Pimps, Agents, and Hypocrisy
Just about every sports blog on the Internet has been covering the three-ringed circus that is SEC media days. But before we comment on the issue with the agents and the hypocrisy of someone like Nick Saban calling someone else a pimp, we want to point out something that appears to have flown under the radar everywhere except over at Tony Gerdeman's weekly installment of The Week that Was.
It appears that Nick Saban might have had a slip of the tongue with regards to the Andre Smith agent situation from a couple of years ago while at SEC media days.
As you would expect, this has been the main topic of discussion from the SEC media days, and it's left us with some pretty interesting quotes.
Nick Saban talked quite a bit about the agents and his program, and before he got to his now famous pimp analogy, he said this about former offensive tackle Andre Smith:
“We had an issue a couple years ago with Smitty who got suspended for the Sugar Bowl. You know, we probably could have prosecuted the guy. But in prosecuting the guy that did wrong, we would have put our institution in jeopardy - possibly - from an NCAA standpoint. We didn't do it. But then the same guy is standing in line trying to give our players money this past year and nothing gets done about it. It's not a good situation.”
I'm a bit confused here. Back in late 2008, after suspending Smith for the Tide's bowl game, Saban labeled the situation as an “institutional matter” and “not an NCAA matter”. Now he's saying that had they chosen to prosecute the agent involved, things could have been exposed that could have put Alabama—a school that is currently on probation for another two years—“in jeopardy”? But I thought it wasn't “an NCAA matter”? Does this mean the university covered things up, or just decided not to report them? Either way, it seems a bit hinky.
http://www.the-ozone.net/football/2010/summer/weekthatwas10_07_23.html
Like Tony, we are confused as well. Why would there be any reason to be concerned about putting Alabama in jeopardy? Jeopardy of what? The NCAA finding something else going on? Sure wish he would expound upon that one. Furthermore, Tony is exactly right, was the Andre Smith issue an institutional matter or an NCAA matter, and why is Saban not being consistent in his labeling of the situation?
Not trying to read between the lines, but it sure sounds like Alabama elected not to prosecute the agent involved with Smith out of fear for what might happen to Alabama had there been a full-blown investigation. It also sounds like they decided to allow the same agent back on campus, knowing full well what he did and how wrong they believed it was at the time (and that is not speculation on our part). Now the guy is back on campus and still trying to offer money and Alabama does nothing? Sorry, but that doesn't pass the sniff test. Why not throw him and the rest of them out? Why not do the right thing ETHICALLY and shut these guys out? Oh that's right, there is not an NCAA rule prohibiting this activity so no law is being broken, never mind, move along.
Regardless, the situation with Andre Smith is really not related to oversigning, we just thought it was very interesting how that part of Saban's SEC media days speech flew completely under the radar.
Now on to the portion of Saban's speech that does pertain to oversigning. First off, we had to chuckle listening to Saban criticize sports agents for acting like pimps. Coming from a man that earns $4MM a year to lure high school boys to come play at his school and then shops them to every NFL agent in the country by running the most agent friendly campus in the country, even the agents that have screwed his own players and his school in the past are still welcome back, we can only laugh at the irony of Saban claiming someone else is being a pimp. Please.
Here again from Tony Gerdeman's article, we found this to be the best way to interpret exactly what Saban was saying at media days.
Okay, now we're going to get to the “pimp part”, but when you read what Saban says, I want you to imagine he's talking about oversigning and when he says “agents”, replace that with “coaches”.
“It's something that is affecting college football in a negative way. It's affecting college football fans. It's affecting a lot of people.”
“I mean, the consequences are negative for them [the players] and their future. They'll probably not get drafted as high as they could have got drafted if they played and participated.”
“I don't think it's anything but greed that is creating it right now on behalf of the agents. Agents that do this, I hate to say this, but how are they any better than a pimp? I have no respect for people who do that to young people, none. I mean, none. How would you feel if they did it to your child?”
Pretty interesting, eh?
I absolutely love the irony of Nick Saban calling agents pimps for the way they treat the players. This is the same guy who is famous for oversigning recruits every single year because he knows that by the time the next fall camp starts, he'll have kicked his lowest earners to the curb to make room for better looking prospects.
