AUburgeddon: NCAA looking for lack of institutional control

The four most dreaded words in the NCAA enforcement lexicon are “lack of institutional control,” and the NCAA is now looking for evidence of that, according to statements made by Auburn University Athletic Director Jay Jacobs.

You can sugarcoat and spin this all you want, but the full fisted anal exam of the Tigers’ athletics program is still in high gear. It’s not dormant, it’s not inactive and it’s not stalled. And, if the NCAA is already on the institutional control page of the playbook—without delivering the formal notice of inquiry—it doesn’t bode well for teh fambly.

Yesterday after delivering comments at the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Jacobs spoke with reporters about the ongoing NCAA probe into the school’s compliance with NCAA regulations and had this to say:

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"The Cam one is the one that started this entire thing," Jacobs said. "But the way the process works is once they begin to look at one thing, they look at everything around your program, whether it's a coach in another sport having too many text messages and you filed a secondary report. They look at all of that.

"They're making sure we have institutional control, and there's been nothing to indicate to me or to them otherwise. So when you say how many facets, it's basically everything that may come up in a normal operation of a year -- this year, last year or two years from now. They take a look just to make sure they're not missing anything."

Jacobs said Auburn has not complied with open-records requests from The Birmingham News out of respect for the NCAA's process. Over several months, The News has requested documents related to Newton's recruitment and all of Auburn's recent NCAA secondary violations.

"Generally, when the NCAA says it isn't over with, we don't release them," Jacobs said. "They'll even look at things we may or may not have gotten a reply from the NCAA yet just to see if there's any history there, anything that jumps out to them because they've looked into things. I would think in the near future we'll be able to share everything you need. But we're not going to do that until they tell us it's OK to do that."

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Jacobs is whistling past the graveyard and so is anyone else who interprets his comments to mean that this all a standard part of the process and that everything is going to be just fine.

The NCAA does not investigate potential lack of institutional control unless it has found evidence of rules violations. If the enforcement staff truly is reviewing Auburn’s institutional control procedures, it means that they have already discovered and documented violations of league bylaws and are now in the process of determining whether these rules violations are consistent with the charge of lack of institutional control.

A review of the NCAA’s database of major infractions cases shows no cases where a school was charged for lack of institutional control without also being cited for numerous other violations that rose to the standard of “major infractions.”

People will try to spin this as a “normal operation” in which the NCAA hasn’t really found anything and is just having a quick look-see at institutional control procedures. Don’t believe them. The league’s enforcement process doesn’t work that way. There’s no reason to engage in a review of institutional control procedures unless there’s something to suggest that it’s lacking. The enforcement staff has all but set up a satellite office at the local Hilton Garden Inn, racking up Hilton Honor points and documenting that “something.” Bet on it.

The most ominous takeaway is that determining that there has been a lack of institutional control is a totally subjective judgment. You have to document violations of recruiting and impermissible benefits legislation. The call on whether those violations rise to the standard of lack of institutional control depends on the mood of the Enforcement Staff and the Committee on Infractions.

Exit question: Is this why Jacobs suddenly has “lot more respect for them today?” It probably makes sense to suck up a little bit now, doesn’t it?

UPDATE: Capstone Report has an excellent angle on Auburn President Jay Gogue’s comments in the same story linked above.

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Also from the Birmingham News: “I’ve never heard anything about it other than what I read in the newspapers,” Gogue said. “I have not a clue what’s going on. I haven’t heard anything. I just see it’s a constant story.”

That begs the question. What else is Gogue in the dark about involving Auburn’s Athletic Department?

Does Gogue supervise the athletic department? Or does it supervise itself? Does it tell the president what he should know, or does it tell the president want it wants him to know?

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In the context of a news story on a review of lack of institutional control, to have the President of the university express cluelessness as to the nature and progress of the investigation is at best embarrassing and at worst damning.

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Laugh-A-Pocalypse on the Plains: Mythical “Perfect” Seasons

Author’s note: any similarity to the plot of a 1963 film is purely intentional.

