It's no secret to anyone that cares about college football, that things are starting to get difficult for Alabama in the usually calm, comfortable and warm waters of the media. A few shots have crossed the bow and ripples are rocking the boat. While Alabama media members work hard to steady the boat, hand out life rafts and calm the Crimson masses, NONE of them are asking where the shots came from. Nobody is asking the why's, the who's, the how come's or even if it could happen again, or if there had been others. They'd rather shelter the weak minded and hope for calm.
This is in direct conflict to the actions taken when shots were fired at Auburn University over the past few years. Maybe shots weren't the right word. They were bombs. Big ones. They seemed to be coming from anyone and from every direction. So, did the Alabama media members grab buckets, or work to bilge pump water from the sinking ship? Absolutely not. In fact, most media members in the state took it up on themselves to jump up and down and throw their weight around in an effort to make things as difficult as possible.
THAT is why Auburn fans have issues. THAT is why, Alabama media folks, YOU take so much direct heat from Twitter, message boards and column comment sections when writing your "Does the NCAA really have the stomach to..." type scribbles. It's a direct slap in the face to those that deserve to hear the same questions asked, when troublesome accusations are delivered at your front door.
Last week, when the news broke that an Alabama Assistant Strength & Conditioning coach was placed on administrative leave, the narrative of most Alabama media was to go out and find any "expert" they could to explain that the issue for the student athlete was not a big deal. That's awfully convenient, but in the end, it will have little to do with what happens to Alabama collectively, if the right questions are asked, and the universities recruiting practices are called to question.
To the flip side of this. This last weekend, I worked the Dix story pretty hard on my Twitter account (@AuburnChopper). People cared about the subject, and so did I. News kept coming out, and I kept putting it out as well. Rand Getlin, a Yahoo Reporter that co-wrote the story with Charles Robinson on DJ Fluker's recent issues, even got into the act later that day when he posted pics of HaHa Clinton-Dix's 2012 Dodge Charger, complete with custom paint job, personalized number appointments on the quarter panels, as well as on the wheel hubs. A current model year (when this happened), custom painted Charger? Anyway you slice it, it's a vehicle that costs about $35-$50 GRAND with all accessories, paint and stereo equipment. To be desperately hunting down a "less than" $500 dollar loan from a coach? If you don't think that stinks, or Alabama media should be hounding Nick Saban for SOME SORT of reasonable answer, other than "It's an internal matter", is losing their mind.
So, why keep posting about it? Why keep asking the questions? Because they need to be asked. Because not only do I know what Auburn went through, I lived it. I watched a military career go down the tubes from the wrong questions being asked. I watched a military career get scrubbed because regardless of facts, the subject matter made me more guilty than the substance of any truth or fact pertaining to me specifically.
When I've asked the questions about Alabama, it's recruiting practices and the manner in which it happens, it's because I WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWERS. They're questions. I DO NOT know whether or not ANY OF IT happened. What I DO KNOW is that Alabama media members do NOT seem to want to know if any of it is true or now. None of them. THAT is not fair to Alabama, Auburn, college football, or the integrity of the game. If you don't care to answer the questions, then quit celebrating the grand traditions that go along with it, because you do NOT care, as shown by your inactivity.
For the first two years of my military stint at Maxwell AFB in the mid-90's, I was a model airman. Airman of the Quarter for one of the larger squadrons on base TWICE. I was on honor guard and folded flags that honored the fallen, or the deserved few that served our country. I was on several committees that determined different lifestyle improvements for airman peers on base. I was involved. I was proud. I was looked up to.
It all came crashing down in less than three months for nothing. First I was accused of having "weapons in the dormitory". This was untrue. I had a display knife, a collectible, that was kept by dorm management, and was given back to me the week of Christmas holiday to take home to Georgia while on leave. After a surprise inspection, the knife, which I had grabbed from management the morning I was leaving was found on my bed, and I was hauled to police HQ for questioning. The accusation was eventually dropped, but not before much explaining, many meetings with my superiors and the squadron commander.
I was then accused of racism. SOMEONE (not me) on the FLOOR of my dormitory, yelled an inappropriate racial term late on a Saturday night. I had several folks over to my room, as we were watching a pay-per-view fight. Someone from outside the room, THOUGHT it came from my room, where everyone was gathered. It started a three week investigation, again, that was ultimately proven unfounded, and no charges, were ever filed, but now, with the weapons charge and this racial issue, I was being questioned about everything.
I was accused next of a "hit and run". After completing an exercise early in the day, I left for lunch, evidently not knowing that the back end of my car had bumped the bumper of the car behind me. Several folks saw it happen, but just let me know when I got back. I went to the car's owner, who I was friends with, and I gave her the necessary money to fix it. It was no big deal to either of us. However, at the time, in the state of Alabama, she was required to have an "accident sticker" given to her by authorities showing the "accident" had been documented for insurance purposes. While obtaining this sticker, my friend told the base police that I had left, not knowing I hit the car. BOOM... Hit and Run charge. Yes, even THAT was eventually scrubbed from my record, but pair that with a weapons charge and racial issues? The game of telephone on my past record had begun. There was no repairing it and no stopping it.
For the last two years I was not allowed to join any new committees, and while I STILL managed to leave service with an Honorable Discharge, I had already been disqualified from re-enlistment due to prior derogatory files in my record pertaining to those THREE issues of which I wasn't even convicted of, or proven to have had anything to do with.
THAT still bugs me to this day. I've been fortunate enough, that the same drive and determination that made me successful my first few years there, drove me to complete school and enjoy a good career in what I do.
It ALSO is directly responsible for the way I have to question everything. It's why I question those that seem to SO INTENTLY ignore those that deserve to have questions asked, and why I defend those that have been so wrongfully accused. It's just a coincidence that I happen to be wrapped up in the fanship rivalry that is the Iron Bowl Rivalry.
War Eagle, and never stop questioning.... Ever.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Ah Yes, The Poor Amateur Athlete
When @CharlesRobinson's Yahoo article detailing (and I mean DETAILING) the payments and other transgressions by several SEC players came out today, it was almost immediately followed by a piece from @DanWetzel.
I respect both of their work. However, there are agendas being served today, and this Bama scandal is bringing it to light.
First. ESPN's top, and I mean TOP Football market, is Birmingham, AL. They have a game coming up this weekend that, if had it not been already taken by LSU vs. Bama Game One a few years ago, would have been their "Game of the Century (but really only for this year...eh hem...).
When the news of Auburn's Jovon Robinson's grade change hit the news, ESPN all but broke into regular programing, and flung the fifteen minute flashing BREAKING NEWS ticker out. In the end, it was revealed that not only had Auburn not done anything wrong, they were in FACT, the ones that brought the grade issue up to the High School that had submitted the changed grade. Jovon Robinson (even though it was never established he had anything to do with it), was shown the door.
Today? Nothing. A tweet. A blip on their app. ON ESPN? The CHANNEL? THE "WORLDWIDE LEADER IN SPORTS"???? Notta. Nothing (as of 9:06pm as I type this EST).
The excuse? There is none. However, one could ask, or come to realize they're in deep now with the SEC, have lost their journalistic cred and are hoping nobody notices? Plausible actually. As the hours pass?
