CURIOUS INDEX, 3/6/2009

‘Alabama players gave their textbooks, given to them with funds earmarked for their scholarships, thus making their actions a matter of NCAA interest, and thus getting Auburn fans to feverishly send in emails yesterday saying "WELL LOOKEE HERE."’

I’m not sure that the first clause is ever completed. Can you clarify?

Damn you coffee. One sec.

Alabama, following in the footsteps of Ball State.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=3066598

Though BSU’s problems were the same cause, it was more widely spread, but did result in two years probation and some scholly cuts.

The one difference between Ball State and Bama is the fact that Bama’s players didn’t recieve any money by re-selling textbooks. If they didn’t return the after the semester, they got charged the value of the books.

Somewhere, Reggie Bush and Michael Michaels are laughing.

See what happens when “books” and “classes” start creeping into college football!

Penalize not the poor player but ban the textbooks, I say!

I never, ever, want to read anyone criticize coffee again. It’s the only thing that separates us from the animals. I don’t want live a dignified life like those assholes! F’ing holier-than-thou marlins.

Secession is Alabama’s only answer.

Leave now and we shall win NAIA national championships for the next 400 years!

So were the books considered new or used? Does that come down to if they’d been colored in or not?

USC laughs at such trivialities.

To piggyback off of #8, it is times like these that I wish Steve Spurrier coached a relevant squad so he could offer up his opinion of these matters.

As an Alabama fan whenever I read “NCAA infraction” I have the same physical response I get when I see a cop car while driving. Even if we’re doing nothing wrong it scares the crap out of me.

Bama paid $250,000 for a player and didn’t get the death penalty. Textbooks ain’t shit.

Any day that starts with a reference to The Program is a good day. Happy Friday, y’all.

http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/football/story/705221.html

A picture of Bobby Knight joking about choking players while choking a player. Nice.

The big problem with this case and Alabama is that they were still on probation from the Albert Means scandal.

Repeat Offender – wooooooooooooooooooooooo.

The amazing thing is that they kept the PLOI away from the press for almost a year.

The more amazing thing is that someone in the press stopped fellating Saban long enough to find this and actually publish it.

NewAZ – yes, Alabama and Nick Saban control the state media, especially those homer bastards Finebaum and Scarbinksy.

That is ballsy by Oregon. I’m impressed.

The Tusk, you gotta admit, in a football starved state like this, holding a PLOI away from the media for 10 months or so is impressive. How long do you think a PLOI inquiry to Auburn would be kept secret?

They’re letting Coach Giggity go to Baghdad? Dear Lord, the jokes just write themselves.

Keeping a PLOI away from the media for 10 months is impressive, however, it should be more frightening to think about what else is being kept from everyone…for example, other possible recruiting violations. I wish the NCAA would do us all a favor and just shut that shithole of corruption down.

NewAZ – Given the utterly disfunctional nature of AU’s AD, not more than 30 minutes.

In our case, it’s not an issue of the press sitting on it but of our AD stonewalling effectively. Gotta admire our ability to keep our mouths shut (for a change).

TAFK – The irony of your comments and affiliation with the “Tennessee of the Big 10” isn’t lost on anyone. I’m not sure what happened to make you so bitter about Alabama – one can only speculate – but it’s time to let it go. Even our intra-conference rivals aren’t as wing-nutty as you are.

What!! Mandarich used steroids!!! I don’t believe it for a second.

15, 18, 20

How was this kept away from the media for 10 months? It happened during the 2007 fall semester and 5 players were suspended for it back then. I remember seeing it in the news way back then.

TAFKwhatevah:

Maurice Clarett.

“The one difference between Ball State and Bama is the fact that Bama’s players didn’t recieve any money by re-selling textbooks.”

Um, Ball State’s didn’t, either. With a few isolated exceptions, they were obtaining free textbooks for walk-ons and other pals (and in the case of our women’s volleyball players, obtaining the “recommended” texts in addition to the “required”). And considering the Alabama’s history with the NCAA is quite a bit more, ahem, checkered than BSU, there’s a whole lot of folks about 55 minutes away from NCAA headquarters who will be waiting to scream bloody murder if the big-ticket SEC program (with a history of running afoul of the rules, no less) gets off lighter for this offense than the mid-major program that’s easy for the authorities to make an example of.

I think it’s absolutely silly for the NCAA to get bent out of shape about extra textbooks being procured, but the fact of the matter is, Ball State got popped pretty hard — despite having a clean record on the football side — for essentially the same offense. Fairness dictates that Bama be penalized just as hard as we were.