Our story begins many years ago with an incarcerated postseason in 1957 after the plodding investigation of Captain NC AAwful. But our comedic caper really rises to action on a war-fail day in 1992…

Smiler Dye is milking the cow-boosters in the Barn when he trips on some cattle tape and kicks over the bucket. Realizing his career has careened off the cliff, he updates his black book on how to have a perfect football season. Dye then buries his secrets, along with an Unlimited list of moolah-happy Tiger names, under the mysterious “big W” in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Each new Head Herder is given directions to Smiler’s stash and instructed to never share the location or contents. And low-and-behold every man since achieves one undefeated season. In 1993 with Benjy Bowden, in 2004 with Melville Tuberville and in 2010 with Lennie Chizik. But the wily Eagles forgot about the haphazard involvement of Captain NC AAwful, and punishments are handed out or pending for the “perfect” seasons as the football world watches in astonishment.

Our dejected cast of farcical characters ends up with careers of immobility and pain, while Captain NC AAwful turns out to be a comedy of errors at doing his woe-damn job.

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Never to Yield yields to its own temptations

I really didn’t want to do another post about the comedic antics of teh Auburn fambly. But it’s been such a target rich environment this week that it would almost be a sin to leave some of this stuff hanging out there. If I don’t, who will, right?

Yesterday, SPORTSbyBROOKS posted an interesting little piece about a group of Auburn “hostesses” known as Tigerettes. It wasn’t particularly earth-shattering. That the school has student-employees who also happen to be Tigerettes probably doesn’t rise to even a secondary NCAA violation (though two knowledgeable sources indicate that the amounts and timing of the payments made might raise some eyebrows at both NCAA and the IRS).

The response from teh fambly was swift and predictable. Auburn fans love Brooks like Democrats love Rush Limbaugh. One Auburn blogger claimed to have contacted his super secret inside sources and published a post that was contradicted by both the school’s official comment on the matter and the actual documentation obtained under the Alabama Open Records statute. But the most delightfully entertaining piece was published by none other than the Never to Yield Foundation, on the same website that slandered Alabama radio personality Scott Moore. Here’s what NTYF wrote on the organization’s website:

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June 21, 2011 — Internet blogger and certified muckraker Brooks Melchior of Sports by Brooks fame (infamy?) built his site traffic at the outset by approaching random women on the street and soliciting them to appear in photos on his blog.

When he first stepped out onto the world wide web Brooks was characterized as “desperate to build traffic” and he was reduced to trolling the streets in Southern California looking for pretty girls. His intent was enticing them to provide free titillation to the pages of his site.

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It’s a pretty lame attempt at character assassination. After all, whatever Brooks did, it worked. The site gets tens of thousands of visits per day and is probably the Yardbarker Network’s most popular blog. But what’s even more interesting is that NTYF swore off going after sites like SbB. The first thing I came to realize about NTYF is that the dude who runs the site takes himself very, very seriously.

Much like most Auburn fans. Laughing at themselves or shrugging off criticism just doesn’t seem to be in their DNA. The NTYF dude takes himself so seriously, he posted a set of twenty questions with himself. The creepiness level of that is off my chart, but I found this Q&A to be particularly interesting:

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15) What about those web sites that focus on tearing Auburn down?

Again, consider the source.  Sites like that are complete and total irrelevance veiled in a cloud of insecurity.  We’ve had some of the information from those types of sites forwarded to us and it’s really pretty pathetic.  Some of the information that’s been promoted there is so ridiculous that it’s hard to fathom anyone with a functioning brain cell could actually put any stock it.  It’s equally sad that grown men invest so much of their own self worth in the performance of a group of young men on Saturday that they would stoop to the level of vitriol and hate we’ve seen flowing from those dark, dirty corners of the Internet.  Like the Finebaum callers mentioned above, however, the people who frequent places like that are irrelevant and are best ignored.  Hysterical black helicopter babble from a meaningless website isn’t worth our time.

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Isn’t that special. NTYF is gonna be so magnanimous that they won’t ever stoop to the level of addressing blogs like Brooks. They’re such, umm “dark, dirty corners” of teh innerwebs, after all.

Ick, right?

But it appears that the combination of Brooks’ shit-eating grin and undeniably accurate post regarding how much and how often Tigerettes got paid provided too strong of a temptation. But instead of addressing the factual information in the post, NTYF went after the messenger.  Just like they did with Scott Moore.

Exit Question: Which one of the Psalms for Boogs did the NTYF dude read before going full zealot on Brooks?

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AUBurgeddon: What does Vegas know that we don’t?

