Auburn players accused of armed robbery apparently chose their victims at random

There’s a story in this morning’s Dothan Eagle that indicates the four former Auburn football players who stand accused of armed robbery chose their victims at random. Clay Stewart, a 20-year old student at a community college near Auburn, didn’t appear to know the players. It’s also clear that, if Stewart is telling the truth, the players were not after anyone or anything in particular.

This blog had received reports that the victims were known to their assailants but this is apparently not the case.

It appears now that this was a random act of violent thuggery.

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“My friends were doing math and engineering homework, and I had just pressed play on a movie when we heard the knock at the door,” Stewart said. “We opened the door and there were people with guns.”

Stewart, a graduate of Rehobeth High School, was one of several victims in the March 11 robbery at a residence in Auburn. Authorities captured four men shortly after the robbery. Police later determined all four of the suspects were players on the Auburn University football team. All four players, Antonio Goodwin, Shaun Kitchens, Mike McNeil and Dakota Mosley, were later dismissed from the team.

Stewart vividly remembers the events that unfolded that evening at his friend’s house around 11 p.m. He recalled how some of the men who entered the home had shirts over their heads, and wore what he referred to as football player “receiver-like gloves.”

“I thought it was a joke at first. I just didn’t expect it, and then they started yelling,” Stewart said. “One of them walked right up to me, and put the gun in my face. They destroyed the rooms and dumped stuff out everywhere.”

Stewart recalled how one of the men had a cast on his arm from an injury, and wore a long necklace with a cross similar to a rosary during the robbery. Police were able to match the suspects’ description given from the five victims to four men stopped in a vehicle shortly after the robbery.

Court records indicate all five suspects, including Godwin, 20, of Georgia, Kitchens, 19, of Georgia, McNeil, 22, of Auburn, and Mosley, 19, of Auburn, were charged with five counts of felony first-degree robbery, felony first-degree burglary and misdemeanor theft of property.

“I was nervous at first, but I was mostly just mad because there was nothing I could do to protect myself. It was real fast, they were only there maybe five or six minutes,” Stewart said. “I don’t know why they chose us. They didn’t even get anything besides a couple of cell phones, and the safe. But it was empty.”

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This is not just an Auburn thing. If you read the Sports Illustrated/CBS story published earlier this month, criminal activity—often violent criminal activity—has seemingly erupted at college campuses across the country, and many of the violations are alleged to have been perpetrated by student-athletes. Some publications countered that the SI/CBS story wasn’t “fair,”  noting that the percentage of college athletes with criminal backgrounds is probably less than the national average for people of the same age, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

The point still stands however that incidents like the one that occurred in an Auburn trailer park are damaging to the sport of college football and particularly damaging to the image of the average student athlete.

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Drop it like it’s hot: Katie Couric gone?

Maybe so, according to the Daily Beast. 

Howard Kurtz is no anonymous source. He’s the host of CNN’s Reliable Sources and has written for the Washington Post. He’s also written five books on the news media and is currently the Washington Bureau Chief for Daily Beast.

At the outset, most critics thought she’d be ill suited for the job of anchoring a 30 minute evening news show on one of the three major broadcast networks.

You follow people like Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather with an ad-libbing, free flowing host of Today and you’re taking a major gamble.

CBS thought the gamble would pay off, but it hasn’t. While Couric remains as photogenic as she ever was and remains a very good interviewer, that stint on the CBS Evening News was too confining. The broadcast’s ratings plummeted and there were some instances where even cable’s Fox News were threatening to overtake it.  That’s a bitter pill to swallow for CBS.

Anyone who can break it down like she famously did in this photo is probably not well suited for such a … structured … broadcast. Can’t feel the beat, if you know what I mean.

Another thing that struck critics was her reported $15 million annual salary at a time when CBS was cutting bureau staffs and looking for ways to save money in the face of relentless competition from both cable on on line news outlets.

But don’t cry for Katie. She’ll land on her feet somewhere and as Kurtz explains, she’s already looking at opportunities to compete with Oprah Winfrey.

Exit Question:  Would you, or would you not?  And you know what I’m asking.

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Speechless: Preserving rolls of toilet paper in a museum?