Hearing Saban complain about the runners for these agents who try to entice these players reminds me of coaches who hire high school coaches of prospective recruits to help out at their camps. You know, kind of like Nick Saban does. For instance, why on earth would Saban need a high school coach from Springfield, Ohio to help out at his camp. Is there some specific technique that only he knows how to coach? Wouldn't it be cheaper just to have somebody local do it? Don't they have enough coaches in the south to help out? And was it just a coincidence that Saban is targeting a highly-recruited linebacker from that same Springfield school?
I'm not saying these high school coaches are runners (not all of them, at least), but I highly doubt they go back with negative things to say when prompted by their players.
Basically, Saban calling agents pimps is more ironic than Houston Nutt making fun of somebody else's accent.
http://www.the-ozone.net/football/2010/summer/weekthatwas10_07_23.html
Does Nick Saban really have any business commenting on agents and referring to them as pimps? Maybe it was the old saying that sometimes it is easier to see the things we don't like about ourselves in others and it's even easier to call them out about it than it is to look ourselves in the mirror and admit that we don't like what we see.
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July 24th, 2010 - 16:56
“Not trying to read between the lines, but….”
Then the halfwit starts making it up. The vendetta continues, at least until Ohio State wins a bowl game against the SEC.
July 24th, 2010 - 18:28
Why don’t you read more than just this blog concerning oversigning in the SEC? There must be a huge vendetta beyond just Buckeye fans (not that there is a vendetta here).
July 25th, 2010 - 07:02
As a fan from a school (Ohio State) that gets plenty of scrutiny and misplaced blame I know better than to believe everything I read on the internet. So let’s just look only at the direct quote from Saban,
“We had an issue a couple years ago with Smitty who got suspended for the Sugar Bowl. You know, we probably could have prosecuted the guy. But in prosecuting the guy that did wrong, we would have put our institution in jeopardy – possibly – from an NCAA standpoint. We didn’t do it. But then the same guy is standing in line trying to give our players money this past year and nothing gets done about it. It’s not a good situation.”
The NCAA requires all schools to self report any possible violations. How can you read this quote and not come to the conclusion that the only reason they didn’t prosecute the agent was because of a possible NCAA violation? Shouldn’t they have self reported?
If I am taking Saban out of context can you please explain what this quote means?
July 25th, 2010 - 10:58
I don’t know what Saban meant. My guess is that he meant going after an agent would have resulted in all kinds of discovery that could possibly have turned up other player interactions with agents. I don’t think that suggests that he knows of any violations or even suspects any, but if he’s honest he can’t say for certainty that there aren’t any because he can’t watch all the players 24/7. I doubt any coach in the country would want his team in the middle of a trial with charges, depositions, etc., any more than any of us welcome an audit from the IRS no matter how scrupulous we are about our taxes.
As you suggest, just about any public figure is going to make enough comments that critics can take a couple of sentences and make a big deal out of them. See what happened with Shirley Sherrod of the Agriculture Department.
The big comment that got played last week was Saban comparing rogue agents to pimps. He didn’t make the remark until the 2nd or 3rd question was asked about agents, and he made an effort to differentiate legitimate agents from the sleazy ones. The full transcript of his remarks is linked below. I think most people who have any capacity for objectivity would find his remarks to be reasonable.
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=12847758
July 25th, 2010 - 12:05
“Capacity for objectivity”. I like the expression, but I believe I also no better than to expect that here.
July 25th, 2010 - 12:05
Know
July 26th, 2010 - 16:53
I have no vendetta at all against Alabama and I can read the quote and take the meaning to being the same thing as Josh. It really just seems like you guys have blinders on and are NOT actually ‘listening’ rather than ‘hearing’
July 24th, 2010 - 17:01
“I don’t want to know what you know.”
Jim Tressel to one of his players who had been paid under the table at Youngstown State (from a booster Tressel had suggested get in contact with the player).
July 24th, 2010 - 18:26
I will ask you again, is Ohio State on probation? Have they ever been?
