CSNbbs

There's not enough details known to really follow this still. I just don't know what exactly is going on.

He is not involved in the point shaving thing...yet. He rejected a plea deal for UNKNOWN CHARGES. Why should someone accept a plea deal when they are not told what the charges are/will be?
This article is another attempt by a terrible newspaper that is trying to ruin UT's reputation.

Axeme, just curious how you know this has anything to do with point-shaving. It says right in the article that Triplett's lawyer doesn't know what it has to do with because the FBI has not said, and the FBI refused to say whether or not it has anything to do with the point-shaving investigation.

I remember Triplett having a couple of "legal" problems in the past, so it's hard to jump to any conclusions on what the FBI could possibly be looking at Triplett for.

rocketfootball Wrote:Axeme, just curious how you know this has anything to do with point-shaving. It says right in the article that Triplett's lawyer doesn't know what it has to do with because the FBI has not said, and the FBI refused to say whether or not it has anything to do with the point-shaving investigation.

I remember Triplett having a couple of "legal" problems in the past, so it's hard to jump to any conclusions on what the FBI could possibly be looking at Triplett for.

Perhaps you could fill me in on any fed problems Triplett had in the past. I am only aware of local stuff he pled guilty to if I recall. The only association I have been aware of is the point-shaving/gambling connection. If there is something else, pleas advise.
Perhaps the thread title should read "Triplett rejects plea deal in FBI probe at UT."
And Midnight, when the lawyer is out making statements trying to stay ahead of this, you can't really fall back on the "Blade is out to get us" defense.
I don't know what the deal is any more than anyone else not connected, but there is no question this is real news. KT's lawyer made it so by his comments. I have enough experience reading comments by lawyers to know that when they are denying things for their clients that they haven't been formally accused of, something is happening. He is front-running the case before the indictments come down. That seems obvious.

axeme Wrote:Perhaps the thread title should read "Triplett rejects plea deal in FBI probe at UT."

Not sure that is right either. No where in the article does it say that this is linked to UT in anyway.

You may be right, but you are just speculating.

How about "Former UT basketball star Keith Triplett rejects FBI plea deal in case involving other former UT athletes"?
It's linked to UT because those involved were UT athletes at the time they were involved with the gambler. This isn't about stuff that happened after they left UT.

You're missing the point Axeme. No one knows if this particular plea deal thing has anything to do with UT or a gambling thing. The Blade is just speculating that is has to do with that. Both Triplett's attorney and the FBI said did not say what the plea deal thing is about.

Read the article again and you will find that the Blade is just speculating that it deals with this subject. Here is a comment from the article:


But whether the plea offer made to Keith Triplett was a result of an ongoing investigation into point shaving at UT was unclear, according to Mr. Triplett’s attorney, Ethan Vinson.

OK, then. How about "Keith Triplett's lawyer, who he hired as soon as Scooter was implicated in a point-shaving investigation by the FBI, decides, for no apparent reason, to go public with his client's refusing a plea deal with the FBI, despite no public announcement from the FBI." Nah, too long.
I'm sure it has nothing to do with UT, gambling, Scooter, point-shaving, or anything else that might be a negative to the University of Toledo. You've convinced me it's all a plot on the part of the Blade to bring down UT.
All I did was post an interesting MAC news story from today. I only know what I read and hear, and not all of that. How much is true, I don't know. I suspect there is some fire here. To mix a metaphor, I doubt the FBI is on random fishing expedition. I do think the stock UT fan spin is interesting, however, sticking with the plausible deniability gambit.

When the player(s) is/are indicted for point-shaving, some UT fans will still be blaming the Blade for it. It is easier to blame the paper than to look at the players and know that they were not playing for the love of the game and the school, they were playing for money.

Guys. This has nothing to do with the point shaving. They asked the man to go out and get some donuts for Toledo Tom and this is what happened:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaeciwWV5...re=related

P.S. Yes, I am aware he plays b-ball not f-ball.

harry23 Wrote:When the player(s) is/are indicted for point-shaving, some UT fans will still be blaming the Blade for it. It is easier to blame the paper than to look at the players and know that they were not playing for the love of the game and the school, they were playing for money.

I won't blame the blade if/when any student-athlete(s) are indicted. If they are found guilty then punish them how they should be punished. But the blade always seems to magnify any negative thing that has to do w/ UT. How about the solar company that started out as research at UT that was just given $2 million to expand? That doesn't seem like a big deal to the blade b/c it is positive for UT.
Funny thing is, I didn't hear anything about Keith Triplett on the news today.

You are all missing the point.

It is true that Triplett hired this lawyer at the time Scooter was charged. Triplett also was interviewed by the FBI about the gambling situation.

However, the point is that the absolute facts of this situation are that the FBI went to Triplett and his lawyer about a plea deal without saying what the charges were, or if it had anything to do with the point-shaving scandal. They also asked for Triplett's finger print, which again was not said it had anything to do with the point-shaving scandal.