How are people living outside the 334 area code supposed to react to this? 

This is a story that I wish I’d made up and used for one of the satirical posts you see here from time to time.  But apparently, you can’t make this stuff up. Sometimes the truth is crazier than fiction. Funnier, too.

Artifacts from Toomer’s Corner

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AUBURN - When members of the Auburn Family learned the 130-year-old oaks at Toomer's Corner had been poisoned and were not likely to survive, they responded with a spontaneous outpouring of both grief and high hopes for the health of the trees and the determination that the senseless crime would not break the Auburn spirit.

Many items were placed at the base of the oaks in tribute to what the historic trees have come to symbolize. They included personal articles, signs, get-well wishes from small children and moving tributes from current and former students. As efforts began in earnest to do everything possible to save the trees, the items had to be cleared away.

The Auburn University Libraries' Special Collections and Archives Department made the decision to collect and preserve the items and treat them as artifacts for a special collection as a way to preserve this trying chapter in Auburn's history. The collection is unique in that most of the items fall well outside the norm for the average archival artifact.

"I'm not sure anyone has ever tried to archivally preserve a roll of toilet paper with writing on it," said Greg Schmidt, special collections librarian at Auburn University Libraries. "Toilet paper is meant to break down and is a very delicate medium for the written word. We have many such rolls collected from the Toomer's Corner oaks, and ensuring they last in our archives is going to be a challenge."

The public will have an opportunity to view many of these newest pieces of Auburn history at a special exhibit that will be housed in Ralph Brown Draughon Library during A-Day activities on Saturday, April 16. Details about the exhibition will be announced in early April.

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I can’t believe that anyone would so solemnly discuss “archivally preserving” rolls of toilet paper, or speaking of the stuff we wipe our asses with as a “delicate medium for the written word,” or even discussing the “challenge” of preserving it. Ick, people.

What’s equally amazing is that they’re planning a special exhibit, open to the public on A-Day.

How is anyone supposed to take you seriously?

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BingoGate: Capel to rule on admissibility of wiretap evidence

A friend of this blog attended the afternoon session of yesterday’s hearing on the admissibility of the wiretap evidence in USA vs. McGregor et al. US Magistrate Judge Wallace Capel presided. The hearing was a continuation of hearings held February 28 through March 3, also before Capel.

Defendants in the case want the wiretap evidence suppressed, arguing that the government exceeded its authority, ignored its own protocols and violated the defendants Constitutional rights. They make an interesting argument that since some of the conversations involved were  privileged and should not have been recorded, all of the evidence is tainted and should not be used at trial. I noted very early in this process that this was the moment of greatest peril in the government's case. I also noted that the prosecution team had a bad apple on board in Brenda Morris, who was part of the team that botched the Ted Stevens prosecution in Alaska, in part by mishandling evidence.

Throughout the process of discovery—in which the prosecution shares the evidence it will use at trial—the defense has complained that the government has not been forthcoming or complete in providing the defense with key materials, chiefly the wiretap evidence.

FBI Agent Doug Carr was the headline of yesterday’s event, undergoing rigorous questioning by defense attorneys regarding procedures and protocols governing how investigators chose which calls to listen to and record, and which calls were deemed privileged and “muted.”

At the end of the hearing, Assistant US Attorney Steve Feaga gave the government's summation, told Judge Capel that the technology used to perform the wiretapping was new, and that some mistakes were made, both in how the conversations were tapped in in the discovery process. However, he vigorously denied that this issues “rise to the level of prejudice” and require suppression.

Our friend at the hearing made note of one key exchange between Judge Capel and Milton McGregor’s attorney, Ben Espy. Capel asked Espy if there were any cases he could cite that would allow him to suppress all the wiretaps because of discovery issues. Espy answered that there were not. This is important because as a Magistrate Judge, Capel is less likely to render a precedent-setting decision. Thus, I’m pretty confident now that Capel will deny the motions to suppress the evidence, citing a lack of precedent for doing so, while also noting the problems related to the new technology and discovery issues and chastising the government for its less than stellar performance in complying with his rulings.

Capel’s ruling could come at anytime, perhaps this afternoon or early next week. But note well that I thought the ruling would have been rendered weeks ago, so there’s that…

The defense is almost certain to appeal, and District Judge Myron Thompson will render his decision before the trial date of June 6.