Second. Amateur status and Wetzel's reasonable gripe with the NCAA. This was the PERFECT time to get people's attention on his agenda versus the NCAA. I get it. I even agree. HOWEVER, cheating is cheating. When a university's boosters, or others with the university's best interests at heart offer help, financial aid or other enticements to recruits, it's usually in an effort to maintain, or gain a productive and needed player. The player might have come from a rich family or the poorest of poor, and while he, or she, is still an amateur, it's still good ol' fashioned cheating. You can't do it.
Usually, as these cases evolve, more comes out. Others start talking and the validity of things either start to solidify, or crumble under the eventual circumstances.
Do I know for sure that Bama will LOSE a National Title? Heck no. Do I know that if they've been proven to have played an ineligible player during that time, they'd be forced to give it up? Yup.
There are going to be a LOT of eyeballs on this one. This is huge money. This is major marketing, public relations nightmare scenarios afoot.
Ask yourself though, now that these collective, seemingly innocuous things make the T-Town Menswear LESS likely? ...Or More? What about Hot Wheelz? Dee Liner's Tweets about the #StruggleOverWit?
Ask yourself also... Is business owners getting tickets for breaks on furniture for players an issue with amateurs? I don't think so either.
Let's see how it shakes out.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Cash, Cash or Cash? Stop It
23"
24"
26"?!?!
Jordans. Nike. Under Armor. NFL Jerseys. Candy Apple Flake Metallic Custom Paint Jobs.
Ah yes, the sound of money. Yup. Money.
Too often in today's sports media, and it's legions of 45 year plus year olds and country club lifestyle types, far too few understand today's "money" when it comes to eighteen to twenty four year olds from varying backgrounds. When the next scandal involving a player, big or small erupts, cash is always what they're looking for. If the cash don't fit, they must acquit. Right?
Well, wait just a damn minute...
During the latest sports debacle involving Mr. College Football Everything, Johnny Manziel, Heisman winning QB for the Texas A&M Aggies, sports writer after sports writer have been tripping over each other making the point of whether or not Johnny Football took cash for his signatures. Is it THAT simple? Cash, or no cash? Really?
In today's day and age of paper trails and investigative skills, why on earth would some college players looking for handouts, demand cash? I mean, where are they going to put these large wads of Chicago knots? In a shoe box? In a closet back at home? Swiss Bank Accounts? Most kids that are talented enough to EARN the money in a few years or so anyway, don't give a damn about getting cash all the time directly. Help mom and pops? Sure, if you can find a way to be squeaky clean.
I'm not saying that some don't want "straight cash, homie", but what about OTHER things...
When kids that have gone forever with nothing are offered rides, rims, suits, paint jobs.... status... what is so hard to understand that cash isn't always going to be the first item up for bid, when it comes to the star heavy elite looking for a place to flash their talents for several years.
I do NOT know what Johnny Manziel drives. His parents have been independently verified of their wealth a dozen times over, and so questioning his material possessions is probably a shallow pool to dive in.
However, when a dozen or so kids, coming from verified poverty are driving current model year vehicles decked out in the nicest rims, paint jobs and always filled with gas... I'm talking the $100+ fill ups necessary to drive some of the most gas hungry luxury SUV's on the road today... Is it not worth asking... How? Why? If there's tickets? Who, or how are THOSE paid??
I've heard all the rebuttals... Pell Grants... Rich family... Rich Uncle... Money that isn't needed now for school, due to a scholarship... Really? I've seen what Pell Grant money will buy, and it sure as hell isn't a 2011 GMC Yukon in the current model year. It isn't enough to buy 22 inch rims to go on them. It is seriously short of adding a custom paint job. Rich Uncle? Maybe, but how many rich uncles are we talking here? 5? 10? Must be a bunch of them, cause there are a lot of late model hot rods on college campuses today. ...and lastly about that scholarship money. Buy a house? Invest it? If you actually HAVE that much? If that many kids are blowing that type of money on cars, their counselors ought to be shown the door, or investigated themselves. God help them when the REAL money comes in a few years down the road if successful.
Bottom line here? Quit pretending this is all about paper money. It's about the cash in the form of gifts, materials and status. It's a new game out there, and the people in charge of figuring it out are still chasing a dog, iron and little mustached man in a top hat past the Go square...
Just an opinion...
24"
26"?!?!
Jordans. Nike. Under Armor. NFL Jerseys. Candy Apple Flake Metallic Custom Paint Jobs.
Ah yes, the sound of money. Yup. Money.
Too often in today's sports media, and it's legions of 45 year plus year olds and country club lifestyle types, far too few understand today's "money" when it comes to eighteen to twenty four year olds from varying backgrounds. When the next scandal involving a player, big or small erupts, cash is always what they're looking for. If the cash don't fit, they must acquit. Right?
Well, wait just a damn minute...
During the latest sports debacle involving Mr. College Football Everything, Johnny Manziel, Heisman winning QB for the Texas A&M Aggies, sports writer after sports writer have been tripping over each other making the point of whether or not Johnny Football took cash for his signatures. Is it THAT simple? Cash, or no cash? Really?
In today's day and age of paper trails and investigative skills, why on earth would some college players looking for handouts, demand cash? I mean, where are they going to put these large wads of Chicago knots? In a shoe box? In a closet back at home? Swiss Bank Accounts? Most kids that are talented enough to EARN the money in a few years or so anyway, don't give a damn about getting cash all the time directly. Help mom and pops? Sure, if you can find a way to be squeaky clean.
I'm not saying that some don't want "straight cash, homie", but what about OTHER things...
When kids that have gone forever with nothing are offered rides, rims, suits, paint jobs.... status... what is so hard to understand that cash isn't always going to be the first item up for bid, when it comes to the star heavy elite looking for a place to flash their talents for several years.
I do NOT know what Johnny Manziel drives. His parents have been independently verified of their wealth a dozen times over, and so questioning his material possessions is probably a shallow pool to dive in.
However, when a dozen or so kids, coming from verified poverty are driving current model year vehicles decked out in the nicest rims, paint jobs and always filled with gas... I'm talking the $100+ fill ups necessary to drive some of the most gas hungry luxury SUV's on the road today... Is it not worth asking... How? Why? If there's tickets? Who, or how are THOSE paid??
I've heard all the rebuttals... Pell Grants... Rich family... Rich Uncle... Money that isn't needed now for school, due to a scholarship... Really? I've seen what Pell Grant money will buy, and it sure as hell isn't a 2011 GMC Yukon in the current model year. It isn't enough to buy 22 inch rims to go on them. It is seriously short of adding a custom paint job. Rich Uncle? Maybe, but how many rich uncles are we talking here? 5? 10? Must be a bunch of them, cause there are a lot of late model hot rods on college campuses today. ...and lastly about that scholarship money. Buy a house? Invest it? If you actually HAVE that much? If that many kids are blowing that type of money on cars, their counselors ought to be shown the door, or investigated themselves. God help them when the REAL money comes in a few years down the road if successful.
Bottom line here? Quit pretending this is all about paper money. It's about the cash in the form of gifts, materials and status. It's a new game out there, and the people in charge of figuring it out are still chasing a dog, iron and little mustached man in a top hat past the Go square...