July 24th, 2010 - 19:57
No, but Bama’s been on probation 4 times in 15 years. Yikes!
July 24th, 2010 - 21:43
Exactly
July 25th, 2010 - 06:41
Nice editing. The quote is from Ray Isaac, who was a witness in Michael Monus’ fraud trial. The former YSU player said, “This is what I know….” Tressel’s full response was,
“I don’t want to know what you know,” Tressel said. “Just tell them the truth.”
That sounds more like the Jim Tressel I know.
From the ESPN article – “Isaac was under investigation by the FBI for tampering with the lone juror who had refused to convict Monus in his first corporate fraud trial. Facing 17 years in prison unless he squealed on Monus, his sugar daddy, Isaac wanted Tressel’s advice.”
The quote was regarding jury tampering and not about the money that Isaac took from Monus while he was the quarterback at Youngstown State. I don’t fault Jim Tressel for not wanting to know more. If Isaac had told him everything then he might have then ended up on the stand as a witness himself. He gave the best advice you can give to anyone in that situation … tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may.
The article where this quote was surgically extracted is at http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1920867
July 25th, 2010 - 11:17
I’ve read that article before and it’s not one I’d cite in defense of Tressel. I don’t remember meeting that guy, oh wait, maybe I did meet him. The article paints a picture of a guy who wanted to have culpable deniability of any wrongdoing, not somebody who wanted to live by the “spirit of the rules” as Joshua frequently yaps about. According to the story, Tressel put Mickey Monus in touch with his QB and let Monus stand on the sidelines during games. From the Wikipedia entry on Monus (http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=12847758):
“Monus was eventually convicted of having embezzled $10 million.
[He] was convicted of one count of conspiracy, two counts of bank fraud, five counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, two counts of filing false income tax returns tax evasion, 96 counts of interstate transportation of stolen property fence (criminal) (money) and one count of obstruction of justice.[7]
Monus was found guilty on the government’s second attempt to try him; the first trial ended in a hung jury. He was later charged with jury tampering in the first trial, but was acquitted.[4]
He was sentenced to 19½ years in federal prison[4] and served 10 years.[1] The sentence was reduced after Monus cooperated with federal authorities (FBI) in a case against another Youngstown fraudster, Richard Goldberg.[4″
July 25th, 2010 - 18:59
OK. Again… I’ve only posted a few times here, but I’m starting to see a trend. I feel it necessary to repeat what I’ve already stated twice in these forums: I’m not a fan/graduate of any Big 10 or SEC school. I’m simply a college football fan.
So what does this have to do w/ oversigning? I’ve read a few different articles/blogs by this point that say something to the effect of: “We know this has nothing to do with oversigning, but found it interesting…etc, etc”. The first time I saw this was when the blog owner went after one of his frequent posters (sorry, you lost cool points w/ me on that one). I’ve then seen it twice in other posts related to Alabama. If you really want a good story and good quotes, you should cover the new Vandy coach talking about his butchering days… but that’s not what this site was about.
I’m starting to learn, from a purely objective standpoint, that this site is simply a means to vent dislike for Alabama and the SEC. I also believe that the blog owner feels strongly about oversigning, but moreso because Alabama and the SEC do it. So there you have it…
July 25th, 2010 - 20:13
I stated at the very outset that this was a vendetta-based blog, and of course I was met with “You WOULD say that because it’s your team that is being outed.”
I’m glad to see that someone that is truly objective can see what is going on. Josh started out all right with all of this, but once we got past the LOI-signing period, things started to slow down a little, then things really started to slow down once summer rolled around. Now if some “real” writer wanted to make this his cause celebre, he won’t be able to link Josh’s stuff because Josh has focused more on his hatred for Alabama than he has the cause itself. Seems he can’t help it.
July 25th, 2010 - 19:54
I agree with Impartial to a degree. Especially because I know at least with Washington, movement is being made in terms of oversigning and yet the blogger doesn’t post unless stuff comes out pertaining to Alabama.
July 25th, 2010 - 21:10
Not entirely true…we’ve covered a lot of stories for a lot of programs…if you have something on Washington bring it to light here and we will go with it. We’ve said from the beginning that we need the help of our readers to cover teams in other areas.
