Hey, remember that Louisville lawsuit where Dino Gaudio tried to extort Chris Mack?
It got juicier!
Amy Shoemaker, former associate athletic director and deputy general counsel at Louisville (every school that cares about winning should have the second-in-command in athletics and lawyering be the same person), filed a lawsuit in Jefferson Circuit Court alleging then-school president Neeli Bendapudi, now the president at Penn State (!), punished her for immediately going to the police when made aware by Mack of what Gaudio had said. You can read the full story here, but one highlight is this:
“In a video conference on April 8 with (athletic director Vince) Tyra and others participating, Shoemaker said that Bendapudi berated her, saying, ‘Amy! You cannot trust the FBI!’ She says Bendapudi went on to say the FBI is ‘tricky.’”
One angle of this is, of course, the Bendapudi angle with Penn State. It’s concerning that Penn State, specifically, would hire a university president whose attitude surrounding law enforcement seems to be to keep them out of it. It’s understandable to want to act with caution, but if crimes are happening, you have to go to law enforcement, especially if there’s an immediate safety concern (as Shoemaker’s lawsuit says there was with Gaudio). *THIS IS ESPECIALLY SOMETHING PENN STATE SHOULD KNOW.* I mean, goodness. But, hey, all just allegations, right?
The broader angle here is that Louisville seems to be a weird place, and it’s only getting more prominent as the school seems to be finding its stride in the era of NIL. Louisville’s football recruiting class ranks 14th in the nation right now for 2023, trailing only Clemson and Miami in the ACC, and that’s with Scott Satterfield—the guy who tried fairly hard and fairly publicly to leave the school back in December of 2020—running the program. Imagine what the Louisville boosters are cooking up for men’s basketball, a sport they care more about and a sport where their coach wants to be there.
Louisville’s athletic department is not a national heavyweight. In this year’s Learfield Directors’ Cup, the Cardinals finished 34th in Division I, trailing Washington (30th) by more points than the margin by which they led Harvard (39th). In football and men’s basketball, though, it’s believable that they could soon be a national contender, and it’s a little exciting to envision a school as constantly in chaos as Louisville becoming a national player. It’s also a little exciting to go through the implication game after noting that Louisville could be this much of a mess and get into the ACC but Memphis continues to be shut out of power conferences, with wanton speculation theorizing that Memphis is too corrupt to let in the door. Maybe the ACC didn’t know, maybe the ACC didn’t care as much as the Big 12 cares, maybe Louisville had advantages Memphis lacks. But man, Louisville seems to constantly have something legal going on. And in college sports, where the legal stuff is generally fairly harmless, it sure is entertaining.
Texas Tech: Mover? Shaker?
Texas Tech, like Louisville, is an outsider in the college sports landscape, but yesterday they unveiled plans for a massive expansion to their football facilities which will, The Athletic says they say, make theirs “the largest contiguous football complex in the country.”
There are a few reasons Texas Tech is not naturally on the plane of Texas A&M as Texas’s primary challenger—history is one, geography is the other—but those reasons are fairly small. Texas Tech has money. There is money around Texas Tech. And the school may be in the boonies, but it’s still in Texas, which is more advantageous brand-wise than being in the boonies in even Oklahoma, where you can be closer to major population hubs (Stillwater is closer by car to Dallas & Fort Worth than Lubbock is, Oklahoma City is a more significant population hub than Amarillo). They may not be an SEC school like the other two biggest state schools down there, but they’ve got the bones to be one. If they can challenge in the Big 12 in football and keep things together on the men’s basketball court, it’s not outrageous to imagine them making a quick ascension to at least the peripherality of power.
Play-In to Stay In
Among the firmer reports from ongoing discussions among NBA governors, the play-in tournament at the beginning of the playoffs has support to stick around. Part of the idea is to discourage tanking, and part of the idea is to create some drama, and I don’t believe it does anything on the front end, but the fact NBA governors want to discourage tanking at all is a good thing. That’s something Major League Baseball lacks. The drama point stands. Those games were, for the most part, good this past season.
The other firmer report is that fouls on fast breaks are going to be more severely penalized, treated like a flagrant foul in that the team fouled will not only get a free throw, but will retain possession. Good for gameplay.
Today, the discussion’s expected to be about an in-season tournament, as the NBA continues to try to make its regular season not painfully boring. I wonder which NBA fans would like more: an in-season tournament or an in-season free agency period.
Malkin on the Market
Among smaller moves, we’ve got the following from the NHL offseason:
- Evgeni Malkin is expected to become a free agent tomorrow when the window opens, likely bringing an end to the veteran’s nearly two decades affiliated with Pittsburgh, who drafted him second overall in 2004. He could still come back, but once you’re a free agent, the equation’s a little different. It’s a similar idea to baseball players negotiating with a team who traded their expiring contract at the deadline: They’re kind of just another team after you step out the door.
- The Avalanche are extending Valeri Nichushkin on a big, eight-year deal. $49M.
- The Penguins are reportedly extending Rickard Rakell for six years and $30M, which I’m told is a lot of years for a 29-year-old and a lot of money for a guy like Rakell.
- The Maple Leafs acquired Matt Murray, two future mid/late-round draft picks, and a little bit of cash from the Senators in exchange for the Senators no longer having the rest of Matt Murray’s contract on their books. It’s a risky move by the Leafs, paying a lot for a goalie who was often hurt or bad in Ottawa, but there’s definitely upside. The question is whether they could get similar upside for cheaper (I’m not the most knowledgeable about hockey, but I’d guess that answer is yes).
Pujols Goes Swinging
Five of the eight Home Run Derby participants have been confirmed:
- Pete Alonso
- Kyle Schwarber
- Juan Soto
- Ronald Acuña Jr.
- Albert Pujols
This is great. This is a great set of five players. Including Pujols? Awesome move. I wouldn’t think he’d be able to be too competitive, but it’s an exhibition, and who knows? It’s not like we have advanced formulas for predicting home run derby success (actually, someone probably has that and makes bank each year in the markets—maybe we should have that kind of formula around here).
On the field last night, Max Scherzer went seven for the Mets in their series-opening win over Atlanta. Nine strikeouts. Atlanta might be gaining, but the Mets are still the favorite over there.
Merrill Kelly had a nice night for the Diamondbacks, and that was bad for the Giants. Another loss for San Francisco, and with the Cardinals beating the Phillies, the Giants are now two games back of both those teams, who are effectively tied for 6th in the NL.
The Royals swept a doubleheader with the Tigers, whose surge may be officially dead. It was fun while it lasted.
The Guardians took the opener of a four-game, three-day set with the White Sox, moving back to .500 in the process. Split today, and they’ll guarantee themselves to exit the series in second place in the Central.
The Padres held off a late charge by the Rockies, using every bit of C.J. Abrams’ 8th-inning home run to escape with a win.
The Rays overpowered the Red Sox late in a back-and-forth 10-5 game. Boston gets Chris Sale back tonight.
**
Viewing schedule, second screen rotation in italics:
- 1:10 PM EDT: Chicago (AL) @ Cleveland – Game 1, Martin vs. Bieber (MLB TV/ESPN+)
- 7:10 PM EDT: Boston @ Tampa Bay, Sale vs. Kluber (MLB TV)
- 7:20 PM EDT: New York (NL) @ Atlanta, Peterson vs. Strider (MLB TV)
- 8:05 PM EDT: Baltimore @ Cubs, Lyles vs. Sampson (MLB TV)
- 9:38 PM EDT: Houston @ Anaheim, Garcia vs. Syndergaard (MLB TV)