One thing that shouldn’t have to be cleared up, but needs to be anyway: There is a wacko blogger out there claiming that Magistrate Judge Wallace Capel is not eligible to serve as a Magistrate because he isn’t licensed by the Alabama State Bar.

A US Magistrate Judge is a judicial officer of the District Court and, upon the recommendation of a merit selection committee is appointed by majority vote of the active District Judges of the Court to exercise jurisdiction over matters assigned by statute as well as those delegated by the District Judges.  To suggest that Chief District Judge Mark Fuller or Chief Magistrate Judge Susan Walker would allow an unqualified individual to serve as a Magistrate Judge is laughable. To suggest that District Judge Myron Thompson would allow an ineligible Magistrate to handle important pretrial matters in one of the largest cases before his Court is equally ridiculous.

Exit Question: Don’t the people making this claim have something else to do, like tracking down the Russian mob trying to infiltrate Alabama’s political system, or something?

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The Bandit Cartoon on Ralph Nader’s “fix” for college sports

The BanditRef’s cartoons are becoming some of my favorite material.

The latest is below. Yesterday, left wing loony Ralph Nader suggested that colleges should end the practice of using athletic scholarships, claiming that it would “de-professionalize” college sports.

What it would do is destroy college sports by removing the incentives to compete.

Bandit gets it:

 

Visit the biodegradable BanditRef here.

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Auburn can’t catch a break: New suit against Athletic Dept alleges racial discrimination

From John Zenor, AP Correspondent covering Alabama, Auburn and SEC Sports, comes this report. Auburn, it seems, just can’t catch its breath before something else comes out regarding its athletic department, the school’s boosters and alumni, its hallowed trees at Toomer’s Corner or players accused of criminal wrongdoing.

Zenor explains that Auburn University has been sued by nine former employees for racial discrimination. The case is called Chandler et al vs. Auburn University, case #3:11-cv-00218-TFM. It’s been assigned to Terry F. Moorer, US Magistrate Judge for the District Court of Middle Alabama.

Complaints filed in cases like this always go a little heavy on the accusation of wrongdoing, and this one is no different.  According to Zenor:

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"All plaintiffs aver that the race discrimination practiced against them has been systematic, endemic and reflective of a long-term practice of intentional race discrimination practiced by defendant Auburn University against black employees, especially in the Athletic Department," the suit states.

It alleges discrimination against them in receiving promotions and in their pay level compared to white employees, who also allegedly were allowed more overtime than black employees. But the complaints also range from a receptionist not forwarding email to a black employee and the allocation of football tickets.

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A federal lawsuit under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act is a very serious matter. In order for such a suit to proceed in Federal Court, the plaintiffs have to file their complaint first with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC then makes a determination as to whether the plaintiffs have a likelihood of prevailing based on its review of the allegations and evidence.

The plaintiffs filed their complaint in June of last year and were cleared to file their litigation before the case was placed on the docket today.

I honestly don’t recall the defending national champions ever having to deal with such a constant flow of bad news. They’re only two months removed from beating Oregon in the BCS National Championship Game, and they’ve had five players kicked off the team for serious legal transgressions. They had a crazed, rogue Bama fan commit attempted herbicide on the two ancient, revered oaks at Toomer’s Corner. Two graduates and one booster stand trial in federal court on bribery and conspiracy charges. The NCAA is actively investigating the school’s recruitment practices, and now this.

Good heavens, what could possibly go wrong next?  I’m a diehard Bama fan and I haven’t pulled many punches in my coverage of AuburnGate. But I don’t hate. Remember, I picked them as the darkhorse contender in the SEC west before Kirk Herbstreit made it fashionable to do so, and I also picked them to beat Oregon in the BCSCG. But at this point, my sense of Schadenfreude is starting to make me feel a little guilty.

Nahh. ;)

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Ralph Nader wants to “de-professionalize” college sports and remove scholarships

Stupid leftists. The one thing that completely escapes the leftist world view is that without incentives, people will not compete and will not attempt to better themselves. The profit motive creates incentives for businesses to develop new products and compete with their rivals in the marketplace. Incentives are also the reason why individuals, properly compensated, work harder and more efficiently to be better employees. 