To say that what is currently happening with Triplett is part of the point-shaving scandal when there has not been one single confirmation of so, is just speculation. That is all I have said.


harry23's comments about UT fans blaming the Blade for the scandal is just stupid. Anyone that has read the UT forum over the whole Scootergate thing, as it became known, would know that UT fans were not blaming the Blade and were not in denial. UT fans were very mad at Scooter for the whole thing, and his charges have been dropped and there is no evidence pointing to Scooter having done anything that they FBI originally claimed he did.

Some posters here know exactly where I personally stand on this whole point-shaving thing. And as I have said all along, I think that people will be surprised when and if we hear some of the truths to this thing.

Fox Toledo released a statement from Triplett's attorney, Mr. Vinson. He said that no one has offered a plea bargain and that his client has not been charged with anything.



This was posted on a Rocket message board from a former UT basketball player that played with Triplett:

I want to know where in the world they are getting their information, I am a former basketball player who played with Tripplet. I have talked to a few of my former teammates, and they know of no one who has testified before a grand jury! These are players that have played with him for every year that Trip was at Toledo. To think that they knew no one who testified, I highly doubt that they had 3 basketball players who did.

I don't know how the Blade gets half of the information that they receive, but there seems to be a whole lot of speculation in this article.

And to clear things up, I have not even been contacted by any federal authority, nor has anyone that I have talked to.

Quote:Mr. Vinson said federal agents asked him if Mr. Triplett would accept a plea deal, but would not disclose what charge he would plead to — or what legal action might be taken against him if he refused.

“If that’s the allegation, point shaving, that’s news to me,” Mr. Vinson told The Blade yesterday. “The feds have been playing this one very close to the vest. … Maybe they’re trying to maintain an element of surprise, I guess.”

So either the Blade completely made this story up today, a total fabrication, or Vinson is lying/spinning/backpedaling.
You may not like the way the Blade makes UT look sometimes, but saying they are making up stories with absolutely no basis in fact is quite a different thing. From my experience, I'd say Mr. Triplett has a lawyer who likes to talk too much to the media.

edit--noticed that the lawyer said he hadn't been offered a plea deal. No, he had just been asked by the FBI if he would accept one. And, of course, we all know he hasn't been charged with anything yet. Why is he denying things he doesn't have to deny?

I didn't say UT fans, I said *some* UT fans. I say that because every time I read a thread about the point-shaving stuff I see comments from *some* posters about how horrible it is that the Blade would write the story.

And if Scooter is totally innocent then why didn't he get his scholarship back from the school? He must have admitted something to the coaches.

The investigation is taking way too long and is incredibly frustrating. What could be so bad that it takes this long to investigate?

I'm pretty sure scooter was academically ineligible.

As Midnight Blue said, he was academically ineligible. I think that UT coaches were finally to the boiling point with him. Over his time at UT he was academically ineligible in two seasons. One season it was three games into the season before the NCAA overturned their initial stance of him being academically ineligible or it would have been three seasons as so. He was overweight and showed a lack of desire to play over the last couple of years and he constantly missed classes in the last year he played before the Scooter-gate stuff came out.

Finally, as is the policy that Amstutz has always used......a player is suspended indefinitely until all legal circumstances are taken care of. He was originally suspended, and then later completely removed from the team while the charges were still present. Charges have been dropped, but the FBI says that they are still investigating and they say that new charges on Scooter could be established. As a coach or President of a University, would you want to re-instate someone with that information out there? Or would you wait until the FBI says that there won't be any future charges.....and even then would you still want to re-instate a "head case?"

rocketfootball Wrote:Fox Toledo released a statement from Triplett's attorney, Mr. Vinson. He said that no one has offered a plea bargain and that his client has not been charged with anything.

I just heard this on the sports on Fox. The sports anchor said that Triplett's attorney told him that he had not been offered a plea deal; that the FBI did not tell him what they were investigating; and that the FBI wanted a voice sample and finger prints, but that that would be hard since Triplett is in Romania. He also said that Triplett's attorney had not talked to (I forget if it was the FBI or Triplett) in over a month.

some perspective here

FBI spends big $ and time tapping arab-american gambling network. 2 yrs of labor yields little, but they want something to stick for their efforts.

Nobody from UT has admitted or is charged with any point shaving or other offense.

The guy the FBI focused on hung around UT athletes and was connected to a legal cellphone business near campus. Some players knew him, a few may have used the connections for access to detroit casinos. The real worry for UT is more about whether this stuff will amount to ncaa infractions for small stuff like VIP passes, free drinks, phone upgrades, etc.... the gambling evidence is slim and the FBI has been relying on leaks and leverage trying to get someone scared enough to testify what they want said. The Blade has been speculating more than reporting. I think it is a legitimate story to follow, but haven't seen much insight from the coverage.

Nobody within the UT sports community i've talked with thinks there's any depth to the thing, but it has messed up a couple of athletes senior yrs, led to one not graduating, kept a couple borderline academic recruits from getting admitted to school, and hurt ut's reputation. Sort of the Monica Lewinsky scandel at the MAC sports level.