July 26th, 2010 - 09:27
so how exactly does this article, and your attack on another poster, pertain to oversigning again?
July 25th, 2010 - 23:57
first, you have completely neglected the point that Saban was trying to make, and that is the ROGUE agents are scumbags, not all of them. And where did you get that the guy who offered Andre Smith was welcome on campus? Saban was pointing out that despite being black-balled, he was still around trying to get his guys to accept his offers. How do you defend against something like that without help from the NFL? If you want a real cause in college football, this is much worse in my eyes than oversigning. Causing a potential top-10 pick to be ineligable could cost the kid upward of 20 million dollars when he drops to the end of the first round due to missing a year. How is that right? I don’t know that I would have chosen pimp, but the criticism is valid.
secondly, I read where Saban also said that Smith would not have been ineligable had he been completely honest with all the questioning. Apparently the agent gave or tried to give money to a family member, and Andre was protecting him, but to avoid the Dez Bryant scenario, they had to suspend him since they didn’t know everything.
Lastly, if this isn’t the best example yet of how this site is just a hit piece against the SEC and Alabama in particular, I don’t know what is.
July 26th, 2010 - 07:28
Sometimes anger gets in the way of righteousness.
July 26th, 2010 - 17:03
Josh,
Here’s one, I know Ole Miss has been accused of oversigning in the past (Houston Nutt’s forte) so what do you make of it that Jeramiah Masoli has applied to school there to play football?
PS. to all you supposedly unbiased readers….what about when he did cover Washington, LSU, Miami, Nebraska and a few others. He explained it all out on why some are considered for oversigning or why some or not. I have nothing against the SEC or Alabama and I am not a fan of the Big 10 but I see oversigning as a big problem.
July 26th, 2010 - 17:13
I don’t believe you have any “bashers” here claiming they are without bias. What would have led you to believe that?
July 26th, 2010 - 18:14
Wonderful site and theme, would really like to see a bit more content though!
Great post all around, added your XML feed! Love this theme, too!
July 27th, 2010 - 08:01
I was talking about some of the few who said they were unbiased and have only wrote on this site a few times. Just sayin’ he has posted things on other teams. I just posted one about Ole Miss and I dont have one thing against them.
July 29th, 2010 - 05:14
(long post, sorry… please read)
I think that I’m the only one who claims what you’ve stated here so I assume you’re talking about me. My claim is based on the fact that I graduated from the USAFA (US Air Force Academy). I only state that because you said I was “supposedly unbiased”… ha, I clearly am since USAFA has nothing to do w/ this discussion whatsoever. However, I know a good program when I see one (as most normal people would), and OSU as well as Alabama fit in that category. Two storied programs with fantastic coaches. Both coaches ‘self report’ many violations because as soon as there is any wrong doing, they typically do the right thing… they report it. That’s a pretty unbiased opinion, wouldn’t you say?
Now, to the case in point… I know that the site owner (is that Josh??) has had a single blog about other programs. LSU is the only other program w/ multiple blogs which happens to be a former Saban program as well as Saban protege. However, it doesn’t take a genious to figure who he talks the most about. I’ll give you a few ‘for instances’:
(1) Tennessee had a huge bar brawl where MANY players were arrested and nothing was said in this blog.
(2) UGA has had multiple arrests over the past few months and nothing was reported on this site. Masoli (from Oregon) was arrested, suspended, and eventually kicked off the team for drug possession and burglary and nothing was reported on this site.
(3) A North Carolina player will most likely be kicked out of college football for being a runner for an agent (related to Marcel D) and nothing was reported on this site.
(4) The new coach at Vandy made TONS of comments far more ridiculous than Sabans at the SEC media days and nothing was reported on this site.
(5) USC recieved one of the worst penalties for NCAA infractions in the history of college football, and the only thing reported was a false accusation against Alabama (not UF and the other 3 colleges that were mentioned in this accusation).