According to Phil Steele, the Golden Nugget Casino has already posted early lines on what it considers marquee games for the upcoming 2011 College Football Season. As is typical with early spreads, a little movement here and there can be expected as money moves to one side or the other.

It’s worth noting early that these lines are NOT predictions by the casino. They’re not picks, they are a means of regulating the flow of betting so that a relatively equal amount of money goes to each side of the book. When money moves in significant amounts, the line follows. It’s a bit more complicated, but explaining how Vegas works is beyond the scope of this post. What I’m interested in finding out is this—why are the lines in Auburn’s so-called marquee games moving against teh fambly?

Steele notes:

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Biggest Line Movements
(Bold Moved in their Favor)	Pts Moved
Notre Dame-Michigan	6
Michigan-Northwestern	6
Tennessee-Florida	5.5
TCU-Air Force	5
LSU-Mississippi St	5
Boise St-Georgia	4.5
Mississippi St-Auburn	4.5
Utah-BYU	4.5
Auburn-Clemson	4.5
BYU-TCU	4.5
Auburn-Georgia	4.5

One thing that jumped out to me right away was that defending National Champ Auburn is currently an underdog in EIGHT games for the upcoming season! Also it is interesting to note that several of the big line movements involve the same teams in Michigan, Georgia, BYU and TCU.

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What leaps off the screen at me is that virtually every one of Auburn’s marquee games has line movement, and none of the movement favors the 2010 champs. In fact, of the 11 biggest movers listed by Steele, Auburn is one of the teams affected in three matchups, more than any other team on the list. Further, in the Mississippi State game, Auburn has gone from being the favorite to the dog.

The question is, why? What does Vegas know that we don’t? Maybe VegasSnitch has a clue.

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The righteously indignant Pete Fiutak gets it wrong

Dear Mr. Fiutak:

Reinstatement decisions are NOT enforcement investigations.

In a column posted yesterday, Fox Sports’ Pete Fiutak takes the NCAA to task for what he sees as a glaring inconsistency in upholding the sanctions that hammer Southern Cal for the Reggie Bush case. He makes the mistake of comparing the Bush enforcement improper benefits case to the reinstatement decisions made by a completely different arm of the NCAA.

I probably shouldn’t single out Fiutak because honestly, he’s not the only one who gets it wrong. The sentiments he express are found in columns on sports pages across the country. They’re on websites, blogs and internet message boards. Very few of’em get it.

While Mr. Fiutak will get no argument from me that the NCAA’s “every case is different” approach to both enforcement and reinstatement matters is a recipe for chaos and confusion, his column contributes absolutely nothing to resolving the national confusion over the difference between the results of investigations conducted by the league’s enforcement arm and decisions rendered by a reinstatement staff with no investigatory powers whatsoever.

People want to compare the USC case to the other two highest profile cases of blatant violation of amateurism rules—the Cam Newton case at Auburn and the Tressel, Pryor et al case at Ohio State. In doing so, they try to make the case that Southern Cal is being made to pay a heavy price while Auburn and Ohio State get away scot free.

Here’s the key difference: The Bush case—after a half-decade of media and NCAA background investigation, a notice of inquiry, the formal enforcement investigation, a notice of allegations, a Committee on Infractions hearing, a decision, an appeal and a decision on the appeal—was a thorough, full-fisted anal exam conducted by people with no connection to the Trojan program. Meanwhile, the reinstatement processes that resulted in the eligibility decisions at Auburn and Ohio State were the result of dog-and-pony shows written, produced and directed by the schools themselves.

Repeat after me: Reinstatement decisions are NOT enforcement investigations.  Lather, rinse and for God’s sake repeat this to every college sports fan you encounter.

The Infractions Committee relied on information produced by the NCAA enforcement staff and that information was the closest to the truth that anyone could ever hope for. The reinstatement decisions were based on information provided by the schools, and that information was prepared in a manner that puts the best light on the school that anyone could hope for. It’s a huge difference and it seems to be completely lost on people who should know better.

I am the first to admit that while I know more about NCAA rules and procedures than I ever wanted to, I still have a great deal to learn. It would be helpful if Pete Fiutak and all the other master blasters in the national sports media would slow down, understand the processes involved and at least try to grasp this key distinction between enforcement and reinstatement matters. By not doing so, they’re not helping the public get their own arms around the concepts.