Just an opinion...
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Quick Opinion: What Is A Rival Fan?
A few weeks ago, when the Dee Liner cash photos cropped up, Kevin Scarbinsky threw out a quick piece basically explaining that he didn't care about the Liner photo. His reasoning? Rival fans being rival fans. Fair? Unfair? It's an interesting reason to not look into it I guess, but forgive me for a second while I ask a simple question in response.
What IS a rival fan?
In this case, clearly Scarbs is saying Auburn fans are to blame for this latest social fumble in the Alabama football team's now increasingly ridiculous collection of social fumbles.
Yes, it's was Auburn fans that made Dee Liner, for weeks, tout his new found fortunes. It was those silly Aubs that forced Dee into that Burger King (THAT is just rumor...full disclosure here, y'all.) bathroom to flash his fan of cold hard cash. Right? Auburn fans, those meddling kids...and their dog too, forced T-Town Tom to take hundreds of pictures of himself with Bama players with shirts on/off, signing autographs, eating out together, handing expensive autograph pictures to customers, selling jerseys... Oh you know... All those things Auburn fans FORCE these guys to do...
Scarbinsky was quick to point out that a quick search of google, he found several Auburn players that had taken similar pics with cash. So true. However, none had gone out of their way, as Liner had, to ensure people knew his status as a Bama football player was behind his new fortunes, and of course, that the #StruggleOverWit.
Actually in a time over the last three years, when seemingly a message board post claiming an allegation against Auburn could instantly swing the national media into a frenzy, countless photos of boosters, piles of autographed jerseys at a booster's business, etc.. etc... etc..... went ignored. In a time were Auburn could bring a questionable transcript to a school's attention, suspend the player, dismiss him, and STILL be looked upon as an obvious culprit, nothing could EVER be going on unnoticed at Alabama. No, the most flimsy of stories have been asked about Auburn, yet NOTHING gets asked in relation to the ridiculousness seen in pictures emanating from T-Town Menswear, and other questionable locationZ.
So, again, it's the rival fans fault. Alabama and the amazing Two Hour Investigative Team of Tuscaloosa says that all is well at Alabama. So, Alabama said so. Alabama to the state media? It's the internet. If it came from Alabama saying "it's all cool, we checked it out, bro"? State media swoons, and writes the next great Saban love poem.
In the end, there is no direct accusation here. I do NOT know if there have been any wrong doings at T-Town Menswear. I don't know how, or under WHAT spectacular financing exists that allow full time student athletes to buy current model year GMC Yukons, tricked out in the finest of rims and accessories.... BUT... I also know the reason I DO NOT know, is because a full, REAL asking of all these questions, complete with FULL, REAL answers does not exist.
Why is it EVERY SINGLE TIME, these social fumbles happen on Twitter, Facebook and other places, ALL the pictures and questionable material is scrubbed from view. If so completely innocent, why does it always seem a call to "The Wolf" has been made, and "Monster Joe's Truck & Tow" has picked up another junker to smash?
If you think about it, the answer to "what is a rival fan", is simple. It's just about anyone that gives a damn about sports, a team, or the integrity of the game OUTSIDE your own program.
What IS a rival fan?
In this case, clearly Scarbs is saying Auburn fans are to blame for this latest social fumble in the Alabama football team's now increasingly ridiculous collection of social fumbles.
Yes, it's was Auburn fans that made Dee Liner, for weeks, tout his new found fortunes. It was those silly Aubs that forced Dee into that Burger King (THAT is just rumor...full disclosure here, y'all.) bathroom to flash his fan of cold hard cash. Right? Auburn fans, those meddling kids...and their dog too, forced T-Town Tom to take hundreds of pictures of himself with Bama players with shirts on/off, signing autographs, eating out together, handing expensive autograph pictures to customers, selling jerseys... Oh you know... All those things Auburn fans FORCE these guys to do...
Scarbinsky was quick to point out that a quick search of google, he found several Auburn players that had taken similar pics with cash. So true. However, none had gone out of their way, as Liner had, to ensure people knew his status as a Bama football player was behind his new fortunes, and of course, that the #StruggleOverWit.
Actually in a time over the last three years, when seemingly a message board post claiming an allegation against Auburn could instantly swing the national media into a frenzy, countless photos of boosters, piles of autographed jerseys at a booster's business, etc.. etc... etc..... went ignored. In a time were Auburn could bring a questionable transcript to a school's attention, suspend the player, dismiss him, and STILL be looked upon as an obvious culprit, nothing could EVER be going on unnoticed at Alabama. No, the most flimsy of stories have been asked about Auburn, yet NOTHING gets asked in relation to the ridiculousness seen in pictures emanating from T-Town Menswear, and other questionable locationZ.
So, again, it's the rival fans fault. Alabama and the amazing Two Hour Investigative Team of Tuscaloosa says that all is well at Alabama. So, Alabama said so. Alabama to the state media? It's the internet. If it came from Alabama saying "it's all cool, we checked it out, bro"? State media swoons, and writes the next great Saban love poem.
In the end, there is no direct accusation here. I do NOT know if there have been any wrong doings at T-Town Menswear. I don't know how, or under WHAT spectacular financing exists that allow full time student athletes to buy current model year GMC Yukons, tricked out in the finest of rims and accessories.... BUT... I also know the reason I DO NOT know, is because a full, REAL asking of all these questions, complete with FULL, REAL answers does not exist.
Why is it EVERY SINGLE TIME, these social fumbles happen on Twitter, Facebook and other places, ALL the pictures and questionable material is scrubbed from view. If so completely innocent, why does it always seem a call to "The Wolf" has been made, and "Monster Joe's Truck & Tow" has picked up another junker to smash?
If you think about it, the answer to "what is a rival fan", is simple. It's just about anyone that gives a damn about sports, a team, or the integrity of the game OUTSIDE your own program.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Stars, Busts & The Process
In rivalries today, especially one as heated as the Auburn vs. Alabama tilt, fans bashing another base for innuendo, witch hunts and trolling is to be expected. However, when the media dismisses everything said in the name of "it's just over zealous fans being just that, over zealous", things get missed. There are bigger stories that fall along solid trend lines that get ignored.
When Dee Liner posted a pic of himself with what looked to be several hundred to a thousand dollars in cash, while stating "#StruggleOverWit", it could be passed up as just another knuckle head kid posting an irresponsible picture of himself in a social environment hungry for the morsel he unwittingly provided. It very well could be an innocent, yet stupidly played ploy to look "hard" or to appear to be "ballin", but it falls along a trend of ridiculousness that has defined the Alabama Football team OFF the field.
NOBODY doubts the football prowess of Nick Saban recently. His success at Alabama has been nothing short of phenomenal. Lord knows, as much as many other SEC fans hate the man personally for whatever reasons, they respect what he's done. No matter how much they may loathe Alabama, they have NO problem getting on the "SEC's won eight BCS Titles" bandwagon, which Alabama alone claims three of the last four. Alabama's ascension to this place has been anything but the norm however. A team that was, for several years, plagued by probation, NCAA issues, poor play on the field and relegated to mid-tier SEC records for over a decade, the turn-around to what its become today was almost immediate, and unparalleled in modern college football history.
