Noah Harrison
Professor LaVaque-Manty
Honors 240: Games We Play
21 September 2016
Wikipedia and the Michigan Basketball Scandal: An Accurate yet Flawed Account
Wikipedia’s article entitled “The University of Michigan Basketball Scandal” provides a precise and impartial synopsis of the investigations into the Michigan basketball program’s relationship with Ed Martin, but the entry contains notable weaknesses, including many insufficient citations and a lack of thoroughness in key sections.
The most obvious of the article’s flaws are several broken links included in the References section. As a part of my evaluation, I attempted to open every link cited throughout the article; I discovered that the URLs in citations 20, 22, 47, 49, 51, 52, 54, and 60 failed to link to the articles they purport to reference. Instead, when I followed these links I repeatedly received error messages informing me that the cited content was no longer available. Due to broken links, large portions of the article are effectively uncited, including sections regarding the involvement of Albert White, the punishment levied by the NCAA, the sentencing of Chris Webber, and the re-affiliation of Michigan with the involved players. The absence of proper citations for these parts makes the article incomplete.
The article also lacks thoroughness in several areas. Readers are provided with limited details about the illegal activities of Ed Martin, only stating Martin’s crimes were connected to money laundering and illegal gambling. As a result, the lengthy section about Martin’s federal indictment is missing necessary background information. Particularly confusing is how Martin’s money laundering directly connects to the U-M basketball program; readers are forced to make inferences that the money loaned to players traced back to the schemes Martin was later arrested for. This lack of specificity and detail would be excusable if Wikipedia maintained a complementary article about Ed Martin but no such entry exists. Additionally, the final section regarding the end of disassociation between the Michigan athletics department and the implicated players provides a relatively cursory overview of the re-affiliation period. Though the article references excitement by Michigan officials and the banned players to re-associate, the section fails to report whether the University and the players did indeed reconcile, even though the disassociation period expired over three years ago.
Despite these flaws, the article appears to be accurate and neutral overall. The article cites reliable sources, drawing heavily from the New York Times, the Ann Arbor New, and the Detroit Free Press. Furthermore, the information provided in the entry seems accurate. I compared the content of the Wikipedia article to other credible sources found through the University of Michigan’s LexisNexis database and found no discrepancies. An article Denver Post verified the infractions committed and the penalties the NCAA imposed on the Michigan basketball scandal.[1] Another article in USA Today corroborated details regarding the criminal investigation into Martin and the players.[2] Wikipedia editors should consider referencing this article since it clarifies that Michigan players were not involved with sports gambling—a point of confusion I identified earlier.
Overall, Wikipedia provides accurate and unbiased information on the Michigan basketball scandal, but broken links and cursory detail constitute notable flaws.
Bibliography
"Daily briefing: 'Day of shame' for Michigan basketball team." The Denver Post. Accessed
September 20, 2016. www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic.
"University of Michigan Basketball Scandal." Wikipedia. Accessed September 20, 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Michigan_basketball_scandal#cite_ref-FfbpnhsGs_11-0.
Weiberg, Steve. "Indictment 'no link to sports gambling,' NCAA expert says." USA TODAY.
Accessed September 20, 2016. www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic.
[1] "Daily briefing: 'Day of shame' for Michigan basketball team." The Denver Post. Date Accessed: 2016/09/21. www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic. [2] "Indictment 'no link to sports gambling,' NCAA expert says." USA TODAY. Date Accessed: 2016/09/21. www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic.
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