… pretty much right. The only two people who could know for sure is Rose and his alleged accomplice, if he exists.

in answer to your question, No. I would say that most level headed realistic people probably do think there is a pretty good chance that Derrick Rose cheated (I know I do and I consider myself to be extremely level headed and realistic – for a girl : )). But, I think what the main sticking point is is that the proof has not be provided and some people live their lives around what is factual and some live their lives based on what they think. ; )

1. There are no witnesses who could come forth and identify the person taking the exam as other than Rose;
2. There were no known score inconsistencies that normally invalidate tests;
3. The only evidence that Rose may have cheated is the testimony of a handwriting expert, which is in no way dispositive;
4. Rose says he did not cheat, and took the test.

The question is not what we think, but what we can prove. It is not Tipton’s job to draw conclusions, it is his job to report the facts. His reporting is not a fact in this case.

This is one of his typical hit pieces that is all about page views. Don’t click on it.

I love it. And yes, I think you are totally right about that. Of course Tipton is a "hit-whore". What writer who writes for a living doesn’t have "hits" and "buzz" in the back of their minds when writing their pay-check pieces? Their livelihood depends on readers reacting to their stories and all one need do is take a look around here at times to see that the fun happy-go-lucky pieces certainly don’t generate as much comment and discussion traffic as the controversial pieces.

Tipton isn’t going to change his writing style now or his level of crotchetiness — for goodness sake, the man is like 80 years old. He will remain the same, it’s up to his readers to decide that they don’t really care about his opinion and his articles and stop reacting to them.

The old adage – " Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"

… should really find another blog.

He is supposed to be objective, and I think he largely was. The one thing I pointed out, though, is kind of important to get right. At least I think so. Others may disagree.

But you will notice that I’m not all that critical of him, just wanted to set the record straight on that. Even if everyone in America thinks Rose cheated (and he may well have), it just isn’t good to report that as a fact.

As of now, it just isn’t.

and reporters are trained to say………………well its all good BUT lets look at this………….its in their training.

… and I’m as guilty of that as the next fan, to a point. I think excess negativism is bad journalism, even in opinion pieces. We see a lot of them, but no matter what the subject, I think they are a very poor prescription for fixing what’s broken.

Better to keep it factual and criticize the facts.

that we are all ready for positive news concerning UK……….we are tired of the negative press the past few years and so we have little patience for the Lexington press right now.

I totally get what you are saying about fans taking issue with every single writer who writes anything even remotely less than satisfactory about UK, and I too, think that’s ridiculous. Not everyone should be expected to blow sunshine at us all the time and I, like you, really appreciate the truth and the facts of a situation. Get that right and I will most likely be a loyal and rather content reader.

For me, though — How Tipton differs from a lot of other writers who cover UK (those both nationally and locally in Kentucky) is that his writing seems to come from more of an opinion angle (which just so happens to be constantly negative), whereas I think he should be concentrating more on informing his public of the facts. But then again, I’m sure not his boss, so he probably won’t be listening to little ‘ol me.

… I am not really concerned, I’m merely interested in correcting the record. No reason for a factual not-quite-accuracy to go un-debunked.

But you’re right, there’s no reason to get too exercised about what Tipton says. And I don’t think the NCAA’s questions about Wall’s eligibility are out of order at all. The question I have is, are they being fair, and looking into similar situations with Clifton’s other players?

I think that’s a fair question, and I think it’s also fair to assume they are, until proven otherwise.