Why is that?
Nick Saban, while a good coach, was a mediocre coach at Michigan State that found the fountain of youth in SEC talent and clout at LSU, winning a National Championship there. However, outside the blanket of the SEC, he dipped his toe in the NFL and quickly realized it was more than he was equiped to deal with. For Nick Saban, there was no better place he could have ended up, than hungry, once proud, rich and powerful Alabama. They revered him in "God like" status, and hyped him into an almost too big to fail universe.
It first started with just getting better talent on the field. It didn't matter who, what background or how much of a problem they might be in class, or off the field, they just needed to up the level of play to start the ball rolling. Subsequently, while also clearing out some of the riff-raff left over from the years before via the process, Bama was plagued by arrests and off the field issues, but as predicted the level of play, limited suspensions, or questionable "ice cream" punishments, Nick kept those players on the field more than off. They won more ball-games, and the better recruits took notice. All they'd see on ESPN and outlets is 24-7 coverage of how the Tide was returning to their once lost Bear days of domination. ESPN, always hungry for the traditionals to drive ratings, pumped the country full of Bama love. They were rollin' baby.
Fast forward to what we know it 2013...
The Crimson Tide are at the top of college football. It drives many opposing bases crazy. How is it that they get all this talent? Is it just incredible luck? Is it incredibly great recruiting? Is it the constant drooling and inexplicably constant attention their evidently trillion dollar, golden laden bench press equipment filled weight room gets (I mean, I guess it is, it seems to just a huge ass weight room, but I digress...)?
It could simply be all those things. It could just be legit. However, how is it that NO OTHER football school, traditional, upcoming, or other team in the history of college football has been able to come close to this level of recruiting or continuous success? What is it about Tuscaloosa, AL that's SO far beyond what Southern California, the Pacific Northwest, the rest of the ENTIRE Southeast are NOT able to provide?
I'm not sure anyone knows. I'm sure the average Bama fan has their non-biased opinions, but...
What I DO know is, is that there seems to be an extreme level of differences between the lifestyle prominent Alabama players live, and those that don't reach their, sometimes inflated, potential. Players like Fluker, McCarron, Richardson, Ingram and several others drove Denalis, Cadillacs with the nicest rims from Hot Wheelz in Mobile, AL, or wear the finest tailored suits from T-Town's Menswear in Tuscaloosa, or have dinner with successful local business owners, like the ones that provide the rims and suits. OTHER players are beating up fellow students for candy bar money. They're selling cocaine, or riding out their last days as football team members, waiting for career ending injury medical waivers, whether the player thought it was warranted or not via the now infamous "Process".
Why is the mentor issue not seen by others outside of the Alabama universe? Players that are great, but possibly issue prone, are assigned a mentor. Fluker/Hot Wheelz guy for example... In a moment of idiocy, Fluker was known to direct message people on Twitter (including myself) to explain we just don't know the guy, and he'd do anything for anyone. Fluker even goes as far as to tell me how he's got pictures of the owner of Hot Wheelz with him and his family, and that "he really help with family problems". Fluker, a few days before the 2013 draft, even states on Twitter that he got paid while at Alabama. This coupled with all the other known issues should have sent a few journos to Tuscaloosa to ask a few questions, but it quickly gets scrubbed by most of the lazy media after a less than satisfactory "he was hacked" story from an agent that would lose his ass on Fluker if that story broke before a potential million dollar payday.
Fluker isn't the only one though. You have Calloway, who recently departed the Bama football team after it was revealed he'd utilized a stolen student's debit card to buy a candy bar in a dorm vending machine. Too bad Brent hadn't panned out, or maybe he would have been able to go to dinner with Tom Albetar, who took special interest in Trent Richardson. Albetar was seen in photos on Facebook taking Richardson to dinner at a Hibachi Grill restaurant, but that's, of course, only circumstance. It always is, right? While Richardson had Albetar, Calloway had business owners in Russelville, AL that made sure he was okay, and even made sure he was hidden away "for his own good" days before signing day, and only a day after flip-flopping on a commitment to Auburn.
Fact is, while media folks got bogged down tripping over each other to write the next angle on the Cam Newton saga that ended up turning up nothing against Auburn's 2010 BCS Championship Team, coaches, university or anyone associated with it (A Cam Newton that tooled around Auburn on a moped during is National Championship, Heisman winning campaign.), T-Town Tom racked up on hundreds of autographed jerseys, helmets and other memorabilia. Players earning their keep in T-Town ate well, drove the nicest cars and enjoyed all the spoils. While Auburn took exactly an hour to rid itself of four felons robbing a couple students in a trailer park, Bama's best players were driving their late model Camaros, Chargers and GMC SUV's 2-3 hours south to Mobile to have the best rims money could buy installed on their whips, some even getting custom paint jobs to go with them.
So, while cash is hard, if not impossible to trace, the trends and circumstances that drive fans to simply ask the questions is not hard, or impossible to trace.
Why would asking the questions be such a burden on those tasked, or employed to do so?
Maybe instead of Nick Saban asking if the Hurry Up No Huddle Offense is what football is becoming, he should ask if student athletes being treated to the spoils in Tuscaloosa is the what football has already become under his watch.
I thought that struggle, was part of the learning experience you get in college life. *shrug*
When Dee Liner posted a pic of himself with what looked to be several hundred to a thousand dollars in cash, while stating "#StruggleOverWit", it could be passed up as just another knuckle head kid posting an irresponsible picture of himself in a social environment hungry for the morsel he unwittingly provided. It very well could be an innocent, yet stupidly played ploy to look "hard" or to appear to be "ballin", but it falls along a trend of ridiculousness that has defined the Alabama Football team OFF the field.
NOBODY doubts the football prowess of Nick Saban recently. His success at Alabama has been nothing short of phenomenal. Lord knows, as much as many other SEC fans hate the man personally for whatever reasons, they respect what he's done. No matter how much they may loathe Alabama, they have NO problem getting on the "SEC's won eight BCS Titles" bandwagon, which Alabama alone claims three of the last four. Alabama's ascension to this place has been anything but the norm however. A team that was, for several years, plagued by probation, NCAA issues, poor play on the field and relegated to mid-tier SEC records for over a decade, the turn-around to what its become today was almost immediate, and unparalleled in modern college football history.
Why is that?
Nick Saban, while a good coach, was a mediocre coach at Michigan State that found the fountain of youth in SEC talent and clout at LSU, winning a National Championship there. However, outside the blanket of the SEC, he dipped his toe in the NFL and quickly realized it was more than he was equiped to deal with. For Nick Saban, there was no better place he could have ended up, than hungry, once proud, rich and powerful Alabama. They revered him in "God like" status, and hyped him into an almost too big to fail universe.
It first started with just getting better talent on the field. It didn't matter who, what background or how much of a problem they might be in class, or off the field, they just needed to up the level of play to start the ball rolling. Subsequently, while also clearing out some of the riff-raff left over from the years before via the process, Bama was plagued by arrests and off the field issues, but as predicted the level of play, limited suspensions, or questionable "ice cream" punishments, Nick kept those players on the field more than off. They won more ball-games, and the better recruits took notice. All they'd see on ESPN and outlets is 24-7 coverage of how the Tide was returning to their once lost Bear days of domination. ESPN, always hungry for the traditionals to drive ratings, pumped the country full of Bama love. They were rollin' baby.
