick or picks if it verifies that the team was spying on the Jets.

And apparently it's not the first time that the Pats have been accused of doing something like this.

"It's not their first time," a member of the committee, who did not wish to be identified, said.


In fact, Green Bay Packers president Bob Harlan confirmed a similar incident that occurred when the Patriots played at Lambeau Field last Nov. 19. The same cameraman who was questioned by NFL security on Sunday was also the one whom the Packers removed from the sideline and escorted from the field during their 2006 game, according to Packers security official Doug Collins.

"From what I can remember, he had quite a fit when we took him out," Harlan said. "We had gotten word before the game that they [the Patriots] did this sort of thing, so we were looking for it."

So, are the Pats employing a cameraman just to spy on their opponents in an attempt to steal their signals? I wouldn't put anything past Belichick, and the New England front office, though it still seems a little far-fetched. However, it does add a little more intrigue to the Jets/Pats game on December 16. I suggest the Jets demand that Belichick gets a pat down, and has to lift up his sweatshirt to reveal what's underneath.