I know this is a very long post, but I could go on and on. With all of the mistakes/mishaps/illegal activities/etc that go on within college football, its fairly evident the bias this site has against the SEC and specifically Alabama. If the only negative reporting against Alabama had to do with oversigning, then I would read this site like I do many other college football sites… with interest. However, the ONLY negative reporting outside of oversigning that is reported (and sometimes falsely as is the case w/ the false accusation made by the USC player/staff) is with regard to Alabama.
My advice, albeit not very useful… if the site owner really wants to make a stand about oversigning, then he needs to stick to the facts, go after EVERY program who is causing the problem, and ONLY report on oversigning.
Because I am a college football fan and follow recruiting as well… What happens if Alabama pulls the prized recruit, Trey DePreist out of Ohio. Rumor is that he is down to either OSU or Alabama and will be announcing prior to the HS football season. Will that set the site owner off? Will the hatred/bias only grow?
Sorry for the long post guys… I really am. I just see tons of people with specific interests in their own schools and it takes away from any unbiased reporting that takes place. Its worse than Dick Vitale thinking that Duke is going to win the b-ball national championship every year.
July 29th, 2010 - 10:31
Well said, well said.
July 29th, 2010 - 20:15
Impartial ~ the main reason for this post was because of the piece written by Tony Gerdeman’s article that speaks to oversigning directly.
Honestly, the fact that none of the other topics you listed have been posted on this site proves that we are focused solely on oversigning; scroll down the page, there is not a single post that is not directly related to oversigning.
July 30th, 2010 - 00:09
So you can honestly say that you have no bias against Alabama or the SEC outside of oversigning? Honestly??
July 30th, 2010 - 07:09
There are a few other issues I have with the SEC as a whole, but oversigning is the primary issue and that is what this site focuses on.
July 30th, 2010 - 11:35
“There are a few other issues I have with the SEC as a whole”
With the fact that they’ve owned Ohio State being the main one.
July 30th, 2010 - 07:09
There are a few other issues I have with the SEC as a whole, but oversigning is the primary issue and that is what this site focuses on.
July 30th, 2010 - 08:23
The post about DSB in the OSU boards is not a real story about oversigning.
And this article only relates to oversigning when you added the article that had the author ask you to change what Saban was saying, to make it relevant in his mind to oversigning. Saban was talking about agents, and the author asked you to change almost everything he said. It was not a true article about oversigning.
You may have started out thinking you were bringing to light a problem, but you are turning into a tabloid, avoiding news and doing what you can to ‘make a splash’
July 27th, 2010 - 08:03
Speaking of hypocrisy:
http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2010/07/ohio_state_admits_secondary_vi.html
Since 2000, OSU has reported more violations of NCAA rules than any other D-1 school.
What I always find incredibly humorous is that the Buckeye fan base seems to think this is simply no big deal since the violations are reported (presumably in all cases, although of course we don’t know) by their compliance staff.
This is sheer hilarity. This means, I suppose, that if I sleep with my neighbor’s wife while he’s on a business trip, I am exonerated of any wrongdoing so long as I let him know I did it.
“Hey Bill, while you were in Chicago, I slept with your wife. But I’m self-reporting, so we’re cool, right?”
OSU has countless violations and yet the fans feel as though they can crow about what a clean program they run. Absolutely amazing.
July 27th, 2010 - 08:59
Ohio State has the largest AD in the country, (36 sports) more than any other D-1 school. Could be one of the reasons why. Not only are they self-reported, they are secondary. Are you trying to say the Malcolm Jenkins texting Seantrel Henderson is on the same level as the textbook scandal at ‘Bama? I hope you aren’t
July 27th, 2010 - 10:05
In the case of the textbooks at Alabama, there were no alumni participating in that. You didn’t have John Hannah calling the current players and suggesting that they try to figure out a way to make money off of books. Malcolm Jenkins knew better than to contact Seantrel Henderson (and it wasn’t a text–read the article). So did Cris Carter, who met with him in person. At least one Ohio State coach made impermissible contact with another recruit. No coach had anything to do with the textbook sales at UA. And how textbook sales are a major violation and a coach having impermissible contact with a recruit would be considered secondary is pretty laughable, considering how these coaches know what is and isn’t considered acceptable, and this guy Siciliano did it anyway.
