The FIU Fiasco!

My first thought when I heard Florida International didn’t want to play North Carolina was simple: welcome to college basketball Isiah Thomas. (Editor’s Note: I did also think “thanks a lot FIU for starting off our 100 yr celebration like this“) Because of that I saw no point in writing a blog about it since, let’s face it, we all know Mr. Thomas well. But as time passed and the articles online and in conventional media kept coming in another thought came to my mind and that is why I am going to write about it in this post of mine. Most people have been wondering why FIU wouldn’t want to play UNC, when the school could use that type of exposure for recruiting and showing off their new head coach. Thinking about it though, a game lasts just 40 minutes, two hours in real time, and how long is the media hype over this lasting?

Yes, I am saying the following: Maybe, just maybe FIU and Isiah Thomas are using this storyline to get more free publicity than picking up a top notch recruit, and I say this because it’s true. Coach Thomas got a good player for next season, and that got about 10-15 seconds on ESPN and some hype in the media. This is getting a lot more spotlight than FIU getting five star 6’8″ forward Dominique Ferguson, and let’s face it, the old saying “it don’t matter if they talk good or bad about me, as long as they talk” does feel like the right track in this head scratching story.

The 5 NC Trophies

Now you are going to say: well your theory is good, but how do you back it up? Good point, and here is the way I do that. If FIU really, but really, didn’t want to play Carolina a behind the scenes phone call to the Gazelle Group (the company that sets up the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament) would have worked better, no? Between Rick Giles, president of the Gazelle Group, and the Athletic Dept of FIU I am sure they could have worked it out that the college had to pull out due to something and this story would have been in the middle of any sports section and probably not many media members would have followed it up. But that wouldn’t have given Florida International and Isiah Thomas a lot of space in print, while this controversy surely has.

As I dug more and more into the story I found out that the contract, which was signed long before the college hired Thomas, specifically stated that the organizers had the right to make any match up and that FIU would either play UNC or Ohio State. This again is another puzzling thing, since OSU is no pushover, and it’s not like coach Thomas is thinking that they have a chance versus the Buckeyes and that is why they want to play them? In an article from The News & Observer Rick Giles says the following:

“We’ve had a number of calls today from teams willing to step into FIU’s shoes,” Giles said. “… But we’re not at that point in the process.”

This shows that FIU cannot play the “my way or the highway” card, since the chips are all on the Gazelle Group’s side. Which once again brings me back to the fact that going the way Florida International went is purely absurd as far as getting their way, but makes a lot of sense if they wanted some free publicity. The one thing that maybe the AD of this college should think about is that, unlike the NBA, building a team takes years and years of good recruiting, since there is no draft in college. I for one, as someone who loves basketball, think that FIU should not be playing in this tournament and should have to wait 5 years before being able to play in another. And I say this also because Coaches vs. Cancer (and the Jimmy V Foundation) are close to my heart as I had my father in law battle the disease and having a team forgetting about why they are playing in the tourney and worrying more about themselves truly bothers me.

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