I’ll bet there’s one thing on which Fiutak and I can agree. That would be a standardized set of penalties with mandatory minimum sentences for major violations. This idea was posited by MrSEC. Such a system would end the “every case is different” approach currently in place in both the enforcement and reinstatement offices of the NCAA. To be certain, some unintended victims will suffer under such a cut-and-dried system. But if everyone understands what the penalties are—that all drug dealers, murderers and rapists go to prison, no matter what—there will be fewer people weighing the risk reward ratio and making the wrong decision.

We need that and if this week’s news is any indication, we might soon get it.

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The Randy Kennedy/Paul Davis Interview with Terry Bowden

Interview with Terry Bowden April 24, 2001, at his Loachapoka ranch. Also present was Paul Davis. After our interview, Bowden was expecting a visit from Dr. Muse that same day at his ranch.

Randy Kennedy Editor, Opelika-Auburn News. (ed. note: Randy Kennedy was an editor with the O-A News before becoming Sports Editor for the Mobile Press-Register)

Former Auburn University football coach Terry Bowden says the program he inherited in 1993 included an elaborate system of paying star high school players up to $15,000 to sign with Auburn and $600 per month while on the team.

In a lengthy interview from the ranch he still owns in Loachapoka, Bowden alleged that the "pay-for-play" system was orchestrated by powerful AU Board of Trustees member Bobby Lowder and carried out by former assistant coach Wayne Hall. Bowden said the corruption extended to former head coach Pat Dye, and included $30,000 to Atlanta attorneys for Gene Jelks in order to sustain the former University of Alabama player while he leveled charges of wrongdoing in the Crimson Tide program.

Bowden said he learned of the major NCAA infractions within days of being named Auburn's head coach, but kept quiet while trying to clean up the program from within." I broke the rules," Bowden said. "I told Wayne Hall to pay it off to the players we already had and it will never happen again. I was hiding a dirty secret."

Bowden said the payment of players can be traced to Lowder, who Bowden said is the
unquestioned leader of the AU athletic department." Nothing was done without Lowder knowing." Wayne Hall and Pat Dye paid $30,000 for lawyers in Atlanta to keep Gene Jelks talking. This came from the money that had been used to pay Auburn players.

In 1991 when I was at Samford, Wayne Hall called to ask about a job for Katherine Lowder at Samford. Bobby Lowder then called and he said he would contribute money to Samford equal to Katherine's salary as long as we didn't tell her where the money came from. Katherine and my wife became good friends. Then the Eric Ramsey thing hit. One day Katherine sticks her head in my office door and says, "Dye is leaving and my dad wants you to be coach at Auburn."

Dye resigned a week later.

Lowder made him resign because Lowder was sure Auburn was going to get the death penalty if he didn't resign. I met with Lowder, Mike McCarter and Ruel Russell at Ruel's office in Birmingham. They asked me all the questions, and I thought it was a job interview. Then they said, we need to get you an interview.

They got John Montgomery Sr. to officially recommend me to be interviewed. The night before the interview, Lowder told me "here's how the interview will go." This was three hours on the phone like a lawyer prepping his client. There were six candidates - Larry Smith, Mack Brown, Dick Sheridan, Pat Sullivan, Wayne Hall and me. Everyone agreed that whoever the coach was going to be, the decision had to be unanimous. I think Lowder wanted Wayne Hall, but he knew he couldn't get him approved. I was the backup. I was the last to interview, then the committee immediately took a vote that day.

Somebody was opposed to every candidate until they voted on me last. That's how I got the job. Lowder said he wanted me to hire Wayne Hall as an assistant. Tommy (Bowden, Terry's brother and a member of the Pat Dye staff) told me that if you wanted anything done you gotta go through Hall. My second day on the job (athletic director Mike) Lude said "you can't hire Hall." But then I understand Lowder called and said that if I couldn't hire Hall we will find a new president. So I hired Wayne Hall.

One week on the job, Hall came in with a ledger of players who have been paid, who paid the money, how much money and when it was paid. He said we've still got 9-12 players that we're paying $600 per month. We paid them $12,000-$15,000 to sign. We sign about four every year that we pay. (Former assistant coach Rodney) Garner paid most of the players. He was paid when he was a player at Auburn. (Stacey) Danley is the assistant compliance guy, and he was paid when he was a player. I broke the rules. I said pay it off, and it will never happen again.

