H*****r
发帖数: 764 | 1 By Matt Hinton
Cliff Harris’ wild ride was ‘borrowed’ from an Oregon employeeIn all
respects, Oregon's Cliff Harris thrives on danger. As an All-American
cornerback/return man with five return touchdowns as a sophomore, he's a
danger to Duck opponents every time he touches the ball. Last weekend, he
was allegedly a danger to himself, two teammates and everyone else on the
road when he was cited for driving 118 in a 65-mile-per-hour zone at 4 a.m.
Sunday morning, on a suspended license, fines for which will be a serious
danger to his bank account. And according to a Eugene television station,
Harris may have put his own eligibility in danger by borrowing the car from
a university employee on Friday:
Hertz matched the license plate number provided by police with the name
of a woman who had the car rented at the time of the incident. University of
Oregon on-line directories show that woman as a member of the faculty/staff.
[…]
"So, I rented the car for my own purposes on Friday. Cliff Harris and
his licensed friend, who showed me his license, asked to borrow it and paid
me the full amount in cash that I paid for the rental," said the woman, who
agreed to speak to KEZI, on condition of anonymity.
The woman, who describes herself as a friend of Harris over the past few
months, said she was unaware Cliff would be driving and also said she has
proof that the amount she paid for the rental car matches two separate
deposits she made into her bank account Friday.
To prove it, the employee — who is not a student, is not Harris' girlfriend
"or any relation of that matter" and requested anonymity for the story —
reportedly provided the station with a copy of her bank statement showing
two deposits of $180 and $120 on Friday. The vehicle, a Nissan Altima, was
rented earlier that day, June 10th, and returned on Sunday night, June 12th,
at 10:44 p.m. (I would like to emphasize here, as a driver with extensive
experience behind the wheel of multiple Altimas, that any standard engine
that gets this vehicle to 118 with two adult passengers en tow is one heroic
feat of engineering indeed. Past 90, the typical Altima engine begins
contemplating suicide.) The teammates riding with Harris have not been
identified because they weren't cited.
To recap: University employee takes out rental car for the weekend for
undisclosed purposes, almost immediately turns over rental car to football
players within hours (maximum) of leaving the lot. At least NCAA
investigators should have a few frequent flier miles to apply toward the
flight to Eugene this time.
There are two lingering questions from there. First: What exactly is the
woman's job, considering that Oregon sports information director Dave
Williford — while acknowledging to KEZI that he knew a woman had rented the
car and wasn't in it when Harris was cited — seemed to have no idea that
the woman in question was an employee of the university? And second: Would
the players' payments to the woman absolve them of an improper benefits
charge, considering one of the standard responses to an improper benefits
charge is to require players to pay up (usually to charity) for the value of
the gift? And how does her status with the university affect the potential
consequences, considering the direct participation of a university employee
in the violation of an NCAA rule opens the door to an allegation of "failure
to monitor," at least?
Is it something? Is it nothing? Look at what your archaic allegiance to "
amateurism" has wrought.
At this point, I think we can be sure of this, and only this: If the woman
in question is in fact a university employee — and especially if she's an
employee of the athletic department — she won't be for much longer. |
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