The incentive created in high school athletics by the opportunity to earn a college scholarship creates better football, better basketball, better soccer, even better lacrosse players.  They work harder. They play harder. They study more film and learn the playbooks backwards and forwards. They make better grades in their high school coursework in order to qualify academically to play for a major college athletics program because they know that when their body of work in high school is good enough, their college is paid for.

This is a great opportunity for people in challenging social, geographic and demographic situations to overcome obstacles, gain a college degree, and break out of the mold that a leftist, overly controlling society has cast for them. It puts them at the same competitive level as people with many more advantages and in many cases, their athletic ability allows them to win a competition that they otherwise might not even be allowed to enter.

Ralph Nader doesn’t like young black men or young Hispanic women working so hard to better their lots in life. He calls that “professionalization,” and he wants to eliminate the incentives. He wants “needs based” scholarships to replace those awarded on a competitive nature.

Sound familiar?

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In a higher phase of communist society, after the enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labor, and therewith also the antithesis between mental and physical labor, has vanished; after labor has become not only a means of life but life's prime want; after the productive forces have also increased with the all-around development of the individual, and all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly—only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. – Karl Marx

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College athletics has reached the zenith it’s on primarily because of the competitive nature of the system and the ability of its players to better themselves through competition. Destroy those incentives and you destroy everything we love about college sports.

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Could a criminal organization gain control of a major college athletics program?

With billions of dollars at stake in lucrative media deals, gear/apparel sponsorships, season ticket packages and memorabilia sales, you almost have to wonder how this hasn’t happened yet. Or, maybe it has happened and we haven’t had anyone pull back the curtain to see who’s really running things.

In January 2006, ESPN’s Mike Fish ran a story highlighting some of the most influential boosters associated with major college athletics programs. In that story, Fish outlines how a number of wealthy, powerful individuals have gained unprecedented access and influence at some of the country’s largest and most elite college sports organizations.

Wouldn’t that also be a roadmap for a criminal enterprise to gain access, influence and eventually, control?

Throughout the 20th century, the notorious five mafia families systematically infiltrated and gained control over industries such as construction, garbage collection, trucking, gambling, hotel & casino operations and others. If there was an industry making money in 20th Century America, you were sure to see the mob either gaining influence and control, or in near complete control.  Relentless federal prosecutions during the latter part of the century essentially emasculated the mafia and severely reduced its influence. But where there’s money to be made, there’s going to be crime.

And there’s lots and lots of money in college athletics.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, the University of Miami was sliding down a slippery slope. Investigative reports by the Miami Herald and Sports Illustrated produced stories of sexual misconduct, hundreds of thousands in improper pay-for-play benefits, drugs, guns and a major college athletics program infested with a thuggish street culture associated with drug dealers and rap stars. The school gave the term Miami Vice a whole new meaning.  There was no proof or allegation that an organized criminal enterprise had seized control of the program, but it sure seemed headed in that direction. In 1995, the NCAA hammered the school with severe sanctions that many still believe lie at the heart of the program’s inability to return and remain at the elite level it had achieved under Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson.

Last October, The Tuskegee News’ Paul Davis outlined a business relationship between Auburn University’s Tigers Unlimited Foundation—once headed by current Athletic Director Jay Jacobs—and super-lobbyist Robert Geddie. Geddie was one of 11 people indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and extortion. Also indicted were Auburn booster and casino owner Milton McGregor and Auburn graduate Jarrod Massey. Massey has since pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors in the case. But even the casual observer should note that the current athletic director of a major college sports program has a documented business relationship with a man scheduled to go on trial in federal court in June. It is impossible to conclusively state that the university has been infiltrated by a criminal enterprise, but when so many faces start showing up in the same unusual places, it has to make fans nervous.

How vulnerable are these programs to being taken over by crooks?

I asked that question of a retired Division I Athletic Director, and his answer wasn’t damning, but neither was it reassuring. “The governing authority of major college athletics—the NCAA—is a voluntary organization. It is supposed to be self-policing and relies on member institutions to ‘play by the rules’ and self-report their own violations. So, if you have a collection of ne’er do wells hell-bent on taking over, and remember their entire business model is based on lawlessness and rule-breaking, then yes, it could happen. I don’t think it has and I don’t think it will, but to say it can’t happen is to be somewhat naive and foolish.”