Hall said "OK, but you will change your mind." Katherine came to Auburn as my assistant, but she worked for Colonial. We were real close. I told Lowder "We have cash all over." Lowder said "I told Wayne not to collect more than we had to have to pay the players." Wayne had a safe in his house where he kept the money. Within two weeks of me being hired they told me about paying Jelks.

Nothing was done without Lowder knowing. I will go under oath and say that Lowder looked me in the eyes and said, "I didn't want Wayne to collect more money than we needed to pay the players." I was hiding a dirty secret. We were paying (star running back and current Washington Redskin) Steve Davis and his cousin the fullback. It took about two years to get it all cleaned up. Most the guys we were paying weren't any good and weren't helping us win games. Steve Davis was the exception.

Here is how it works: Fifty to 60 men give $5,000 per year. Wayne would collect it. These are all good men. They didn't ask questions. The coach tells them that everybody cheats so we have to. My first two years we went 11-0 and 9-0-1. My third year, (assistants Jimbo) Fisher and (Rick) Trickett said, "Hall is on the phone a lot with Lowder." I thought he was going back to cheating. I told Hall that when the season was over he needed to move on. I told Garner that I was taking him off coaching for a year. That was the beginning of the end for me.

Jimmy Rane was in on all of this. He is high maintenance. Three current Board of Trustees members gave cash to players - Rane, Spina and McWhorter. Jimmy is a wannabe, a jock sniffer, a loose cannon. He wants to be involved in everything.

After I fired Wayne, (athletic director David) Housel came on. I don't dislike David, but David would get his feelings hurt if I called Lowder. I told David what Wayne was doing. Lowder said (of Housel) "He's not a good AD, but he's my AD. "David Dideon compliance guy, Jay Jacobs parking passes, Tim Jackson tickets. All are GAF members. Gerald Leschuck was keeping Lowder informed.

By my last year I'm having my house checked for bugs. Danny Rane (son of Jimmy Rane and a walk-on Auburn player) was giving our practice tapes to Mississippi State, our opponent. Tommy Tuberville had been promised the job if we lost to Alabama in the game when we kicked the field goal here to win. After that season, I thought about taking the University of Texas job, but (Governor Fob) James was getting rid of Lowder. Then Lowder stayed on the Board and I was stuck. I thought then that I needed to win one more year and get out.

When I got here Lowder said don't talk to Muse, he's weak and his wife is a n----r lover. Lowder told me John Denson was trying to kill him.

The last week I was coach:

Monday – The Huntsville Tmes runs a story that says an undisclosed sources says that Bowden has lost the confidence of the Board of Trustees and he must win four of the last five games to keep his job. I lied to my staff and told them that I had talked to Lowder, the story was not true and everything was OK. I was trying to keep up morale.

Tuesday - (Defensive coordinator Bill) Oliver brings a hidden tape recorder into our coaches meeting. I believe this was because Lowder wanted to have proof that I told a lie about talking to him the day before.

Wednesday - I had a 7 a.m. meeting with Housel. He asked if I had seen the article in the Huntsville Times. He said he had talked to Lowder, and Lowder wanted me to know that he was the undisclosed source. He said he also wants you to know that he doesn't care if you win five of your next six, you're out. David said the only way I would keep my job was if Fob James wins (the governor's race).

Thursday - I brought in my lawyer, Ricky Davis, and said to David that I wanted to resign. He called Lowder while we at in his office and we worked out a settlement. Muse didn't even know. They were using Oliver. They were never going to hire him. When I resigned it shocked them.

AUburgeddon: Geno at ESPN weighs in: “But it doesn’t feel closed. It feels empty.”

One of ESPN’s best writers weighs in on the Cam Newton story, and as is typical with Woj’s opinion pieces, he leaves no arteries un-gashed. I usually provide some observations or snarky comments on opinion pieces like this, but this one deserves to be unsnarked.

Go read the whole thing. He starts off well and goes straight for the stars from there.

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Cam Newton is no longer on the Auburn campus, but the stench from his father Cecil's pay-for-play scheme and bungled cover-up still hovers over college football likes gases over a landfill.

