The newspaper asked all 119 Division I schools to provide the same information through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests: who accompanied the team on flights, who received complimentary tickets and details surrounding NCAA violations.

Sixty-nine of the schools provided the information. Many others, including University of Tennessee-Knoxville, University of Memphis and Middle Tennessee State University refused to release any information.

All three schools cited Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as they refused to release that information.

Of the 69 schools that provided information:

• More than 80 percent released unedited information from ticket lists.

• About half did not censor flight manifests.

• Twenty percent gave full information about summer jobs held by football players.

• Ten percent provided unedited NCAA violations.

The article made a couple of notes about study. First, there is a wide range of interpretations of FERPA. Some schools provided everything. Some schools provided nothing.

In some cases, documents were unobtainable because of substantial fees charged by schools. For example, Maryland wanted $35,330 to produce the same documents that more than half the schools provided free.

The records could help shed light on the inner workings of college-sports programs, including identifying the people who have access to athletes — some of whom are boosters and agents who, if acting improperly, can bring shame and fines to an entire athletic department.

So at best, it appears that schools will put up barriers to releasing information. That barrier can be money or time.

Recently, The Memphis Commercial-Appeal obtained an NCAA notice of allegations through a Freedom of Information Act. The letter was sent to the University in January.

The allegations include “knowing fraudulence or misconduct” on an SAT exam by a player on the 2007-08 team, widely reported to be Derrick Rose. The player’s name is redacted in the NCAA’s notice of allegations, but the description of the player in the notice also pointed to Rose.

I heard a radio interview with the writer and he said that the newspaper and the university went back and forth for months. The University of Memphis finally released the letter. My guess is that the university claimed FERPA in not releasing the letter.

One conclusion from the Columbus Dispatch article: schools are “hiding” behind FERPA to protect potentially embarrassing information.

The results stunned Buckley, a retired federal judge from Connecticut who, as a U.S. senator, crafted the law to shield students’ report cards and transcripts. He can’t understand why any information about athletes would be withheld.

“Those examples provide zero harm to the kids,” he said.

No one disputes that grades are and should be private.

But today, privacy is extended to athletes who have gambled, accepted payoffs, cheated, cashed in on their notoriety, and even sexually abused others.

It is extended to coaches who have broken recruiting rules or committed academic fraud at a time when the average salary for a head football coach is more than $1 million a year.

It is extended to rogue boosters.

It even has been extended to an ESPN broadcaster named in school records.

Bring toilet paper and baby wipes. For real. You’ll thank me. Also, rubber boots are a good choice instead of/in addition to sandals or leather or running shoes, because you can pretty much guarantee that there will be mud around the port-a-potties and that mud ain’t just dirt and water. Eww.  Plus they are going to run out of toilet paper and the baby wipes will take the place of your shower.

When you drive in, the parking people will try to shoehorn your car as close as possible to other cars. This is your only chance to stake out a good bit of room, and you will need it. If you camp by your car, your space is the space on both sides of the width of your car.

 More as I get them

]]> https://drewbutler.wordpress.com/2008/03/18/going-to-bonnaroo-2008-here-are-some-tips/feed/ 0 Drew https://drewbutler.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/the-big-bet/ https://drewbutler.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/the-big-bet/#respond Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:20:28 +0000 http://drewbutler.wordpress.com/?p=27 Okay, here is the deal. There has been some pretty big negotiations about the terms of the debate between myself and P-Love. Here is the deal. We both need to lose weight. We both need motivation. So, we’ve decided to have a little contest. Whoever loses the most in 12 weeks (percentage of weight loss, not total), will get a Vegas vacation.

We’ve priced out 5 nights at the Wynn, gambling budget, limo to and from the airport, spending money for food, and an entry into one of the $1,500 events at the World Series of Poker (if we decide to go during the WSOP). We split the total and put it away. Winner gets it all.

I don’t know how P-Love is doing his, but I am doing the Body For Life Challenge which lasts exactly 12 weeks. I can reveal this because I know he’s not doing this.

I’ll document my progress on the website, because Day 1 is Monday. So, starting Monday, I join the many other fatbloggers on the Web. Fatblogging is a lot bigger (pardon the pun) than I thought but there are a lot out there.

P-Love will be doing his in secret so I won’t get updates from him and I will be blogging from the pool in Vegas

The Buccaneers are sacking Giants fans’ hopes of seeing Sunday’s wildcard game in Tampa – by forbidding all non-Florida residents from purchasing the ducats via Ticketmaster.

“We wanted to be sure that our fans in Florida had the best opportunity to purchase tickets to the game,” explained Bucs spokesman Jeff Kamis.

That means local Giants fans have to turn to the “secondary market” for a chance to see their team pummel the Buccaneers.

