War Eagle!!!

Up until today, I had been loosely following the whole Cam Newton scandal. It's Auburn, it's the SEC, I could care less. However, I read a summary of the whole Auburn fiasco that has literally rocked my world! I think even my worst case scenario upon first hearing about Newton is nothing in compared to what may have actually happened!

My first take on hearing about this was thus, as I posted on an ND message board 11/5/2010:

A "representative" for current Auburn QB Newton contacted a former player at Mississippi State, John Bond, during his recruitment from a JUCO. Bond is a booster or closely involved in the football program, and he was old friends with this rep. This rep said they could get him to sign a letter of intent for a "discount" of $180k, as they had current offers from other schools for $200k.

Okay, this is going to be huge, but it seems very applicable to some of the issues we struggle with constantly on this board. Follow my logic, and let's go!

FACT 1: ND has not been very good for the last 10 years, longer depending on how happy you are with brief BCS moments.
FACT 2: Our recruiting has been okay, but with 2 or 3 exceptions, we continuously get beat out for elite level players. Often, we don't even get a look. Frequently, a committed player or lean SUDDENLY has a change of heart.
FACT 3: A representative for Cam Newton offered a signed LOI for $180k from a college.
FACT 4: Although a highly recruited JUCO QB, Cam Newton is by no means the highest profile recruit of the past year, or even close if you look back multiple years.
FACT 5: The so-called rep for Newton runs a company called Elite Football Preparation, which supposedly matches high school players with college programs.

ASSUMPTION 1: Cam Newton got cash for eventually signing at Auburn.
ASSUMPTION 2: Other higher regarded recruits have gotten money for signing a LOI.
ASSUMPTION 3: If Newton was going for $180k, then other players have gotten more.
ASSUMPTION 4: ND is getting overlooked by elite talent, because we are not paying players to sign a LOI.

Look, the facts are the facts. You can't really argue those. I think the assumptions are pretty valid as well. If you believe Assumption 1, then that naturally leads to the other assumptions. It looks like we will find out soon if that first assumption is true. If so, LOOK OUT!!!

I thought that the story had legs, and connected the dots to a logical conclusion. However, now the FBI is confirmed to be involved, and this issue goes MUCH deeper than even the major conspiracy that I conjectured.

As the Plains Burn...

I saw this link posted today and gave it a gander. Full disclosure: this is a summary post on an LSU message board. However, it isn't your typical message board dribble. It uses multiple sources, most of which are linked to actual factual reports. Some of the gems:

• Auburn has been systematically paying its players for decades
• Payment includes cash, unmarked debit/ATM cards, casino cards that allow gambling with high returns (VIP cards)
• Said payments allowed a 7-5 team in 2009 to score the #4 recruiting class in 2010 including miraculously landing the #1 players from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, as well as the #1 JUCO signee in Cam Newton. Many of these reversed prior commitments at the last minute.
  
• The scheme was orchestrated by multiple boosters and run by the Auburn Board of Trustees through an Alabama bank that was shut down under scandal
  
• The FBI has proof of the whole scheme, which they surreptitiously obtained through wiretaps while investigating this failed bank
• The NCAA is now involved and has warned Auburn, as has the FBI
• Auburn has decided to circle the wagons and go "all-in" to win the Heisman and National Championship, essentially going down in a blaze of glory, knowing that it is all crashing down
• If allegations are true, Auburn will lose its accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and will no longer be eligible to be a member of the SEC

I mean... HOLY F%&#ing S$%&!!!! If you thought conference realignment was changing the face of college football, think again! The implications are almost unthinkable. And consider that Auburn historically isn't even that great in comparison to even a lot of other SEC schools. You have to assume that if Auburn was running a program this dirty, then other schools were doing something similar.

I'm intrigued by the final line of the linked post's summary. Apparently, things are now moving very fast:
"This will be revealed by the end of the week."