Why is he not allowed to defend himself?
You might not be aware of the sharks circling around Missouri Coach Haith's boat. Yahoo Sports is reporting a convicted former booster for the University of Miami is singing in all ranges, tenor and baritone about payments and gifts awarded to Miami athletes. The vast majority of these gifts and payments were made to football players however one basketball players name was mentioned. At this point Haith becomes part of the story, he is supposed to known a $10,000 payment was made to a player. The money was supposed to have been funneled through an assistant coach. The NCAA has forbidden Haith to discuss the matter until they complete their investigation. Although the stories are dissimilar because it's basketball related it reminds me of Tim Donagy. Donagy was a former NBA ref who admitted betting on games and other improprieties, he was eventually convicted and served prison time. Naturally he found time to write a book detailing his bad behavior, conspiracy theorists continue to believe many of the claims he presented. Every time a questionable ruling by the NBA front office or a referee's decision, out come the Donagy stories. As this is written we have no idea if Haith is guilty but let's not rush to judgment before all the facts are presented. I've read several emails from fans calling for Haith to be fired, it's a shame the word of a crook becomes valid without any proof. If the charges somehow prove true Haith should be punished. At this stage I await the decision by the NCAA or Missouri should punishment occur.

I wish I could tell you more

Last Friday former Blazer Arvydas Sabonis was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame. It's unfortunate a major portion of his early career was spent playing for the Soviet Union which limited his play. His artistic play was exhibited every four years during the Olympics and later when he was allowed to play in Spain. My memory of an athletic Sabonis has faded, I can only remember the NBA version who appeared to lumber up and down the court at times. The Communist government forbid Sabonis to play in the NBA, he arrived in the NBA as a 31-year old rookie in 1995. A series of injuries including Achilles plus a heavy playing schedule had robbed this 7-3 290 pound giant of many skills he exhibited as a younger player. One portion of his game he never lost was his artistry as a passing center, a writer referred to him as a "7-3 Magic Johnson" quite a compliment. J.A. Adande of ESPN.com wrote "between YouTube, NBATV and ESPN3.com there is no way someone as good as Sabonis would be a secret today." Youngsters of today will have a hard time understanding why Sabonis came into the NBA so late, we can just state the politics of the time simply didn't permit. We can only guess the career numbers a young Sabonis might have accumulated if allowed to play in the NBA, we'll never know.

Please step forward

It would be great if Kansas City had an Alex Meruelo show up. Meruelo is the new owner of the Atlanta Hawks and guess what---he doesn't even live in Atlanta. Meruelo lives in California but indicates he is going to purchase a home in Atlanta. But think about it a minute are community ties really necessary? We could look no further than the Chiefs, the Hunt family has never lived in Kansas City in the nearly 50 years of Chiefs football. Community ties are important but unnecessary if that owner(s) is committed to the area. A further problem expansion in today's NBA is out of the question so a Kansas City team would be one located from another city, in addition I don't think an expansion team would work here. The only choice is an existing franchise moving here, but which one?

NAIA basketball

Once upon a time NAIA schools supplied a steady stream of talented players to the NBA, those days are long gone. A considerable number of these players became all-stars several reaching the top rung in basketball, enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. The stream of NAIA players first began arriving in the NBA in the '50's lasting through the late '70's. Hall of Famers Earl Monroe, Willis Reed and Scottie Pippen began their journey to the NBA at NAIA institutions. These players never made the HOF but greatness was their middle name, the Celtic's Sam Jones, Luke Jackson 76'ers and Bob Love of the Bulls just to name a few. During the 50's and 60's schools in the deep south and southwest would not recruit or sometimes even schedule games if a team had black players. It was even against unwritten Jim Crow laws, example in 1963 an all-white Mississippi State team wanted to play in the NCAA tournament. They would be playing Chicago Loyola which had black players on the team. The team knowing the climate of the times had to sneak out of town to play the game. Black players especially in the deep south honed their game at the historically black institutions. Naturally the NBA learning of this talent pool began to scout the schools extensively. Year after year scouts in droves would journey to Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium for the annual NAIA Tournament.  Pippen ('87-'08) and Terry Porter ('85-'02) might be considered the last outstanding NAIA athletes to play in the NBA.

"The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."

Muhammad Ali