First thought: In no way is that legal. If someone challenges it, how can they win?

So I find out that they can’t, the New York Attorney General told them to stop or face legal action. Here is what they wrote, according to Newsday:

“It raises issues, interstate commerce issues,” the attorney general said in a phone interview. “There are constitutional prohibitions against states discriminating against other states’ residents or impeding business by other states. There are possible discrimination issues.”

To say the least. Ticketmaster relented on the same day issuing a no-fault statement (basically we didn’t break the law, but because we are cool girls and boys we are going to block the stupid hold):

“We see no legal issue with a team or venue choosing to make certain tickets available only to local residents for a particular event; however, with our client the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ permission, and as a goodwill effort, we lifted the restrictions earlier today,” spokesman Joseph Freeman said in the statement.

Bottom line: NFL teams are sick of road teams scooping up tickets in their home venue, negating home field advantage. Hey, here is a solution: Be more popular in your hometown. If you have fan support, you won’t have this problem. New England, Dallas, Chicago, Tennessee have fan bases will buy 98 percent of the tickets.

Oh and Drubie will be at the game 40-yard-line.

So today I go to the Red Cross. Got my blood pressure checked and pricked my finger to check for iron (it was the second-most amount of pain the entire hour I was there).

The blood passed, the blood pressure passed, I passed the 50 question test on my health (most of them I answered no). And they gave me my blood supplies and went and found my blue chair.

Surprising that there was as many people there. The nice, elderly lady at the front desk said that they had been busy the last three days.

So on my chair, I am thinking one thought: Please Don’t Let Me See My Blood. If I do, I will probably freak out. Lucky me they the pint thing under the chair now. I laid next to a guy in a cushy chair watching a movie on a monitor. I’m thinking I got the wrong chair. But those as for people giving platelets.

Inserting the needle is painful for about 2 seconds. But they ask me to squeeze a ball. After a few minutes, it is literally painful to do it. I have to move it around in my hand to make it less painful. But there was a car alarm going outside so I timed my squeezes to the car alarm.

So I was done, turned my head, and came face-to-face with my blood. I think I was loopy and I didn’t care.

It’s over. I’m a bit thirsty, but other than that, I feel fine and figure I’ll get a drink when I move over to the table with snack cakes. So, I sit, reading the side effects. Which I start to think is funny. I mean “don’t stand up or bend over too quickly” seem like ridiculous statements when I am about to drive to the mall. So I start poking fun at them in my head.

Then, I had a weird feeling. The only other time I had it was on a mountain in Central Mexico. And I announce, “I’m feeling a bit light-headed” and then a nap seems like a good idea, so I take one. Everyone else tells me I passed out, but my grandma would call it “resting my eyes”.

I sat there for an hour, while they took blood pressure and fed me food, juice (which I did not want), and water. They told me that I’d be tired and want a nap later, that I shouldn’t fight the urge. (They were right about that. I did need a nap about 3-4 hours later.)

They nearly called an ambulance and I had to stop them from calling a cab to take me home. After some research, I found that you should have a meal (I didn’t) and drink liquids (Also didn’t) before giving.

So now I know. The things I do for my health. And I still didn’t get my Christmas shopping done.

Before I go out into the night to shop, some thoughts:

– I really do not like shopping. Really. If I could, I would give someone my credit card and a list and have them shop for me.

– I am an impulse shopper. I see item. I like item. I buy item. I know that about myself. Some times I can control it. Sometimes I can’t. But this is not why I don’t like shopping. The idea of going to malls are probably the biggest thing for me.

– It’s a tech Christmas. Mom wants a cell phone. Dad wants a digital camera.

– It’s a low-tech Christmas. Nephew wants wrestling action figures. Sister wants paper (don’t ask).

– Me: I got a new computer (Dell XPS 420) and a new cell phone (Palm Centro).

– Better to shop the day after Christmas than the day after Thanksgiving. Again, don’t know why. And I won’t get up a 3 a.m. to sit in front of a store waiting for it to open.

– Best Christmas movie: How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Second Place: Polar Express. Worse Christmas movie: Anyone of the Home Alone movies.

– Best Christmas tradition now: Christmas night family activity. Either going to an NFL game if they played on Dec. 25 or going to a movie.

– Worse Christmas: Can’t really think of one. There were times when I had to work on Christmas Day. But I got paid overtime. And people present didn’t really “work”.

– Best Christmas: Skybox at an NFL game on Christmas night. Cold, but it was warm where we were.

– Thank God that I: don’t have to fly this Christmas.