The smell has Auburn, Mississippi State, the Southeastern Conference and even the Heisman Trophy Trust holding their noses. And depending on whether the NCAA has completed its investigation or not, perhaps its breath, too. There remains no closure, no neat bow on the Newton box.

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What matters is if money changed hands, if money was laundered and if Mississippi State was the only school approached by Cecil Newton. So far, nothing.

Of course, Auburn officials who know Cam Newton well say it's entirely possible that he didn't have a clue about his father's actions. He's a 10-year-old in a man's body. He's Tom Hanks in "Big," an innocent. He'd rather play with other kids than deal with adults.

That's what they say, at least.

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Auburgeddon and BingoGate: Feds closing in on new targets?

About two weeks from today, defense lawyers in the US v. McGregor et al case will get their first look at the unredacted wiretap binders and federal form FD-302’s. The prosecution alleges that these materials comprise compelling evidence that prominent casino owner, Auburn booster and state powerbroker Milton McGregor conspired with business partner Ronnie Gilley to bribe legislators into voting for an electronic gambling bill during the 2010 session of the Alabama Legislature.

Attorneys for Tom Coker, one of two lobbyists employed by McGregor, had asked the court for the unredacted materials late last year. The government didn’t strenuously object to rcomplying, but with one caveat—they could not release the materials until on or about January 31. 

The reason? Since the October 4 indictments and arrests of the McGregor Eleven, the feds had expanded their probe beyond the original scope of the gambling conspiracy indictments, and the contents of the binders and 302s could compromise the expanded investigation, according to court documents filed in the case. The prosecution indicated that the expanded probe would no longer be compromised if release of the wiretap binders and 302s were delayed until January 31.

A lot happened between the October 4 round up and Coker’s December 20 motion to compel access. From the standalone Timeline Page:

November 4, 2010

The ESPN Story breaks. Reporters Pat Forde, Chris Low and Mark Schlabach allege that Cecil Newton approached Mississippi State in a pay for play scheme involving his son, then Blinn Junior College Quarterback Cam Newton.

November 9, 2010

ESPN.com’s Joe Schad files a report, claiming that Mississippi State recruiters confirmed that a pay-for-play plan was discussed during two separate phone conversations. In one, Cam Newton told a MSU representative that he chose Auburn because the “money was too much.”

Sources: FBI becomes involved in the case.

November 11, 2010

In a wide ranging radio interview, Kenny Rogers fingers Cecil Newton as the originator of the pay-for-play scheme.

November 13, 2010

Cecil Newton admits to talking money, per a WSBTV report, but denies that Auburn, Cam or Cam’s mother were aware of his negotiations.

November 16, 2010

John Bond is interviewed by the FBI.

Sources say the FBI is also interested in links between McGregor and pay-for-play at Auburn. McGregor, through his attorney, denied involvement in the pay for play scheme.

On December 17, this blog explored links between defendants in the Alabama corruption scandal and the ongoing investigation into Auburn’s recruitment of Cam Newton. One of the defendants in the corruption trial—Robert Geddie—is a graduate of Auburn University and partner in the lobbying firm of Fine-Geddie. Fine-Geddie has a multimillion dollar relationship with the Auburn University Athletics fundraising organization, Tigers Unlimited Foundation.

Geddie is the other lobbyist hired by McGregor.

  It is also worth noting that current Auburn University Athletic Director Jay Jacobs was President of Tigers Unlimited, and that the foundation has flourished in part due to the financial support of former Colonial BancGroup CEO Bobby Lowder, the mega-Trustee and prominent Auburn booster.

As shown in the viral December 17 post, Sam Franklin—a prominent attorney in the state of Alabama and a partner of the law firm Lightfoot Franklin White—appears on the chop list of court documents filed in motions by the defense in the corruption probe. Franklin is also the chief counsel for Auburn in the NCAA probe, and represents Bobby Lowder in the multimillion dollar class action lawsuit filed by Colonial Bank employees.

This begs the question: Who, or what, is the target of the expanded criminal investigation that according to the prosecution, goes beyond the scope of the original October 4 indictments?

Is the federal government closing in on new criminal conspiracy?