Fast forward to what we know it 2013...
The Crimson Tide are at the top of college football. It drives many opposing bases crazy. How is it that they get all this talent? Is it just incredible luck? Is it incredibly great recruiting? Is it the constant drooling and inexplicably constant attention their evidently trillion dollar, golden laden bench press equipment filled weight room gets (I mean, I guess it is, it seems to just a huge ass weight room, but I digress...)?
It could simply be all those things. It could just be legit. However, how is it that NO OTHER football school, traditional, upcoming, or other team in the history of college football has been able to come close to this level of recruiting or continuous success? What is it about Tuscaloosa, AL that's SO far beyond what Southern California, the Pacific Northwest, the rest of the ENTIRE Southeast are NOT able to provide?
I'm not sure anyone knows. I'm sure the average Bama fan has their non-biased opinions, but...
What I DO know is, is that there seems to be an extreme level of differences between the lifestyle prominent Alabama players live, and those that don't reach their, sometimes inflated, potential. Players like Fluker, McCarron, Richardson, Ingram and several others drove Denalis, Cadillacs with the nicest rims from Hot Wheelz in Mobile, AL, or wear the finest tailored suits from T-Town's Menswear in Tuscaloosa, or have dinner with successful local business owners, like the ones that provide the rims and suits. OTHER players are beating up fellow students for candy bar money. They're selling cocaine, or riding out their last days as football team members, waiting for career ending injury medical waivers, whether the player thought it was warranted or not via the now infamous "Process".
Why is the mentor issue not seen by others outside of the Alabama universe? Players that are great, but possibly issue prone, are assigned a mentor. Fluker/Hot Wheelz guy for example... In a moment of idiocy, Fluker was known to direct message people on Twitter (including myself) to explain we just don't know the guy, and he'd do anything for anyone. Fluker even goes as far as to tell me how he's got pictures of the owner of Hot Wheelz with him and his family, and that "he really help with family problems". Fluker, a few days before the 2013 draft, even states on Twitter that he got paid while at Alabama. This coupled with all the other known issues should have sent a few journos to Tuscaloosa to ask a few questions, but it quickly gets scrubbed by most of the lazy media after a less than satisfactory "he was hacked" story from an agent that would lose his ass on Fluker if that story broke before a potential million dollar payday.
Fluker isn't the only one though. You have Calloway, who recently departed the Bama football team after it was revealed he'd utilized a stolen student's debit card to buy a candy bar in a dorm vending machine. Too bad Brent hadn't panned out, or maybe he would have been able to go to dinner with Tom Albetar, who took special interest in Trent Richardson. Albetar was seen in photos on Facebook taking Richardson to dinner at a Hibachi Grill restaurant, but that's, of course, only circumstance. It always is, right? While Richardson had Albetar, Calloway had business owners in Russelville, AL that made sure he was okay, and even made sure he was hidden away "for his own good" days before signing day, and only a day after flip-flopping on a commitment to Auburn.
Fact is, while media folks got bogged down tripping over each other to write the next angle on the Cam Newton saga that ended up turning up nothing against Auburn's 2010 BCS Championship Team, coaches, university or anyone associated with it (A Cam Newton that tooled around Auburn on a moped during is National Championship, Heisman winning campaign.), T-Town Tom racked up on hundreds of autographed jerseys, helmets and other memorabilia. Players earning their keep in T-Town ate well, drove the nicest cars and enjoyed all the spoils. While Auburn took exactly an hour to rid itself of four felons robbing a couple students in a trailer park, Bama's best players were driving their late model Camaros, Chargers and GMC SUV's 2-3 hours south to Mobile to have the best rims money could buy installed on their whips, some even getting custom paint jobs to go with them.
So, while cash is hard, if not impossible to trace, the trends and circumstances that drive fans to simply ask the questions is not hard, or impossible to trace.
Why would asking the questions be such a burden on those tasked, or employed to do so?
Maybe instead of Nick Saban asking if the Hurry Up No Huddle Offense is what football is becoming, he should ask if student athletes being treated to the spoils in Tuscaloosa is the what football has already become under his watch.
I thought that struggle, was part of the learning experience you get in college life. *shrug*
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Cam Newton: The Definitive End
Yesterday by letter, the NCAA affirmed what most Auburn Tiger fans already knew, or believed. No major infractions at Auburn University in regards to the recruitment of eventual Heisman winning quarterback, Cam Newton.
It's been an interesting last 24 hours since the news broke. The Finebaum groupies and redneck support show was, as usual, full of non-sense and self-proclaimed insiders defending reps. Well known bloggers are still sure they're right, and Cam was on the take. Shoot, pulling into my hotel here in Tallahassee tonight, I'm listening to a radio show where the host is talking about how "over it" he is, while at the same time asking Auburn fans to remove their orange and blue glasses and really try to understand just how implausible it is that Cam didn't know and that Cecil HAD to have gotten paid. He went into the usual list of misconceptions, assumptions and fabrications, and it hit me...
How could he know any better?
He probably couldn't. Why? What does he have to work with in known facts? Not much. That's the problem here and why so many have problems "getting over it". Hell, if all I constantly heard on radio and TV how Cam had said, "The money was too much at Auburn", or how Cecil admitted to shopping his son for amounts of $180K plus, I'd be outraged, or at least stunned also.
Here's the problem though. Here's the reason most AU fans have had relative peace of mind despite those statements... THEY ARE INACCURATE.
When Joe Schad's report came out to follow up Mark Schlabach, Pat Forde and Chris Low's breaking story on Kenny Roger's pay-for-play actions on behalf of Mississippi State, he cited an "anonymous source" who claimed Cam Newton had placed an emotional call in the aftermath of his commitment to Auburn. During that call, Schad's still anonymous source claims Newton said "...but the money was too much." Notice anything missing?
Enter the childhood game of Telephone. In this schoolhouse game, a teacher will give a note or message to a particular student or child. This child then turns and whispers the given message to another child. This continues until the last child has been given the message. Most often the message is a completely different message than the original. It is a game that teaches kids to pay attention and to take care in relaying information so that the end user has correct information.
The Cam Newton barrage following Schad's report became a large game of Telephone between every blog, AP writer in need of a follow up story on the sensational QB seemingly now on the take. The story morphed and grew and grew. Everybody short of the late J. Edgar Hoover was supposedly investigating AU and the infamous Newton. The Newton saga was tied to every story it could be linked to via message boards and the off-kiltered crazies on late afternoon radio.
Nobody, or source, has ever come forward to admit taking that call where Cam gave his tearful reasonings. No backup from Schad. No accusations from the known participants from Mississippi State indicting Newton for saying such a thing. Oh...and the missing part? "...at Auburn." That was never reported by anyone, but is the single most repeated and pointed to statement by Cam detractors. However, nobody can come up with a source for it. It's a message misdelivered by overzealous media looking to create a story. Period.
