For no reason in particular, there is an old Lincoln quote rolling around in my head today (Abraham, not continental). It comes from a message to Congress that was a precursor to the Emancipation Proclamation, when Lincoln penned the words “the dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.”

Now, I’m still not entirely sure what that means, but it’s been rolling around in my head for the last few hours, so I just thought I’d get it out there.

Like most (if not all) of you, I watched at least some portion of the sound beating IU took at Wisconsin on Saturday. I was unable to watch from stem to stern, but I got the gist — not enough offense, not enough defense, not enough points, not enough hustle, not enough of anything for anyone to really find positives in anything but the final buzzer and those brief moments when it slipped from your mind that there was a game yesterday at all.

Now, it’s been suggested, in this space and in others, that I, specifically, am too easy on Tom Crean, too forgiving of the Hoosiers’ plethora of shortcomings as this season slowly turns the way of last.

But the truth is, folks, I understand. I really do. I understand how hard it is to watch this team play, and struggle as it does. There’s a standard Indiana fans expect, and it’s not being met.

And I know that for many of you, that standard isn’t measured solely with banners or wins-per-season averages, but simply with hard work, teamwork and commitment. The majority of you have (at least, I think you have) bought into what Tom Crean is selling — the rebuilding, baby steps approach that celebrates every move forward this team makes, and forgives most of its regressions.

But water will always boil when succumbing to intense heat, and so fans will become displeased when they see performances like the last three IU has managed. I’ve seen part or all of Northwestern, Ohio State and Wisconsin, and this time, I’ll agree with you, Hoosier Nation, your complaints are valid.

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The story of the day Thursday in college basketball was the NCAA’s announcement that the run to the national championship for the 2007-2008 Memphis Tigers is now wiped from the record books.

That Memphis club, which won 38 games before falling to Kansas 75-68 in the title game, was spearheaded by freshman point guard Derrick Rose. And after a lengthy investigation, the NCAA ruled that something just didn’t smell right when Rose took the SAT on May 5, 2007.

After failing to achieve a qualifying score on the ACT each of the three times he took the test in Chicago, someone, presumably not Rose, achieved the SAT scores needed on that early day in May.

Only this time the test was taken in Detroit, which also happens to be the home of William Wesley. You might know Wesley better as World Wide Wes, a confidant of Calipari. You do the math.

Calipari will do his usual song and dance when pressed to disclose whether or not he knew of possible indiscretions with Rose’s test score: Deny, deny and deny some more. It’s all in the past, right? It’s the same tune currently being belted in Lexington by fans who are desperate for a winner after Billy Gillispie flamed out last spring in the NIT.

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As you may recall, the NCAA levied a five-year show-cause order on Kelvin Sampson back in November, along with slapping IU with three years probation for “failure to monitor.”  Essentially, this means Sampson has little to no chance at being a coach at an NCAA member school for the next five years.

But, Sampson did not agree with the NCAA’s ruling. So he appealed. And today, he was officially denied.

Some more details from the Indianapolis Star:

Sampson appealed the penalties in an April hearing, saying his ban was too severe and that the original committee hearing was biased against him because a date was set before the NCAA enforcement staff issued formal allegations and before it completed interviews.

The NCAA contended that the the original findings and penalties were correct.

Nothing surprising here: it was unlikely Sampson’s appeal was going to help lessen the penalties brought down upon him. Now that he’s been denied, IU has no more hearings with the NCAA on the matter and he’s toiling away on Scott Skiles’ bench in Milwaukee, this will likely be the last nail in the coffin on the Kelvin Sampson era at IU. (Unless members of that team/Sampson/an assistant coach/a member of the athletic staff/a member of the administrative staff/a recruit does a tell-all interview or leaks something to the media. I suppose there’s always a chance of that happening.)

Feels good, doesn’t it?

The NCAA released its Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores this afternoon and the result was a public notice for IU baskeball in response to a score that, well, isn’t pretty. To put it into perspective how low the figure is, the other 23 athletic programs at IU all had scores well above the NCAA benchmark of 925. The men’s basketball program checked in at 866.

Here’s the reaction from athletic director Fred Glass:

“We take this public notice very seriously. The poor academic performance for which we’re being cited all occurred under two coaches who are no longer at IU.  We are confident that under Coach Tom Crean’s leadership and commitment to academics, responsibility, and character, we will soon be able to put our previous academic issues fully in the past. Coach Crean’s outstanding academic record at Marquette, including the graduating of all of his senior players, speaks for itself.”

I think Mr. Glass is pointing at you, Kelvin. For the record, Crean’s APR score from Marquette was also released this afternoon and it was 970. Because IU voluntarily forfeited two scholarships this past season in anticipation of a low APR, they’ll be able to utilize all 13 scholarships moving forward.

Some rambling postseason thoughts on a Monday morning …

So, we’re a few days removed from Indiana’s season-ending first round loss to Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament. Ho, hum. We all knew the Hoosiers were probably going to lose. Whatever hopes we had of an upset were minimal and fleeting. And so the season ends, and on we go, set for another offseason that will be far less angry, anxious, and uncertain than last season’s.