Don’t be the pot calling the kettle black here, which is exactly what you are doing. Are you seriously going to do a Bill Clinton and say “I didn’t have sex with that woman”?
I guess I should remember that “righteous” indignation is the theme here. Get freaking serious, XB.
July 28th, 2010 - 12:27
I read the article and yes, Malcolm Jenkins did not text, it was Terrelle. My bad. Text book sales totaling how much money?? Get our head of your ass trying to compare a shout out on TV, a text and a conversation with a recruit. Why do you think they are secondary and go unpunished? There is no pot calling the kettle black here since the incidents are not even relatively close. As for Clinton, a married man lying about a BJ, when has that ever happened? There is no indignation righteous or otherwise. You are trying your very best to find something, anything that puts tOSU on the same level as ‘Bama. You are an obsessed, pathological and vindictive human being. A woman calls you out on some anonymous message board so you put up a picture and write vile and sexist remarks about her on your blog? Only a true DB does something like that. YOU get serious as in help.
July 27th, 2010 - 09:53
The so-called violations referenced in that article (current players can’t recruit, former players can’t recruit, recruits walked a few steps behind the team, etc.) show what a joke the NCAA and its ever thickening rulebook is. It’s like a police state. Meanwhile, the shenanigans with college basketball recruiting and AAU teams have never been worse.
July 27th, 2010 - 10:08
Jim O’Brien wishes you wouldn’t impugn the good name of basketball recruiting. Especially at THE Ohio State University.
July 27th, 2010 - 10:29
Joshua ignorantly rants about the object of his hatred, Nick Saban and agents:
“Why not throw him and the rest of them out? Why not do the right thing ETHICALLY and shut these guys out? Oh that’s right, there is not an NCAA rule prohibiting this activity so no law is being broken, never mind, move along.”
Here’s the coach of Joshua’s favorite basketball team, Ohio State on agents:
http://www.the-ozone.net/hoops/10-11Men's/agents.html
“there’s nothing he or any other coach can do about it?” Wait a minute, can’t you just throw the agents off campus, erect an electric barbed wire fence around the perimeter of campus, know where every one of your players are 24-7, know everybody they talk to, everybody they text, everybody their family and friends associate with?
That article reminded me that not only has Ohio State gone 0-9 against the SEC in bowl games, including losing the 2006 and 2007 national championship games, but they also lost the NCAA basketball championship game to Florida when they had one year collegian Greg Oden and then got knocked out by Tennessee in the 2010 tournament. Ouch.
Joshua, since you’re all about the integrity and spirit of the NCAA rules and the student-athlete, what’s your position on Thad Motta recruiting guys who figure to be one and done players to Ohio State? Any thoughts on his predecessor, Jim O’Brien?
July 27th, 2010 - 10:31
Here are the quotes from Thad Motta that got left out because of something I did in formatting:
“As you know I have been on that for the last four or five years saying that hopefully we can get that under control,” Matta said of the agent “epidemic.”
Just because players stay for more than a year doesn’t mean they are protected from potential agents looking to line up future NBA clients before others can get a hold of them. Following his team’s 76-73 loss to Tennessee in the Sweet 16, Matta said there would already be people waiting for his star, Evan Turner, at the hotel “like vultures,” and there’s nothing he or any other coach can do about it.
“It is hard from the standpoint that they have ‘carte blanche’ protections of what they want to do and it is one of those things that is what it is,” Matta said of the agents.
Motta’s comments don’t sound that much different from what the anti-Christ Saban said, do they?
July 27th, 2010 - 14:38
It’s Matta. His predecessor was fired for recruiting violations for which Ohio State was put on three years probation, had to return $850k in tourney money, records stripped and banners removed.
July 27th, 2010 - 15:03
So when you were asking the rhetorical question about whether OSU had ever been on probation, you meant just FOOTBALL? Oh, OK. Basketball probation is another matter and is really not that highly frowned upon, apparently.
July 27th, 2010 - 20:53
The discussion was about football. This discussion was about basketball, although I am not sure why. There was nothing rhetorical about my question. Probation is a huge matter and of this you should be well aware of.