I also asked GMAN-1104—an IBCR co-blogger and retired federal prosecutor—what he thought about the possibility. “If you’re asking me if the mob or some other organized crime outfit could invade college sports, I’d say they’re already involved. Maybe not in controlling a program, but certainly so in trying to fix games for gambling. Every time I know of that federal authorities have gotten involved in situations where there’s rule-breaking in college sports, it’s been about gambling.”

Are you getting a little queasy?

Remember, the NCAA Enforcement staff has absolutely no subpoena power and can’t compel anyone to testify. They can’t make anyone produce documents or provide evidence. The farther removed from the institution an individual or organization is, the less motivation they have for cooperating. Add to this the chaotic nature of the way the NCAA interprets and enforces its own rules, and you have a situation that seems ripe for the introduction of high-level criminal activity.

The self-policing aspect of NCAA membership means that the chances of getting caught are much smaller than with other money-making enterprises. There’s no individual punishment for those not directly tied to or employed by the university. And, the chaotic, every-case-is-different approach to interpretation and enforcement might mean everyone walks free even when everyone knows that rules were shattered and laws broken.

Ah, but NCAA rules violations aren’t violations of federal law, right?

Some are, some are not. Any violation of federal law would result in corresponding violation of NCAA rules, but the relationship is not reciprocal. Paying a player is not against federal law. But extorting a player or forcing him/her to play for a particular program would likely run afoul of several federal statutes. A group of crooked boosters bribing high school coaches may or may not get attention from federal authorities, but that would be what NCAA rules terms a “lack of institutional control.”

At any rate, until someone talks or comes forward with evidence, nothing would likely be done to the perpetrators at either level. So could it happen?  Yes. 

The billion dollar Exit Question: Is it happening?  Bada bing, bada boom, baby.

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BREAKING: Ray Perkins to McGill Toolen Catholic High School

Per Randy Kennedy, Mobile Press-Register Sports Editor.

Speaking today on WNSP’s Sports Drive (105.5 FM, Mobile, Alabama), Ray Perkins has reportedly been offered the head coaching job at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, and he has agreed to the deal in principle.

McGill-Toolen Catholic is Mobile’s only Catholic High School and current AHSAA Director Steve Savarese coached there.

Kennedy said that before the show goes off the air tonight at 6:00 pm, the Press-Register and WNSP hoped to have a more definitive statement.

I hope McT understands what kind of guy Perkins is. When he was the Head Coach at Alabama, he once learned that there was a sports writer in Dothan who liked him.

Perkins legendarily drove from Tuscaloosa to the Wiregrass, just to piss that reporter off.

UPDATE March 30, 2011:Perkins has taken his name out of consideration for the job, according to Bob Grip of WALA Fox 10 News.

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Slow news day: So how about some random links of varying interest?

From Endless Simmer, all 68 teams in the NCAA men’s Division I basketball tournament, ranked by their best “drunk food.” They’ll BBQ anything in Memphis, but… BBQ tofu?

This convinces me that my wife is trying to kill me for the insurance money!

From DeadSpin, a fascinating look at Bruce Pearl before he became the Tennessee Con Man, but includes a look at Mike Slive. “[He] is a snake who tried to force feed me words,” said Jimmy Collins.

Dude… She’d probably have to shoot me, too.

Leftists love blaming capitalism for almost anything. From earthquakes damaging nuclear reactors to ending life on Mars.

College students would have starved if God hadn’t invented Ramen Noodles.  Here are 30 hacks to upgrade the venerable staple.

From Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight, an interesting look at the Big East’s face plant in the 2011 Men’s March Madness.

Auburn starts spring practice with lots of questions and lots of holes to fill.

Alabama has questions too, but the defense isn’t one of them.

Speaking of, the official SEC Schedule is out. Plan family gatherings, weddings and funerals accordingly.

Got any other cool stories or WTF links?

Send them to me on Twitter or Facebook, or drop them in the comment section below.