From: gumby@spitshine.com (I'm Gumby Dammit!)
Subject: The Seattle Times Article
Originator: gumby@spitshine.com (I'm Gumby Dammit!)
Reply-To: /dev/null
Organization: The Gumby Institute for Claymation Research
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 01:25:15 GMT

This might help settle some of the controversy and give everybody
some insight into what's been reported.

Reprinted without permission. 

HUSKIES' HOBERT GOT $50,000 LOAN 

Money from businessman spent in spree; may violate NCAA rules, lead to 
sanctions 

COPYRIGHT 1992 Seattle Times Company 

by Tom Farrey and Eric Nalder Times Staff Reporters 

University of Washington quarterback Billy Joe Hobert received 
a $50,000 loan from an Idaho businessman last spring under unusual
conditions that could violate the National Collegiate Athletic 
Association rules governing college athletics. 

The Loan, made by the father-in-law of one of Hobert's friends, has
no specific payback schedule and was made even though Hobert has no
assets to guarantee its repayment. According to the loan agreement,
full repayment can be demanded at any time. Hobert said he spent 
the $50,000 during a three-month spree on cars, guns, expensive
stereo equipment, golf clubs and wild weekends in which he 
lavished "hundreds of dollars" on friends. 

Hobert acknowledged that the only way he could repay the loan now 
would be to turn pro next year instead of returning to Washington
for his final year of eligibility. "If I become a pro, obviously
it is going to be easy to pay off," he said. "But if I don't, then
I'm going to be working a long time to pay off that loan." 

The loan could violate an NCAA rule prohibiting athletes from 
receiving benefits not available to other students. The rule says 
"a student-athlete may not receive preferential treatment, benefits
or services (e.g. loans on a deferred payback basis) for his or her 
athletics reputation or skill or payback potential as a future
professional athlete." 

When he signed the loan, Hobert was considered one of the top 
quarterbacks in the nation. He had just led the Huskies to a victory 
in the Rose Bowl and a share of the national championship. His 
performance this season has been inconsistent and cost him the 
starting position. 

Dick Dunn, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at
the University, who as faculty representative is in charge of 
reporting violations to the NCAA and Pac-10 Conference, said the
preferential-treatment rule applies even to those who have no 
relationship to the university. 

"We've had situations in the NCAA at other schools where someone
unknown to the school does something to support the school," said 
Dunn, who also serves as chairman of the compliance and enforcement 
committee for [the] Pac-10 Conference and a member of the NCAA 
Committee on Infractions. "We're taking this seriously." 

"You can be sure we will be in contact with the NCAA and Pac-10," 
he said. 

Dunn said the loan Hobert received is not the size and type normally 
available to a student. 

"The size of the loan is not the issue. The conditions of the loan 
are one issue," he said. "And the other is whether Billy Joe as an 
athlete was able to obtain a loan that other students couldn't." 

He added "It has to be a loan with a regular payback schedule." 

Dunn said if a violation is found, Hobert could be declared ineligible
and the team could be penalized. He said he doubted the Huskies would
be subject to the most serious sanctions, which include forfeiture of
a conference title, a ban from appearances in bowl games or television,
or the loss of football scholarships. 

"We're talking about an individual situation, and these situations
are usually resolved with individual punishments," he said. 

Dunn learned about the loan when asked about it yesterday by The
Times. UW football coach Don James said he learned about it earlier 
this week when Hobert told him after Hobert learned of inquiries
being made. UW athletic Director Barbara Hedges said she learned 
about it late yesterday from Dunn.

Hedges said she would investigate it and if she found a potential 
NCAA violation she would report it to the Pac-10. 

James said he didn't think the loan violated any NCAA rule because it
wasn't made by anyone associated with the university or its football 
program. 

"The only think that would be an NCAA violation is if I arranged a 
loan for a player," said James. "A player has every right, as every 
other human being's got, to borrow money if he needs to go get it." 

However, James said he was surprised at the size of the loan. 

"I thought it was an unusually large amount of money, but dollars
have changes since I grew up," he said. 

Hobert likewise said he did not think the loan was an NCAA violation.
He was worried, thought about the impact of its disclosure when the
Seattle Times questioned him about it. 

"I don't want to get into the story because as soon as somebody finds
out I took a loan there's going to be a big investigation," he said
before later acknowledging details of the transaction. 

"I have to say the money I borrowed wasn't the smartest thing I've
done because I ended up blowing it and not I've got all these bills 
and nothing to show for it," Hobert said. 

The loan was made to Hobert by Charles Rice, a nuclear engineer from 
Idaho Falls, Idaho. It was arranged by Rice's son-in-law, Rudy Finne,
a Seattle longshoreman and golfing partner of Hobert's. Rice had never
met Hobert before they met to arrange the loan. 

Hobert, 21, met Finne when the football player was a sophomore at 
Puyallup High School. Finne often played golf at the Tyee Valley Golf
Course, where Hobert worked as a groundskeeper. 

Finne, 43 is a onetime restauranteur and commercial fisherman. He also
invested in a Tacoma [WA] restaurant in the late 1970s that was to 
include a cardroom. The deal fell through before a gambling license
was obtained. He acknowledges making bets on college football games 
with friends but said he is "not a heavy gambler at all." The NCAA has
strict rules prohibiting an athlete from providing advice to gamblers. 