So what about Cecil Newton. Certainly he "shopped" Cam. The NCAA proved that! Right? Wrong. The NCAA found, and Cecil admitted to having "discussions" with Kenny Rogers acting on behalf of MSU. That's it. Not a single other person from a single other university has reported improper solicitations from Cecil or anyone else associated with Newton and his recruitment. Cecil Newton on the rare occassions he has spoken has chosen to not talk about the investigation and simply points to the NCAA findings.
In the summer leading into this current season, Auburn was courting another one year QB in a position to make the biggest bang he could with one last remaining year of eligibility, Russel Wilson. In the end, although Auburn appealed to Wilson, the smarter long term decision led him to a much more experienced and deep Wisconsin Badger team. Nobody has cried foul, and is an absolutely reasonable reason to choose one school over another.
Cam Newton faced this same decision before last season. Take out Cecil's known conversation with Kenny Rogers and ask yourself if it's any different than Wilson's decision this year. Cam Newton chose the deeper, more experienced Auburn team over a rebuilding and inexperienced MSU. It's not a brain busting or puzzling decision.
So, black helicopter pilots, isn't it JUST (if not more) likely that Kenny Rogers arranged that conversation with Cecil in attempt to lure a waivering commitment to MSU from Newton? If Newton listened and admitted to having those discussions with Rogers, is it really all that hard to think he might have kept it to himself and not shared it with his family? I don't think most reasonable folks would think so either.
The bottom line is that Cecil discussed money for play at MSU. Nobody knows for sure if the call, Schad report's, actually happened. Schad himself has never even followed up on it. At minimum, Cam never said "at Auburn" in any reported conversation about cash for play.
So to the Thayer's, Schad's, Brook's, Travis's, Finebaums, self-proclaimed Legends, Dr. Saturdays, and others that chose, or continue to choose innuendo or believe only the passed along note whispered between the mutually unknowing, this Heisman pose is for you.
You don't even need to wait for legal proceedings, wire taps, gambling trials, cell phone voicemails, or blowhards paid to throttle the company line to see it. Its right in front of you.
For AU fans, we (if I may steal a partial line from Mr. Samuel L. Jackson) don't need to do anything but love Auburn...and...well...
Chop
It's been an interesting last 24 hours since the news broke. The Finebaum groupies and redneck support show was, as usual, full of non-sense and self-proclaimed insiders defending reps. Well known bloggers are still sure they're right, and Cam was on the take. Shoot, pulling into my hotel here in Tallahassee tonight, I'm listening to a radio show where the host is talking about how "over it" he is, while at the same time asking Auburn fans to remove their orange and blue glasses and really try to understand just how implausible it is that Cam didn't know and that Cecil HAD to have gotten paid. He went into the usual list of misconceptions, assumptions and fabrications, and it hit me...
How could he know any better?
He probably couldn't. Why? What does he have to work with in known facts? Not much. That's the problem here and why so many have problems "getting over it". Hell, if all I constantly heard on radio and TV how Cam had said, "The money was too much at Auburn", or how Cecil admitted to shopping his son for amounts of $180K plus, I'd be outraged, or at least stunned also.
Here's the problem though. Here's the reason most AU fans have had relative peace of mind despite those statements... THEY ARE INACCURATE.
When Joe Schad's report came out to follow up Mark Schlabach, Pat Forde and Chris Low's breaking story on Kenny Roger's pay-for-play actions on behalf of Mississippi State, he cited an "anonymous source" who claimed Cam Newton had placed an emotional call in the aftermath of his commitment to Auburn. During that call, Schad's still anonymous source claims Newton said "...but the money was too much." Notice anything missing?
Enter the childhood game of Telephone. In this schoolhouse game, a teacher will give a note or message to a particular student or child. This child then turns and whispers the given message to another child. This continues until the last child has been given the message. Most often the message is a completely different message than the original. It is a game that teaches kids to pay attention and to take care in relaying information so that the end user has correct information.
The Cam Newton barrage following Schad's report became a large game of Telephone between every blog, AP writer in need of a follow up story on the sensational QB seemingly now on the take. The story morphed and grew and grew. Everybody short of the late J. Edgar Hoover was supposedly investigating AU and the infamous Newton. The Newton saga was tied to every story it could be linked to via message boards and the off-kiltered crazies on late afternoon radio.
Nobody, or source, has ever come forward to admit taking that call where Cam gave his tearful reasonings. No backup from Schad. No accusations from the known participants from Mississippi State indicting Newton for saying such a thing. Oh...and the missing part? "...at Auburn." That was never reported by anyone, but is the single most repeated and pointed to statement by Cam detractors. However, nobody can come up with a source for it. It's a message misdelivered by overzealous media looking to create a story. Period.
So what about Cecil Newton. Certainly he "shopped" Cam. The NCAA proved that! Right? Wrong. The NCAA found, and Cecil admitted to having "discussions" with Kenny Rogers acting on behalf of MSU. That's it. Not a single other person from a single other university has reported improper solicitations from Cecil or anyone else associated with Newton and his recruitment. Cecil Newton on the rare occassions he has spoken has chosen to not talk about the investigation and simply points to the NCAA findings.
In the summer leading into this current season, Auburn was courting another one year QB in a position to make the biggest bang he could with one last remaining year of eligibility, Russel Wilson. In the end, although Auburn appealed to Wilson, the smarter long term decision led him to a much more experienced and deep Wisconsin Badger team. Nobody has cried foul, and is an absolutely reasonable reason to choose one school over another.
Cam Newton faced this same decision before last season. Take out Cecil's known conversation with Kenny Rogers and ask yourself if it's any different than Wilson's decision this year. Cam Newton chose the deeper, more experienced Auburn team over a rebuilding and inexperienced MSU. It's not a brain busting or puzzling decision.
So, black helicopter pilots, isn't it JUST (if not more) likely that Kenny Rogers arranged that conversation with Cecil in attempt to lure a waivering commitment to MSU from Newton? If Newton listened and admitted to having those discussions with Rogers, is it really all that hard to think he might have kept it to himself and not shared it with his family? I don't think most reasonable folks would think so either.
The bottom line is that Cecil discussed money for play at MSU. Nobody knows for sure if the call, Schad report's, actually happened. Schad himself has never even followed up on it. At minimum, Cam never said "at Auburn" in any reported conversation about cash for play.
So to the Thayer's, Schad's, Brook's, Travis's, Finebaums, self-proclaimed Legends, Dr. Saturdays, and others that chose, or continue to choose innuendo or believe only the passed along note whispered between the mutually unknowing, this Heisman pose is for you.
You don't even need to wait for legal proceedings, wire taps, gambling trials, cell phone voicemails, or blowhards paid to throttle the company line to see it. Its right in front of you.
For AU fans, we (if I may steal a partial line from Mr. Samuel L. Jackson) don't need to do anything but love Auburn...and...well...
Chop
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thank You, Dr. Emmert/ NCAA
Today, the NCAA and people being held hostage by misinformation (not just Auburn) and propaganda took a step forward when the NCAA took an unusual step, and put a halt to rumor and innuendo by at least one attention seeker in Danny Sheridan.
In a statement released earlier this evening, after Danny Sheridan and Paul Finebaum appeared on ESPN's "Outside The Lines" hosted by Bob Levy, the NCAA posted the following on their website, NCAA.org:
I would like to take a moment to applaud the NCAA for the statement they made today.
