Driving to work this morning, I suffered through another Bilas sermon on Mike and Mike. This time he took the untenable position that the NCAA unfairly and improperly sanctioned Pitino by suspending him for 5 games as a result of the hooker fiasco. Bilas did not think a finding that Pitino knew or should have known about the incident was enough to justify the sanction. This conclusion causes me to question Bilas' ability as a lawyer. If Pitino actually knew what was going on, 5 games was not enough. A finding that Pitino should have known, is a finding that, at the least, Pitino was negligent or grossly negligent in supervising the program, in which case 5 games was lenient.
During the same interview, Bilas exhibited his pro-UNC bent by giving an as yet unsupportable legal opinion that the NCAA has no business investigating UNC because the scandal was unrelated to athletics and involved only academic issues. This view, from what I have read, constitutes the minority view among the media. Bilas' proclamation that any sanctions would definitely be overturned in court without him having any knowledge of the facts relied upon by the NCAA reveals Bilas for what he really is, a sanctimonious know-it-all. Finally, Bilas' bias against the NCAA could not be more evident. I cannot recall the last time that Bilas ever agreed with the NCAA, or even objectively presented both sides of an issue.
