Friday, April 3, 1998 | 11:11 a.m.
IN ADDITION TO BEING a good college basketball coach, Jerry Tarkanian can now claim the title of prophet. When first hearing about the point-shaving scandal at Northwestern University, the Fresno State coach remarked, "I'm sure we'll get blamed for it." Then he added, "I'm sure one of those guys visited our campus or one of them lives in Fresno." It was only a matter of hours before editorial writers and sports columnists were pointing fingers at Tarkanian's problems at Fresno and UNLV when writing about the Northwestern University basketball problems.
Tark had been made an especially easy target by a very recent negative job done by the popular news and show-biz "60 Minutes" weekly production on CBS television. Tarkanian had given full cooperation to Mike Wallace and crew after the television reporter told him the resulting program wouldn't disappoint him. Wallace later explained that he made that statement prior to the story being developed.
The week following the television show, Tarkanian had Wallace as his guest when his team lost to Minnesota in the NIT semifinal game in Madison Square Garden. Just before the game, Tark called Wallace out and voiced his disapproval.
Larry Stewart in the Los Angeles Times tells the story that makes a reader appreciate both Tark and Wallace:
"'I had a great time,' Wallace said. 'It was a great game and we should have won. I mean, Fresno State should have won.'
"Yes, Wallace was rooting for Fresno State, which lost in overtime.
"'Jerry invited me to the game without telling me he was going to bust my chops,' Wallace said. 'But that's OK. After that, he was fine and his wife Lois was great. What a sweetheart.'
"Wallace said he also enjoyed talking to some of the Fresno State players and their parents."
Not every reporter and media personality was as understanding as Wallace. That's with the exception of basketball expert Billy Packer, who also broadcasts for CBS. The piece that damned Tark angered Packer to the point he called "60 Minutes" a "cancer in our organization." Later, he clarified this statement by saying Wallace was just doing his job. He did believe that Tark shouldn't have used the pre-game situation to nail Wallace.
On the other hand, George Vecsey of the New York Times wrote a long, rambling essay on gambling and the Northwestern embarrassment. Somehow or other, Vecsey, after going back more than 47 years to the City College of New York and Long Island University basketball-betting scandals, eventually had to drag Tark into his column.
After quoting the judge that ruled on the LIU case, Vecsey conveniently jumped onto Tark. "That was nearly half a century ago, but Judge Streit's words are as relevant today, in the era of Jerry Tarkanian, who flits from college to college with tramp athletes following behind him, with school officials and boosters and even broadcasters fawning on him. When '60 Minutes' did a segment on Tarkanian the other day, Billy Packer, a CBS broadcaster, blasted the most esteemed news show on TV."
Robert Lipsyte, a New York Times writer, also takes a close look at gambling and sports. Several times, he mentions Tark and once refers to him as having great value as "Mr. Immorality in the morality play." Lipsyte writes:
"Beating up on Tark the Shark is more satisfying -- and credible -- in a season without gambling scandals at Northwestern and at Columbia, where the police claim to have broken up a student-run betting ring tied to bookmakers. Organized gambling, legal and illegal, generates a great deal of the interest in college basketball, especially among non-alumni."
Later in his column, Lipsyte asks, "The fact that he ends up with players that no one else wants can only mean that they shouldn't be allowed to play at all, right? If the Tark is such a tumor on an otherwise healthy body, how does he manage to force colleges to hire him?"
Local fans may wince when reading Lipsyte's evaluation of their present program. "For all its noise, the NCAA never nailed Tark. A new UNLV administration eventually decided that the national exposure he had given the school was becoming dangerous overexposure and he was dumped in 1992. This year, UNLV proudly lost to Princeton early in the NCAA tournament, proof it was rising in the academic standings," Lipsyte commented.
News agencies have developed a list of 15 college basketball scandals, dating all the way back to 1951. I find Northwestern, Arizona State, Boston College, Tulane, St. Joseph's of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, College of Pacific, Utah, Bowling Green, Alabama, Bradley and Manhattan all mentioned in some way, but Tark hasn't coached at any of the schools named.
There's no doubt that Tark has played close to the edge by recruiting and accepting athletes with personal problems. Because of this and the conduct of some players, he and his teams have earned the burning given by some of the media. He has become an easy target for all kinds of critics, but last week, it made him a prophet when predicting he would be blamed for a gambling problem at an academically respected university halfway across the nation from Fresno State University.
Even more recently, yesterday the NCAA paid a high price for its unfair treatment and harassment of Tark. When he filed the lawsuit, his critics said he was suffering from everything, including paranoia, and avarice, but in reality, he filed it knowing that he, his family, fellow UNLV associates and the 1991-92 Rebels had been wronged time and again because of the attacks by the NCAA.
Today, Tark the Prophet has been vindicated, and his bank statement shows a profit.
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