People like Paul Finebaum NEED stories and information to fester in order to survive in an environment that caters to those that are entertained by drama, manufactured or otherwise. It's a segment of entertainment only and should be viewed as such. Paul Finebaum clings to the idea that he's still a journalist, but by very clear example, he's failed in every single regard to be held in such company. He's a carnival barker. He's a ring leader. He's simply cracking whips and directing animal traffic through cages and tossing air balls to clapping seals. Nothing more.
Until ESPN realizes the same, and after today, I'm hoping in some small fashion it might be sinking in, quits regarding Paul Finebaum as the columnist and legitimate opinion maker he once was years ago, and leaves him on hold when offering his services and getting his mug on TV to spread more nonsensical blither to the nation that would be better off tuning in to Judge Judy.
In a statement released earlier this evening, after Danny Sheridan and Paul Finebaum appeared on ESPN's "Outside The Lines" hosted by Bob Levy, the NCAA posted the following on their website, NCAA.org:
Danny Sheridan continues to make vague, unsubstantiated claims without backing them up with proof. Contrary to his claims of having an inside source with details on the Auburn investigation, the NCAA has not provided information to Sheridan or anyone else. As a matter of due diligence, the NCAA spoke with Sheridan this week to determine if he had any facts pertaining to the investigation. Sheridan, however, did not provide any information to the enforcement staff and certainly did not provide a name. Instead, he unsuccessfully attempted to gather information for his own use.Today, the NCAA took a step in realizing that in today's ultra-information ready age, that getting to the heart and creators of these misinformation trumpeters is paramount. It can not, and if they continue to make these type of statements, will not be undermined as an enforcing institution of rules.
I would like to take a moment to applaud the NCAA for the statement they made today.
People like Paul Finebaum NEED stories and information to fester in order to survive in an environment that caters to those that are entertained by drama, manufactured or otherwise. It's a segment of entertainment only and should be viewed as such. Paul Finebaum clings to the idea that he's still a journalist, but by very clear example, he's failed in every single regard to be held in such company. He's a carnival barker. He's a ring leader. He's simply cracking whips and directing animal traffic through cages and tossing air balls to clapping seals. Nothing more.
Until ESPN realizes the same, and after today, I'm hoping in some small fashion it might be sinking in, quits regarding Paul Finebaum as the columnist and legitimate opinion maker he once was years ago, and leaves him on hold when offering his services and getting his mug on TV to spread more nonsensical blither to the nation that would be better off tuning in to Judge Judy.
Open Letter To Mark Emmert/ NCAA
To Mr. Emmert,
As the 2011 football season draws near, attention will start to turn to the pageantry, traditions and true love of the total package that is college football. Kids will don their jerseys, little faces will get painted up with their favorite mascot's paws, claws and such. The air outside will fill with the pure bliss that is barbecued boston butts, hot dogs, steaks and burgers. Cold beverages will be consumed and friends that might see each other on one to seven occasions a year will toss a football back and forth while reminiscing about years and games past. It is a time of year unparalleled by any other.
This will even happen at Auburn, AL next weekend when the 2010 National Champion Auburn Tigers begin their 2011 campaign against Utah State University at Jordan-Hare Stadium. This will happen even despite the cloud that has been allowed to hang over our program by any and all that would rather see Auburn embarrassed, than be able to enjoy our great traditions. Allowed is the appropriate word, Mr. Emmert. Despite that, the Auburn Family moves forward.
As evidenced by the NCAA's policy to not comment on "ongoing" investigations, we've not heard a word on where Auburn stands in the eyes of the NCAA in regards to the Cam Newton investigation. Auburn fans can appreciate the stance the NCAA has put forth, and take comfort that we've still to date, not received any notifications by letter that Auburn is actually under investigation. However, we are constantly allowed to take punishment in the national media due to inaction to address openly, the blatant lies build on the shaky premise that you, and the NCAA will not be speaking up any time soon to correct, or clarify.
This is why this is addressed to you, Mr. Emmert. When you go on national radio, and do not clarify your positions, while actually telling and giving permission to opinion makers to do just that, opine and offer up more attacks, you attack by proxy the very things that Auburn people love and cherish. As a protector first, of the NCAA and its participants, I would hope that you take into consideration the irreparable damage you've allowed to happen to Auburn. I would certainly hope you would never go on a national show and actually tell people to "have their assumptions". It is a terrible thing to say to anyone in this day and time.
While it is appreciable that the NCAA would rather not comment on open investigations, like in criminal investigations, the fact is you're not a body of criminal investigation. In today's world of social media, and with the popularity of opinion maker radio, a simple opinion or remark can go from ten to one hundred thousand in seconds, and then be taken as fact. This is not a world where you can keep information to yourself, and expect it to be a tool for protection of the institution in question. In fact, it's turned into the very thing opinion radio and social hacks are able to use against the university and NCAA in indefinite measure.
In closing, sir, I would ask that you look at your policies as people like Danny Sheridan are allowed to go on programs such as "Outside the Lines" on ESPN to spout hearsay and already debunked conjecture against Auburn. I implore you to ask yourself if allowing national opinion makers is really the appropriate response when a university's integrity, standing, their loving fans, alumni and business partners are hanging in the balance? Is it the appropriate response anymore when the NCAA's reputation is directly tied to the proper/improper handling of such issues? I'm not sure the NCAA, or yourself have asked yourselves these very important questions. I would hope you will do so, soon. For all of our sake.
Thank you, and in sincere regards,
Chop
As the 2011 football season draws near, attention will start to turn to the pageantry, traditions and true love of the total package that is college football. Kids will don their jerseys, little faces will get painted up with their favorite mascot's paws, claws and such. The air outside will fill with the pure bliss that is barbecued boston butts, hot dogs, steaks and burgers. Cold beverages will be consumed and friends that might see each other on one to seven occasions a year will toss a football back and forth while reminiscing about years and games past. It is a time of year unparalleled by any other.
This will even happen at Auburn, AL next weekend when the 2010 National Champion Auburn Tigers begin their 2011 campaign against Utah State University at Jordan-Hare Stadium. This will happen even despite the cloud that has been allowed to hang over our program by any and all that would rather see Auburn embarrassed, than be able to enjoy our great traditions. Allowed is the appropriate word, Mr. Emmert. Despite that, the Auburn Family moves forward.
As evidenced by the NCAA's policy to not comment on "ongoing" investigations, we've not heard a word on where Auburn stands in the eyes of the NCAA in regards to the Cam Newton investigation. Auburn fans can appreciate the stance the NCAA has put forth, and take comfort that we've still to date, not received any notifications by letter that Auburn is actually under investigation. However, we are constantly allowed to take punishment in the national media due to inaction to address openly, the blatant lies build on the shaky premise that you, and the NCAA will not be speaking up any time soon to correct, or clarify.
This is why this is addressed to you, Mr. Emmert. When you go on national radio, and do not clarify your positions, while actually telling and giving permission to opinion makers to do just that, opine and offer up more attacks, you attack by proxy the very things that Auburn people love and cherish. As a protector first, of the NCAA and its participants, I would hope that you take into consideration the irreparable damage you've allowed to happen to Auburn. I would certainly hope you would never go on a national show and actually tell people to "have their assumptions". It is a terrible thing to say to anyone in this day and time.