DOJ is famously tight-lipped when it comes to discussing matters currently (or not) under investigation, so it is anybody’s guess as to what they may have uncovered and who the new players may (or may not) be. But isn’t it interesting that three parties to three separate matters—Auburn in the NCAA probe, Geddie in the BingoGate case and Lowder in the class action lawsuit—have all hired the same lawyer?

A lot of these questions could be answered in the next two weeks. But just as dramatically, a lot more questions may be asked.

Getcha some popcorn, sports fans. This one might be headed to over time.

Update: The wiretap binders are due today, January 18. The unredacted 302s are due on January 31.

 

What they’re saying: Sportswriters react to Auburn’s title win

In response to the 734,849,595 emails, tweets and comments seeking my own reaction as a Bama fan and blogger—I didn’t really care who won or lost. I didn’t have a dog in the fight but as a college football fan I was compelled to watch.  It’s also worth pointing out that I did pick Auburn to win it before it was fashionable to do so. I also identified them as the team to beat the SEC West. I probably would  have pulled for them last night, if not for the overwhelming sense that someone is cheating and getting away with it. I’m not the only one expressing that sense, either.

On with the roundup.

• Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com: This season, there is no asterisk. The Tigers have to hold their breath until the NCAA concludes its investigation of quarterback Cam Newton. But Auburn finished 14-0. The Tigers got the chance to play for the national championship. They won the game as time expired. They needed every last second of this season to exorcise the what-if ghosts of the previous 53 seasons. (ed note: No asterisk yet)
• Pat Forde, ESPN: It was a game of ethical flinches. Watching Cam Newton get a confetti bath did not qualify as the feel-good moment of the season for anyone other than title-starved Tigers fans and greedy Southeastern Conference backers, who will keep the crystal football in their neighborhood for an unprecedented fifth straight season. The Auburn quarterback withstood an interception, a lost fumble and a wince-inducing back injury to flash one more winner's smile.
• Pete Thamel, New York Times: But Auburn cannot lock the crystal championship trophy in a case until the N.C.A.A. finishes the Newton investigation. The N.C.A.A. enforcement staff has been looking into Newton’s recruitment for at least four months. If it finds that he or his family committed violations, he could be ruled ineligible retroactively and Auburn could be forced to vacate its season.
• Steve Weiberg, USA Today:  In a little more than three hours Monday night, it was settled. Cam Newton and Michael Dyer thrust. Darron Thomas and LaMichael James parried. And a new national champion was anointed in University of Phoenix Stadium, with Auburn's 22-19 win over Oregon closing one of the most fitful seasons of college football in recent history.  Deep breath now…
• Mike Freeman, CBS Sports:  His career -- and life -- will go down as one of the more interesting turnaround stories in college sports history. Because of a misguided father with an alleged hand out, Newton's life went under a microscope. There were the stories about his past, other unproven accusations, and he faced a nation of smirks. Since the SEC sometimes stands for Send Extra Cash, many assume Newton and his dad were in on the alleged con together.  … The father was convicted by the NCAA. The son was found guilty by a public whose confidence in the integrity of the system has been stripped bare.
• Thayer Evans, FOX Sports: And it’s because of Cecil Newton Sr. that you have to wonder whether Auburn will keep its national championship or eventually be stripped of it due to NCAA violations.  That was the last thing on Auburn’s mind after Monday night’s victory, but the first question for the rest of college football. “We know everything is right,” defensive tackle Mike Blanc said. “We know everything that’s going on.” But the reality is something different. The NCAA’s enforcement investigation into Newton’s recruitment is ongoing.
• Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated: Of course, this win-at-all-costs attitude can make for some rather messy situations. Auburn won the national title Monday, but the Tigers will always be remembered as controversial champions because quarterback Cam Newton's father tried to sell him to Mississippi State for $180,000. Logic would dictate that a player for sale to one school is for sale to all schools, but no one has found evidence of any wrongdoing by anyone at Auburn. The NCAA continues to investigate, though.  "Nothing is ever over, because you never know what tomorrow holds," Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said late Monday. "But as far as this issue goes, I have no reservation whatsoever. Cameron has always told the truth and never done anything wrong."

There is a distinctly unsettled air about this season, and for good reason. It’s been a roller coaster ride of investigation after investigation. Schools affected by agent and eligibility issues include North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama and the biggest, juiciest of all—the one at Auburn. Shades of USC were inevitably raised, since that school was hit with some of the worst sanctions in the history of the planet earlier this year. The school will likely lose its 2004 BCS Title, and the center of the story, Reggie Bush, surrendered his Heisman Trophy.

