Notre Dame Suspends The Men’s Swim Team

When I woke up this morning and checked my phone, Google greeted me with a headline saying that Notre Dame has suspended its men’s swimming team for “at least one year” for gambling.  Since I have never seen a sportsbook that posted lines or props on swimming, I had to dig into that report.

The AP had a good summary of the situation.  The school hired an external law firm to investigate if swimmers had violated NCAA rules related to gambling.  The findings from that investigation revealed that about half of the men’s swim team had established a “makeshift, internal sportsbook” which allowed members of the team to wager on times achieved by themselves or by teammates at various meets.  According to the AP report, the swimmers were not found to have bet on any other Notre Dame athletic events, nor did they wager on anything related to teams other than the Notre Dame swim team.

That sounds like a clear violation of the NCAA gambling rules even though the limitations on the scope of things to be bet on are circumscribed.  It seemed to me that this might be a disproportionate response by the school, but part of the statement made by the Notre Dame Athletic director made me wonder:

“In order to ensure that this behavior ends and to rebuild a culture of dignity, respect, and exemplary conduct, we have decided to suspend the men’s swimming program for at least one academic year.”

A “culture of dignity, respect and exemplary conduct”?  The findings of the external investigators indicated a lack of dignity or respect when swimmers wagered on their times in swim meets or possibly the times of their teammates?  I can buy that the “makeshift internal sportsbook” was not exemplary conduct given that it violates NCAA rules, but what is all this alluding to “dignity” and “respect”?

The AP report says that in a group chat among the sportsbook users there were “derogatory remarks and messages” but that there was no evidence that any physical hazing had taken place.  In addition, the swimmers who were part of this gambling cabal also “bet among themselves on events such as the Super Bowl and March Madness basketball tournament games.”

Obviously, I do not have any insight into exactly what happened in this situation; but suspension of the entire team – – only about half the men’s swim team was involved in this “makeshift internal sportsbook” – – for at least an entire academic year seems like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer.

• Yes, they violated NCAA rules and the people who did that should be punished.  If Notre Dame thinks a full year’s suspension is appropriate for violating NCAA rules, that is Notre Dame’s decision.
• They bet on the Super Bowl among themselves.  I don’t know if that constitutes a violation of Indiana State Law, but even if it does, that is pretty thin gruel to support such a punishment.
• They bet on March Madness games.  If this is related to guys filling out tournament brackets among themselves to see who had the best set of picks, this gruel is as thin as the one involving Super Bowl betting.
• They made derogatory remarks on a private group chat.  Unless those remarks involved the suggestion of violation or exploitation of other people, I can’t get too exercised about the behavior there.

For the record, this behavior seems to have been confined to about half of the members of the Notre Dame men’s swimming team.  There are no suspensions or punishments allocated to the men’s diving team nor to the women’s swimming or diving teams.  The coaching staff has also been exonerated:

“The review found that the staff was not aware of gambling or the scope and extent of other troubling behaviors because team members effectively concealed such behaviors from the coaches and staff through concerted efforts.  According to the review, when the staff became aware of certain isolated incidents of unacceptable conduct, they treated them seriously and professionally.”

So, it sounds as if half the men’s swim team is being punished for something that happened that they – – and their coaches – – did not know was in existence.  And somehow that sort of “injustice” is an acceptable burden to bear as the swimming team seeks to reestablish a culture of dignity and respect.  OK, then…

Finally, since today’s rant has mentioned “dignity” as it relates to recent events, let me close with this observation by zoologist, Dian Fossy:

“The more you learn about the dignity of the gorilla, the more you want to avoid people.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports ………