@dewyulsc
This website wasn't created to push a political agenda or to provide running commentary on current events. Cardinal Fans visit CardChronicle.com in masses because it is their escape. University of Louisville Athletics, and sports in general, are a great and powerful form of escapism offered by our hometown and our United States. People of all ages, races, and backgrounds dive head first into taking part of something greater than themselves, hyperbolically living and dying with every win or loss. Sports teach invaluable life lessons, fill its followers with every possible emotion, and for a few hours every week, everything just gets pushed aside.
Change doesn't happen overnight. Something has been creeping into our alternate reality for several years and our new world is threatening to extinguish everything we cherished from the old. Technology, 24 hour media, and political correctness have invaded the wide world of sports and it is time for the American public, sports fans, and media to take a hard and honest look in the mirror. Time to take back our escape and resurrect innocent fun.
The scandalous allegations levied against the Louisville Men's Basketball program are another prime example, in a long and growing recent list, of the problems too prevalent in our current society. Whether it's Louisville Basketball, the Patriots and deflated footballs, Lane Kiffin with female boosters and Nick Saban's daughter, professional sports roster changes, or every LeBron decision, the goal is never accuracy and diligence. Media at all levels, coupled with the all-consuming public, place immediacy, loudness, and opinion on a pedestal looming high above truth and consequence. TV ratings, website clicks, twitter mentions, favorites or trends, and Facebook likes are the prize sought by today's individual and journalist. Not a second of thought is offered to ramification or punishment.
These problems weren't concocted by 12 old men in a board room. They were inflamed by every single member of this "YouTube Generation". Keep your daily news and politics, reality stars and talentless celebrities are all yours, but hey, leave our sports alone!
If the University of Louisville and Andre McGee are guilty then they will pay the price and own up to any punishment delivered. However, innocence and vindication only matters to the University and its fans. In the eyes of every media outlet, including our local representatives, every person on the outside looking in, and every potential recruit, Louisville is already guilty. Multiple television loudmouths are calling for Pitino's resignation and the blogosphere and internet artists are having a field day with the "facts". To make matters worse, the most powerful name in sports, ESPN, proudly carries the torch of tabloid journalism while thrusting its spear into the hearts of Card Nation by relying on the unreliable Matt Jones to speak on behalf of Louisville's fan base.
Where is the integrity? Does professionalism still exist? Is anyone actually interested in the truth anymore?
This whole situation is a tragedy because it is an accurate reflection of the world we now live in. No matter the action, no matter how criminal or revolting a person may be, five seconds of fame and a check to cash are all that matters.
An old saying looms large over Louisville's current predicament: if you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas. Andre McGee has admitted to knowing and having some sort of relationship with the female accuser. We do not know the extent of this relationship, but someone this evil and morally averse should have no place in a person's life who values a career, friends, or a family. None of us are perfect and we can only hope that McGee, innocent or guilty, has learned his lesson about associating with scum.
As for the basketball program, it appears that piling together the necessary evidence to showcase guilt and NCAA violations is unlikely. He said/she said situations are never winning cases for the accuser, but the accuser in this case has no interest in NCAA violations. This sex and drug trafficker has already won, is already cashing her check, and therein lies the problem. If proven untrue, and if Louisville emerges unscathed in terms of NCAA punishment, where is the vindication and recourse for the victims?
Will she go to jail? Will Indiana University booster Mickey Maurer suffer massive civil punishment by soliciting and printing this garbage? Will Indiana's role in all this come to light? Will anyone actually care outside of the Cardinal bubble?
Sadly, the answer is no.
Sports used to be a world of pure competition, legendary heroes, All-American icons, and a world we all ventured into so that we could escape and share something special. Slowly and steadily, an unwelcomed shift has allowed society's current pitfalls to invade athletics. I don't want to be a part of a world where the wrong are rewarded and truth is valueless. Take a look in the mirror, remember why you love the sports you do and the teams you support, and let's all get back to a time when all that mattered was family, friends, memories, and the chase of a championship.
All Hail UofL !!