While it is appreciable that the NCAA would rather not comment on open investigations, like in criminal investigations, the fact is you're not a body of criminal investigation. In today's world of social media, and with the popularity of opinion maker radio, a simple opinion or remark can go from ten to one hundred thousand in seconds, and then be taken as fact. This is not a world where you can keep information to yourself, and expect it to be a tool for protection of the institution in question. In fact, it's turned into the very thing opinion radio and social hacks are able to use against the university and NCAA in indefinite measure.
In closing, sir, I would ask that you look at your policies as people like Danny Sheridan are allowed to go on programs such as "Outside the Lines" on ESPN to spout hearsay and already debunked conjecture against Auburn. I implore you to ask yourself if allowing national opinion makers is really the appropriate response when a university's integrity, standing, their loving fans, alumni and business partners are hanging in the balance? Is it the appropriate response anymore when the NCAA's reputation is directly tied to the proper/improper handling of such issues? I'm not sure the NCAA, or yourself have asked yourselves these very important questions. I would hope you will do so, soon. For all of our sake.
Thank you, and in sincere regards,
Chop
Sunday, August 14, 2011
More Fictional Characters
There's nothing in the world that people love more than fictional characters. They make you laugh. They make you cry. They can even, while dealing with fantasy land level gooberisms, make one re-evaluate one's self.
I've enjoyed several in my lifetime. Characters from cartoons and movies that hung on my wall as a kid, and some that even instilled values. I mean, who couldn't remember respecting the way Inigo Montoya persevered and pursued for the love of his murdered father in "A Princess Bride". Who didn't praise Goose for keeping Maverick focused when he was blowing his shot at spiking a blond, errr... I mean opportunity of a lifetime in "Top Gun". In "Cedar Rapids", a naive young sales person goes to a new world and learns that things might not quite be as advertised and grows up before your eyes. Even a 40 year old virgin can find love. Fictional characters.
However, there are other types of fictional characters that people just come to loathe. People like the bad guys in superhero movies. Even the sometimes lovable Dr. Evil in "Austin Powers" can't seem to just get on the ball and kill the hero. No, it's always some long drawn out plan that never seems to work in the end. So, you end up annoyed at someone that really isn't worth more than a collective, "damn" and a laugh.
Danny Sheridan is becoming such a character. While Danny may be very real, his stories of bagmen and contacts with NCAA level folks has more twists and turns than an M. Night Shayamalan movie.
A few weeks back, Danny Sheridan decided to speak up and capitalize on a few day old story that Gene Chizik had an exchange with an NCAA official at the summer meetings a few weeks before. It eventually came out that the exchange was much less combative than most would like you to believe, but under the current scrutiny Auburn finds itself in, it had enough legs to at least Dodo bird itself across the beach for a few days before going extinct again.
Appearing on Finebaum during SEC Media Days, Sheridan proclaimed that the investigation into Cam Newton had really "revved" up after Chizik's comments. Really? Well, being that NCAA investigations are generally very slow to develop, devoid of any rhyme, reason and generally are extremely tight lipped, how did Danny know? Well, Danny couldn't wait to talk about his friendship and connections with people inside the NCAA. Hell, he'd been good buddies for 30 plus years! There's no way people should doubt him! The Bama fringe goes crazy for days. Not only was Danny saying that the investigation had ramped up, but in fact they knew of a "bagman". They were simply working on this poor soul to see if he was going to come forward. Without him, the NCAA's case was pretty much closed. Danny gave a 50/50 chance that NCAA would find any fault against Cam Newton. It was up in the air. Just ignore the fact, that if the NCAA already knew/ knows of a bagman, there is NO NEED for this witness to come forward. It's over and the gig is up.
Fast forward a week....
Paul Finebaum, while wading through the tired same smattering of sadness that is his calling base gets a call about halfway through the third of four hours. "Hey Pawwwwl! Did you hear Danny Sheridan today on that Atlanta station?" "Yeah, he said that now there's a witness in the Cam Newton case! Did you hear that, Pawwwwwl? A witness!" Shocked, Paul calls and hunts down Sheridan and WHAMMO...
Paul fifteen minutes later, "Danny Sheridan in the fourth hour to discuss a possible new development in the Cam Newton case!"
Let me describe the ultimate fail that happened next...
A summary... if you will...
Paul: Hello Danny. I hear you might have some news on the Cam Newton investigation. What's up?
Danny: (Fail starts immediately) Well, no. It's basically what I told you last week, Paul. I've decided to call the "bagman" a "witness".
Paul: Silence......
Danny: Yes, a witness.
***NOTE: After Danny's appearance on F'baum the prior week at SEC Media Days, the media collective on Danny Sheridan was not positive. His story was not viewed as credible and writers such as Dennis Dodd and other national folks paid more attention to his pink shirt. It hurt Danny's feelings...
Danny continues: You see Paul, all those so called writers that think I don't know what I'm talking about don't know what they're saying. They'll learn. Do you doubt me, Paul?
Paul: Silence... Umm...
Danny: I'll tell you what Paul, I know what I'm talking about and I've got to say that people talking about me like they know me are making them all look foolish. They call me an oddsmaker and would rather focus on why I'm talking with people at the NCAA, Paul!!! Why? I'm NOT an oddsmaker, Paul. That's not what I do. Besides, my friend is a friend of a friend with the NCAA. I don't talk with anyone at the NCAA. It's my friend. You KNOW that Paul. Right?
Paul: Umm... Uhh....
Danny: Look, I'll put a seven figure bet on it Paul. You doubt me if you want. Give me two weeks. Give me two weeks and I'll have you a name Paul. The NCAA has a witness. A name, and I'll give it to you in a week or two. You just wait.
Paul: Okay, Sounds very interesting Danny. I know you probably will.
END OF CALL.....
Paul then goes on and on about how he's been right before and then decides to open it back up for the last fifteen minutes of phone calls to fill in a then predictable hodgepodge of "hammer's comin'" talk from the mouthbreather collective that hoard to his show in hopes that the Auburn "situation" of 2010 didn't actually occur.
What Danny Sheridan needs to understand is that he opened this can of worms himself. He's now put himself in a place where it's impossible not to deliver. He sounded desperate then. He sounds desperate now.
Earlier today, @DannySheridan1 (Danny's Twitter handle) posted that he had been given a name that "allegedly" the NCAA "feels" paid Cecil Newton.
The Bama fringe went crazy. Is anyone surprised? I'm not.
What does Danny accomplish by doing this? An "alleged" name that they "feel" mighta woulda coulda shoulda? Didn't we learn this lesson already about tapes, wiretaps and people like Scott Moore who's been relegated to the confides of places like "As the Plains Burn"?
This week is sure to be pivotal one way or the other. Probably more for a large number of Bama fans that are either going to start realizing that Danny Sheridan could deliver a banana split to Paul with more meaning than the name he brings, or they'll continue to hang in the balance perpetually until until the only hammer they see is the one we all see at the end of our own times.
So... In the words of one of my favorite fictional characters, Judge Smails, "Welllll. We're waiting...."
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