Wardle investigation?

[IWB]

Was just throwing it out there as a possibility, more along the lines of, "you can't take XX credits, you will need to be at practice, film study, weight room etc etc"

The more I think about his aspect the more I don't believe it. Wardle has modeled the UWGB program after mu's in some respects, one of those being the academic support staff. Who helps kids schedule their classes? Their academic advisor. Are we to believe that Wardle sits down with the kids when it is time to schedule classes? No, UWGB's version of Asrienne Ridgeway does that. My guess is that Warsle never had anything to do with the kid's class selection unless it kept him out of practice.

[mufansince72]

Yeah, good point. Probably academic advisor types!

[TulsaWarrior]

More support for Wardle from a former player. http://www.nbc26.com/sports/205481771.html

[warriorfan4life]

Here is support from a fairly prominent MU alum.

[mufansince72]

I hope Wardle is cleared and untarnished, and that the Bross's learn a lesson.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

I don't see any way Wardle walks away from this untarnished unfortunately. If he is innocent that's a shame but unfortunately he will always be remembered for this by most national people. I don't know Brian, I don't know anyone in the situation, I hope for all involved that the real truth comes out and that's the most anyone can ask for here.

[TulsaWarrior]

There seems to be four kinds of posters on the various message boards commenting on this investigation. Bross and Cougill who have put their names out and made specific allegations – a number of past and present players who have put their name out in support of Wardle (Novak, LeSage, Barkley, Brown, Sykes, etc.) – A lynch mob either for or against Bross and Cougill – the final group are a couple posters who claim to be “former division one players.” These “anonymous” athletes say those who question Bross and Cougill don’t know anything about how division one sports really works. That is a fair criticism but it would carry more weight if they put their name with the comment.

As a life time journalist I would ask myself why is someone leaking information and why are they unwilling to put their name with the information? What do they hope to gain by telling me a story? Are they playing me?

This investigation is serious stuff. Lives could be changed forever. We all need to be damn sure we’re not part of a lynch mob, for either side.

[Goose85]

The unfortunate part of all of this (and MU went through it a few years ago) is that you can only get one side.

The Bross kid and his mom can say anything about Wardle they want, true or not, and Wardle and the university can not publicly respond because of privacy laws. MU went through the same thing.

Bad press for the school and the people involved who can not respond to the allegations. Just like with MU, without a full blown trial the truth may never really come out. All we are left with is the kids accusations and whatever some newspaper wants to write, even if they are not all truthful.

I hope Wardle survives this and it doesn't affect his ability to coach and recruit going forward. If some of these accusations are not truthful, I hope that comes out too, but I doubt it.

Unfortunately our society is one where the majority of the people are interested in the juicy parts of a story when it comes out, form an opinion based on that, and could care less what happens later as they have moved on. This is the real problem for Wardle.

[TheSultan]

The unfortunate part of all of this (and MU went through it a few years ago) is that you can only get one side.

The Bross kid and his mom can say anything about Wardle they want, true or not, and Wardle and the university can not publicly respond because of privacy laws. MU went through the same thing.

There is no law preventing from UWGB from responding. They aren't responding because they are in the middle of an investigation. This a situation quite different from MU's because legal questions aren't involved.

[Gato78]

Federal privacy laws prohibit comment about the accusations. The privacy laws extend to any records and information directly related to the student--including any records maintained by any party or organization acting on behalf of the school. The privacy right is vested in the student. ESPN vs Ohio State provides that the confidentiality extends to all "personally identifiable information". Wardle and the University are precluded from any comment both as a matter of law and as a matter of University policy.