Rick Pitino – Memphis Flyer

History can be revised, to some degree, by intelligent and thorough historians. But history cannot be erased, no matter how much the NCAA believes it can. Last week, the national governing body for American college sports decided Louisville must vacate its national basketball championship — won right before our eyes in 2013 — as part of its punishment for a slew of violations under former coach Rick Pitino. The history books, according to the NCAA, will now read “vacated” between Kentucky’s title in 2012 and Connecticut’s in 2014.

This is absurd, of course. No more or less absurd than USC’s vacated football championship in 2004, but just as absurd. Games played on a field (or court) can be erased only when that device made famous in the Men In Black movies is actually invented for the elimination of memories on a mass human scale. If you find it hard to forget Louisville’s Kevin Ware shattering his lower leg during that 2013 NCAA tournament, imagine the NCAA now trying to tell us it didn’t happen, that the Cardinals’ tournament run that season is now . . . vacated.

This kind of penalty is salt to the wound for followers of the Memphis basketball program, whose 2008 Final Four banner is currently in an undisclosed closet. The Tigers were forced to take that banner down when the Derrick Rose test-taking scandal came to light (in 2009), though the 1985 Final Four banner — for a run also vacated by the NCAA — hangs proudly from the rafters at FedExForum.

Cheaters must be punished and yes, there is cheating in college sports. But the sad and unfair truth is that athletes must often pay for misdeeds that occurred before they arrived on campus. Erasing history just can’t be done. Would the NCAA return any proceeds from games Louisville played five years ago? Would it reimburse Memphis fans who paid hard-earned money to watch the scandalous Rose in the winter of 2007-08? The answers are no and hell no.

Punish programs clearly in violation of NCAA rules and regs. But leave history — and its banners — alone. We saw what happened.

• I find the strategy of tanking in professional sports repugnant. By now you know the concept: compile losses now with the hope of acquiring high draft picks — and actually competing — later. Baseball’s two most recent champions perfected this craft. The Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros fielded historically poor teams for multiple seasons before building rosters around draft jewels like Kris Bryant (Cubs) and Carlos Correa (Astros) and winning the World Series.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver was right to fine Mavericks owner Mark Cuban last week for publicly acknowledging that losing is in his team’s best interests this season. If a franchise is going to openly concede games — in an industry built on a foundation of competition — it had better slash the cost of tickets and sponsorships. And no child should have to pay for a ticket to see his or her home team suit up a roster shy of its best.

As long as the NBA has a lottery system for its draft — no matter how it’s weighted — there will be incentives to accumulate losses. So here’s a novel idea: order the draft by the number of tickets sold by teams that miss the playoffs. Reward struggling franchises that retain the support of their fan base. The more home tickets sold in a down year, the higher that team will pick in the next draft. Fans are smart, and their money is as honest as Mark Cuban. Losing on purpose can’t be sold.

• The only silver lining to Tiger point guard Jeremiah Martin’s season-ending injury is that it may secure a league scoring title for the Memphis junior. How special would a conference scoring title be for Martin? Larry Finch never led his league (the Missouri Valley Conference) in scoring. Neither did Lorenzen Wright, Rodney Carney, Chris Douglas-Roberts, or Joe Jackson. Over the last 50 years, only four Tigers have led their league in scoring: Keith Lee (Metro, 1984-85), Elliot Perry (Metro, 1990-91), Penny Hardaway (Great Midwest, 1992-93), and Will Barton (Conference USA, 2011-12). Martin finished his season with an average of 18.9 points per game. Second among American Athletic Conference players is SMU’s Shake Milton (also injured) at 18.0.

R. C. Johnson

The University of Memphis, despite losing 47-3 to Arkansas State in football last September, has been accepted into the Big East Conference, proving that incompetence is no barrier to entry and that, as the financial firms say, past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Big East Conference Commissioner John Marinatto told reporters in a teleconference Wednesday that Memphis is “very well positioned for success” in football, which is the driving force in television contracts. Marinatto secretly visited the campus and Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium last week to eyeball them before sealing the deal. Memphis Athletic Director R. C. Johnson said the visit was code named “Elvis.”

Marinatto touted the strong record of the Memphis men’s basketball team as an important factor in the invitation to join what he called the best men’s and women’s basketball conference in the country. Other factors he listed were location, facilities, location, personnel, and location. The conference wanted a school in the Central Time Zone to complement its East Coast and West Coast members.

He said lobbying on behalf of Memphis by Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino “wasn’t the driving force.” Just to make sure, he said it again a few minutes later.

Marinatto did not say whether the pending departure of Memphis Athletic Director R. C. Johnson was a factor one way or the other, leaving fans a juicy topic for ongoing discussion.

Johnson and University of Memphis President Shirley Raines held a press conference at noon Wednesday. Johnson, much criticized for everything from his hair to the Derrick Rose sanctions to the failure to get into a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) conference before this, stole the show with humor and emotion. His last day is June 29th.

“What criticism? Me?” he said in response to a question.

“By golly we did it,” he said, pounding the podium in joy to a standing ovation. He gave special thanks to FedEx CEO Fred Smith, booster Mike Rose, and FedEx CFO Alan Graf who were in on the secret talks for their help.

Johnson said Big East all-sports schools got $8.6 million apiece in shared revenue compared to $2 million apiece for Conference USA schools. Memphis must pay an exit fee of $500,000 and $2.5 million to join the Big East, which Johnson said will come out of television revenue.

Johnson got another big round of applause when he said the new football coaching staff will get a recruiting boost. “They (rival coaches) can no longer say you’re not in a BCS conference.”

Within three years the Big East plans to have 12 football schools and 17 basketball schools, with a league championship game in each sport. Marinatto said “it is just a question of execution.”

And one more thing. Arkansas State, minus head coach Hugh Freeze, is back on the Tigers 2012 schedule.