Comparing the two situations is almost funny. This time last year, we had just been destroyed by Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Sure, Arkansas was a good team, and it was a tough draw, talent-wise, but by that point it almost didn’t matter. A once-promising season with a lineup stocked full of players was derailed entirely when Kelvin Sampson was fired for being a naughty boy. The team lost most of the rest of its games, limped into the NCAAs, and were promptly spanked. But it wasn’t the loss that was disconcerting. It’s what came before it, and what was still ahead.

Cue the offseason: a series of ugly incidents and confusing decisions punctuated by a brief moment of optimism. That moment was Tom Crean’s hire. It’s the hire IU should have made two years ago, when they instead chose a coach under investigation for having the cell phone tendencies of a 13-year-old meth addict. Crean was a steadier, calmer, more reasonable choice with just as good of a coaching record and a history of recruiting well in Indiana and Chicago. Why he wasn’t originally chosen to succeed Mike Davis is a mystery that still confounds to this day. (Then-IU president Adam Herbert’s insistence on a minority hire is likely the answer, but oh well. Spilled milk, and all that.)

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Around the Hall is recommended reading from the Inside the Hall crew.

+ Indy Star columnist Bob Kravitz discusses Kelvin Sampson’s unwillingness to take responsibility for what went down in Bloomington. As Kravitz notes, “Haven’t we gone through this already?” {Indianapolis Star}

+ Lance Stemler and Adam Ahlfeld confirmed that Sampson talked the players into finishing out the season after Stemler, Ahlfeld, D.J. White and Eric Gordon told Sampson they wouldn’t finish the season without him. {Indianapolis Star}

+ Former Indiana assistant Rob Senderoff has his penalty reduced by the NCAA — but only by a smidge. {The Sporting News}

+ Gary Parrish chronicles the story of Kellen Sampson and says the aspiring coach should be judged on his own merits and not by his last name. {CBS Sports}

Quotable:

“We were sitting there every day tearing through the rules and regulations of the NCAA, and I’m just like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ I felt like the biggest white elephant in the room, especially when we spent a week on the rules and regulations of phone calls. I told the professor, ‘I can probably teach this section.’” – Kellen Sampson on how he felt during the class he took at IU last year titled “NCAA rules and compliance.”

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Kelvin Sampson’s media tour just keeps getting lamer and lamer. The latest: A one-on-one interview with the Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy, wherein Sampson complains about the media and his punishment being unfair and he didn’t know he was cheating blah blah blah:

SN: Was the NCAA too harsh on you?

SAMPSON: I think so. I think they were unfair. I think they were unfair to IU, too. I don’t think anybody got treated fairly in this. This thing got hit in the media, it got sensationalized. It just took on a life of its own. When they start using the word unethical, when they describe you as unethical –somebody that’s unethical, to me, knows right from wrong and then does it anyway. There’s intent behind it.

That’s pretty much the gist of the whole interview. Kelvin believes he was treated unfairly, that he really didn’t do anything wrong, and that the NCAA’s mind was made up about him before he had the chance to prove himself innocent of all those charges. Blah. If it wasn’t obvious Sampson wants to coach college hoops again, it should be by now. Otherwise, he would go away. He would spare us the nonsense. He would make me forget he ever existed.

Instead, expect the media tour to roll on. Gee. Can’t wait.

Inside the Hall is now on Twitter … Follow us here.

In the latest issue of ESPN the Mag — on newsstands now! — there’s a small bit on page 71 about five players affected by Kelvin Sampson’s Indiana hiring and subsequent resignation: Devin Ebanks, Terrell Holloway, Scottie Reynolds, Damion James and Tyshawn Taylor.

Today online, a few companion pieces ran along with it. Including two from me. The first is a column about what it meant for me to be a fan during Sampson’s reign of calling, and what Tom Crean has taught me. A sample:

I’d always heard about the Indiana Tradition or doing things the Indiana Way, but I’d usually roll my eyes at such pronouncements, thinking of them as nothing more but tired, clichéd statements from Bob Knight disciples. I’m a bit of a cynical guy.

Times had changed, I thought. It’s OK to bend the rules in recruiting, as long as you win, as long as you don’t get caught. It’s OK you don’t fit the Indiana mold, doing things the right way with dignity and class, as long as you win. It’s OK to bring in players of questionable character, as long as you win.

This is what the Kelvin Sampson era was at Indiana: win at all costs. And I was hooked, cast under his spell, because that’s all I wanted for my team, too. I wanted to win.

Second is four others affected by Sampson, but like the original piece in the actual print version, is behind ESPN’s Insider wall. Boo.

Lastly, Scott Powers wrote a tremendous story about all the guys who left last year, catching us up with their situations. He got a lot of quotes from Brandon McGee. That guy is behind the Insider wall too.

The moral of this post is that ESPN is putting a lot more of their stuff behind Insider’s wall this year. You’ve been warned, sports consumer.

Oh, and if you want another take on the whole Deadspin topic, Midwest Sports Fan has an indepth look at it today.