In the modern Congress, the filibuster has become a de facto tool to require 60 votes in the Senate to pass virtually any piece of important or controversial legislation. Dodd’s effort Monday would be the first time one Senator actually sought to block a bill by taking to the floor and refusing to yield since former Sen. Al D’Amato held the floor for 15 hours to protest job losses from his home state of New York to Mexico. That was in 1992 — more than 15 years ago.

For people who don’t follow politics, Sen. Chris Dodd is staging a one-person filibuster to protest a telecommunications bill.

The Senate on Monday plans to consider an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that includes a provision aimed at invalidating some 40 lawsuits that have been filed against telephone and internet companies. Plaintiffs in those suits say the telecommunications industry acted illegally and ignored the constitution in facilitating warrantless government wiretaps aimed at Americans.

Dodd, a dark-horse candidate for the Democratic presidential nod, tried to put a “hold” on any FISA update with telecom immunity, but that request apparently has been ignored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

It also looks like at least two other Senators will be assisting Dodd.

Already, Dodd has lined up support from Sens. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA), to whom he plans to yield the floor for 20-minute “questions” that would allow him to take quick breaks but keep the filibuster going, reports FireDogLake.

So Monday morning should be interesting. Regardless of how you feel about the issue. I will be posting throughout the day and we’ll see how long it goes.

UPDATE: No filibuster, bill won’t be brought up again until January. But I did get to watch a lot of Senate speeches on CSPAN. YAY, okay not really.

I think I’ve sussed it out, I couldn’t find call log to start with so with a bit of messing about here’s what I have found:

(1) Open phone App

(2) Got to preference and hit edit favourites Page

(3) Choose a blank space and a new page will come up, where it says “type” choose “call log”

In her post, she also talks about adding the call to your contacts page. That’s useful but not relevant to me. I looked for a good hour this morning before finding it. Hope it helps someone.

Sunday Lock: (not a lot of great matchups this week) Seattle over Carolina

Sunday upset: Miami over Baltimore

Oh, when watching the Dallas game on TV today. If you see a guy in the crowd with an O painted on his bare-chest….ah, forget it.

There is almost universal acceptance of the guilt of Bonds and Anderson. There is almost unanimous agreement in the court of public opinion, in fact, that those two did everything they’re alleged to have done. But there is clearly more skepticism about the accuracy, or at least the provability, of the allegations about Clemens and McNamee. Full disclosure: There is certainly more skepticism on the part of this reporter, anyway. And there are plenty of others out there like me.

Of course there is a difference Jayson, Bonds has investigated by the feds for the last four years. People have been whispering about Clemens but no one had the guts to go after him like Bonds.

Also he says:

But in Bonds’ case, there was enough evidence for a grand jury to hand down an indictment — without Anderson saying a word. Big difference. Now it’s important to remember that there hasn’t been a conviction yet — if ever. So the courts eventually might reject the credibility of that evidence. And we’d better all be wary of our judgments on Bonds until there’s a verdict.

Congratulations Jayson. Someone is innocent until proven guilty.  What a concept.  Question: What if Bonds is cleared? Bonds would have a not guilty verdict from a federal court to waive in people’s faces. Guess what? I am guessing it won’t matter to people like Jayson because as he writes in this column, there is a “near universal acceptance of guilt” against Bonds. So you can deduce that Stark will invalidate a not guilty verdict.

But this is his opinion about the Clemens allegations,

So where’s the outside corroboration of McNamee’s story? Is there any other witness? Any other proof? Any receipt, any mailing label, any tape that directly corroborates the allegation that Clemens did all the stuff McNamee told the Mitchell staff he did? Nope. Can’t find it. Is there a mountain of circumstantial evidence, not to mention staggering detail in the testimony of McNamee himself? Absolutely. But is there the kind of corroboration that any court in America would ask for? Haven’t seen it. Not yet, at least.

Now this is a fair criticism. Unfortunately,  he posted the column before this Breaking Story on ESPN.com,”Pettitte admits using HGH to recover from an elbow injury in 2002“.

The story by the Associated Press finishes with,

Mitchell devoted 1 1/2 pages to McNamee’s testimony about Pettitte. Clemens was mentioned on nearly nine pages, with McNamee saying he injected the star pitcher.

Clemens was accused of using steroids and HGH and, through his lawyer, vehemently denied the accusations.

When Clemens joined the Yankees in 1999, he and Pettitte became fast friends and training partners. McNamee was part of their regimen — Clemens had worked with him in Toronto before being traded to New York.

According to the Mitchell report, Pettitte asked McNamee about using HGH after the 2001 season, and the trainer said he discouraged the pitcher from trying it.

Jayson, looks like you have you “outside corroboration”. To me, that’s confirmation. Bottom line: Bonds, Clemens, etc. are the same and treated the same. Hopefully, people will see through attempts to blur the difference between the two.