"I am no more a gambler than any Saturday-morning quarterback," Finne
said. "I am a fisherman-longshoreman." 

Hobert, who said he has wagered up to $100 on personal golf matches 
with Finne, said Finne would never ask him to give advice or affect
the outcome of a football game. 

"If he did it, I'd kill him," he said. "Him and I are really good 
friends, and that's not something that you go into and ask a friend to
do. Everything that Rudy and I have done has been pretty much on the
straight an narrow, other than gambling on golf. I don't delve into 
any kind of gambling other than my personal golf game." 

Dunn said, "The gambling connection is of tremendous concern here." He
said all athletes sign a statement saying they will not associate with
organized gambling or gamble on college sports. There is no specific 
provision about personal golf gambling, but "It's the kind of behavior
we ask the student athlete not to get involved in." 

Finne, an avid Husky fan who attends games, said he became very fond 
of Hobert over the years. "He's on in a million. He's got a heart of
gold." [and used to have a pocket full of gold :-)] 

Finne said Hobert told him last spring he was deeply in debt. "When I
saw him really low, it unnerved me," he said. The longshoreman asked 
his father-in-law to meet with Hobert and they drew up a contract during
a series a [sic] meetings at a Seattle restaurant and a tavern. 

Finne said he understands why the $50,000 loan raises so many questions.
"That's an awful lot of money to lend to somebody who doesn't have any
assets," he said. [why? we loan amounts many times that to South American 
countries] "But the point is, he has been an awfully good friend of mine." 

Rice had met Hobert only two or three days before he gave him the first 
of three loan installments. When asked why he had made such a large 
loan to a college student with no security [assets], Rice replied: "I 
thought he was a nice kid." Rice said he did not make the loan based on
Hobert's future earnings as a professional player. Although there is no
repayment schedule and he can call in the loan on a moment's notice, 
Rice said: "I didn't expect him to pay it back until he was out of school." 

Robert Staker, a former business associate who has known Rice for 30
years, said he is not surprised that he lent money to Hobert. "He's a
very generous individual. He's a very outgoing individual," Staker said. 

Rice is a prominent nuclear scientist. He managed the nation's nuclear
rocket program and was president of a firm that operated a major
federal nuclear research facility in Idaho Falls. Later, as a 
consultant, he assessed the safety of various commercial nuclear 
reactors. 

"He's kind of swashbuckling. He's a gung ho type. Give him a job and
he'll do it," said Ralph Lapp, another former partner. "I do know he
had a big family. My recollection is that he was generous with them." 

Rice said he is not an alumnus of the UW or a booster of the athletic
department. He said he hoped the loan would inspire Hobert to take 
care of the problems that were troubling him. At the time, Hobert was
separated from his wife, Heather.

"I guess I expected that he would try and turn his life around and get
back into the business of being a good kid," he said. 

Hobert said he told several Husky assistant coaches he planned to get
a loan in the spring, but did not provide them with the name of the
lender or amount of the loan. 

Roy Moore, a Huskies booster and operator of the Tyee Valley Golf Course,
was shocked when he learned of the loan size and terms. 

"I think if he's got guys who would loan him fifty grand on those kinds
of deals, I'd like to know about it. The way the banks are today, that's
the kind of deal I'm looking for," he said. "That just blows my mind." 

Moore, who is a friend of Hobert's, said the way he handled the 
transaction and spent the money was a shame. "He's dumb for borrowing
it and the guy is probably dumber for loaning it to him." 

Hobert said he originally borrowed $25,000 in April and spent it all
within a month. He said he bought a 1991 Chevrolet Camaro for about
 $9,000, and used $5,000 to pay off his wife's Chevy Blazer and $2,900
to do the same on a Hyundai he already owned. He put $1,200 toward his
car insurance, about $1,000 on a semi-automatic pistol and hunting rifle,
and returned $2,500 to a woman he had lived with briefly during the 
separation with his wife. 

Hobert said he went back to Rice for another $10,000 in May and $15,000 
in June. He said he traded in the '91 Camaro on a '92 model, added 
a $4,000 stereo system, and spent much of the remaining money 
entertaining friends. 

"I just pulled it out and paid cash wherever I went," Hobert said. 
"People must have thought I was the richest guy in town until I
stopped showing up at places (where) I had spent the money." 

Hobert said he has been trying to sell the car for the past several
weeks, partly because his wife is expecting their first baby in February.
He said he will have to file for bankruptcy if Rice calls for full
payment of the loan, which according to Hobert carries an annual interest
rate of 10 percent. Hobert said that in his meeting with James, the
Husky coach suggested that he begin making even small payments on the
balance. 

"Chuck's been very lenient because he knows I have no money and blew 
all the money I had," Hobert said. "If he wanted to, he could take my 
butt to the cleansers. I'm glad he's a friend. Hopefully, he'll wait 
until I get done with school and get a job before I can start making 
the full payments." 

James, facing a tough game against Arizona this weekend, was irritated
at being questioned about the case. 

"If he's violated rules, then there would be discipline," James said.
"But I don't have any rules that say what the hell players do with 
their lives. That's not my job. We have academic rules, we have NCAA
rules for eligibility, but I'm not a judge. There's a lot of things 
that players do. I let them walk around with cellular phones, wear
earrings, which I don't particularly enjoy. But I don't run their lives." 


End of article
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college