July 28th, 2010 - 07:55
It is simply hilarious that you or anyone else would act as though OSU’s athletic programs are lily pure and beyond reproach. OSU has more NCAA violations than any other D-1 program in the past 10 years. I believe that is what is termed “habitual”. You seem to think that due to the fact the football program has not been caught in any major ones, that you can still comfortably sit in judgment of other programs. That is outrageous. Of that you can be sure of.
July 28th, 2010 - 12:13
And as I said tOSU also has the largest AD in the country and has self reported the violations most of which were secondary that the NCAA rarely punishes for such as Cris Carter a former Buckeye talking to a recruit or Malcolm Jenkins texting the same kid. Now, if you think in your deluded and obsessed mind that those things are similar or even close to what has put ‘Bama on probation, there is truly no hope for you. Until tOSU FOOTBALL gets put on probation for anything that serious, I will be very comfortable in my judgment of other programs. Of that YOU can be sure of.
July 28th, 2010 - 12:30
sorry, Malcolm Jenkins did not text.
July 28th, 2010 - 13:07
No. That was Terrelle Pryor. No big deal, right? It’s cool for existing players to text recruits. Pryor just innocently did this, and was unaware he wasn’t supposed to do it, I imagine. Is that right?
So you’re familiar with the “textbook scandal” at Alabama, are you? You know all the ins and out of that, right? It was a truly “serious” issue, and the football program got its just desserts for having committed this grave mistake? I think you just re-set the bar for delusion.
I repeat, because you aren’t getting the message. Ohio State is the worst serial offender in the past decade for NCAA violations. You can try to paint that a different way if you like, but it won’t change the fact that no other D-1 school has committed more violations.
July 30th, 2010 - 11:25
The bottom line here is that oversigning is unethical and it will ruin a kids life. Who gives a rats azz about secondary violations that happened 49 years ago. Josh points out how Saban is the one of the biggest culprits in oversigning at Alabama and also LSU. Plain and simple.
July 30th, 2010 - 11:37
What is this oversigning topic that you are bringing up? Oversigning has nothing to do with Ohio State’s basketball coach or Ohio State’s football secondary violations or Joshua’s supposed bias. If you wish to speak about oversigning, why don’t you go find an oversigning blog (just don’t mention Alabama when you post there).
July 30th, 2010 - 16:50
Interesting take, Lee Roi. I find it a tad ironic that you make that observation on a hatchet piece about Saban that is only related to oversigning due to Josh’s obsession with him. A guy who writes as well as you do may prove instrumental in getting that NCAA petition done for next July, however. Maybe you and he could get to work on that.
July 30th, 2010 - 16:26
it was very interesting to read oversigning.com
I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
And you et an account on Twitter?
July 31st, 2010 - 03:01
So Miami needed exactly two scholarships to get Seantrel Henderson and Latwan Anderson onto the football team.
Well, just by coincidence..they now possibly have exactly two scholarships available:
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=13&f=2927&t=6168479
Pretty sure one of those kids is a senior….so after 3 or 4 years on campus he all the sudden decides to become a crappy student?
July 31st, 2010 - 03:05
Wesley is a 5th senior.
Wow, obvious roster clearing is obvious
August 2nd, 2010 - 10:56
Tautologically speaking.
August 4th, 2010 - 13:09
Josh,
Check this out.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/08/02/masoli-nutt/index.html?eref=si_writers
August 4th, 2010 - 14:54
Let’s don’t forget that Ohio State LEADS THE COUNTRY last I heard in SECONDARY VIOLATIONS with something like 350 over the last 10 years. Just because Ohio State has figured out a loophole to CHEAT without being penalized does not make them any better than any other schools that are breaking rules. The NCAA itself is corrupt, so it’s really hard for anyone to throw a stone here… By the way, what do you know, Ohio State just admitted to another Secondary Violation bringing their tally to 13 so far in 2010! Go BUCKEYES!
“Overall, the OSU athletic department reported 13 secondary violations between Jan. 1 and July 1 of this year”…http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2010/07/ohio_state_admits_secondary_vi.html
December 19th, 2010 - 12:24
Test only
test
test
test