One wonders if a repeat is in store.

 

AUBurgeddon: Thayer Evans keeps it coming (UPDATED)

Scroll down for updates.

It looks like College Park, Georgia isn’t the only place that Auburn football has had a curious degree of success in recruiting. Fox Sports’ Thayer Evans has another story out today, this one detailing the exploits of the AU coaching staff in luring two key recruits from the bayou town of Thibodaux, Louisiana.

I spent a lot of time in that area doing hurricane recovery work between 2007 and 2009. Those people bleed purple and gold. But what have we got, here?

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Inside the superstore are racks of purple and gold Tigers T-shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants. And in the automotive department in the back, one of LSU’s biggest fans, Sean Nelson, works as an oil-change technician.

This outpost of 14,431 sits in the heart of LSU country, just 70 miles southeast of the Tigers’ campus and 60 miles southwest of New Orleans. It’s known as a fertile football recruiting ground, where the Tigers traditionally claim the best prospects.

But a Tiger of different stripes has been on the prowl in Thibodaux recently: the Auburn Tigers. And when they play Oregon in Monday’s BCS title game, wide receiver Trovon Reed, the top-ranked player in Louisiana last year, will be standing on their sideline, having redshirted this season because of injury.

Slated to join Reed at Auburn next season is another Thibodaux High star, offensive tackle Greg Robinson. One of the nation’s top-rated offensive line prospects, Robinson committed to the Tigers last month, much to the displeasure of some family members.

The common denominator between Reed and Robinson is Nelson. Many people here are upset about their beloved LSU losing out on such highly touted players, especially to a rival SEC program, and some wonder whether Nelson steered them to Auburn for personal gain.

…

Former Thibodaux High coach Dennis Lorio says several coaches and students saw Robinson show off cash and a new iPhone at school after a visit to Auburn. Robinson wrote in a Facebook message in July that he got the phone when "I came to Alabama.”

“How did players from Thibodaux, La., become so interested in Auburn?” Lorio asks. “That’s a really good question. Trooper Taylor and Sean Nelson would know.”

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Sean Nelson is one of LSU’s biggest fans? Hmm. Apparently not. OutsideTheLines at RollBamaRoll.com went looking for Mr. Nelson’s Facebook page, found it, and has a few interesting screenshots to share.

There’s more at the link, and there’s some foul language in there so be warned that it may be NSFW.

But clearly, Thayer Evans was misled by Mr. Nelson. He’s Auburn through and through.

All in, you might say.

h/t DawnBarb

UPDATE: The Evans piece describes Nelson’s non-profit in considerable detail. However, a search of the Louisiana Secretary of State’s database does not produce results for Total Package, Inc. Nor does a search for the agent/officer name Sean Nelson.

 

 

BCS Championship Game Tickets: Ticket Liquidator still has’em

al.com—the Alabama state media cartel—has a story in this morning’s edition of three of the state’s largest daily papers lamenting the plight of fans’ inability to score tickets to the BCS Championship Game on Monday night, pitting the Auburn Tigers against the Oregon Ducks:

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Eric Varnadore believed in the Auburn football team so much that he bought tickets to watch the Tigers in the BCS national championship game when they still had major hurdles to get there.  

"We were counting on Auburn beating Georgia, then going to Tuscaloosa and win, and then winning the SEC championship," Varnadore said. "On Nov. 9, we made a $1,500 bet that has paid off in nothing but heartache." 

That's because on Nov. 9 he bought four tickets to the BCS national championship game on eBay as an anniversary trip for his wife, plus two friends. But he hasn't gotten—and most likely won't get—the tickets. 

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Another story in the Mobile Press-Register has a disgruntled ticket buyer filing a lawsuit against a ticket broker in Birmingham over a ticket buying SNAFU.

They should have gone to TicketLiquidator.com. The outlet still has tickets, but they’re not cheap. Some of those available are being sold by the outlet’s most trusted sellers.

Here’s a snapshot of their offerings, which were still online at press time for this post (9:40 AM CST). Click the snapshot to visit the site (caveat: TicketLiquidator.com is a sponsor of this blog).