The 2013 College Football Thread.

[BigTyla]

it was a few years ago when Bama sucked

Not really because Auburn was there in their place. Auburn vs LSU was what Bama vs LSU currently is.

[HilbillyHomeboy]

Tackle Magic With Charlie Weis - The Smoking Musket

If you were reading the Curious Index Wednesday, you may have noticed that Kansas is jumping into the virtual reality sports training world. Which is exciting on some levels, I guess. Unlike in the 90s, maybe software and visual effects have progressed to the point where it might actually be a useful tool.

I'm not making fun of the idea. I have no doubt that there will be cognitive benefits for say, quarterbacks making pre-snap reads. But my comedic mind can't help thinking of Charlie Weis and the "decided schematic advantage." In one last attempt to show the world that he is the boy genius Notre Dame thought he was, Weis would forgo all time on the practice field for a completely theoretical approach. Just like in Order of the Phoenix. I know no one is that stupid. But you have to admit that Charlie Weis as professor Umbridge is pure GIF gold, Jerry.

[BigTyla]

INB4OMGAUBURNCHEATINGAGAINLOL

#PMARSHONAU: For Auburn, the hits keep on coming

As soon as I saw the story, I knew the questions would come. What is true? What isn’t? Does this mean trouble for Auburn?



That Auburn graduate Selena Roberts’ would write hit a piece on Auburn athletics comes as no surprise. She’s done it before, and more than once. Ms. Roberts seems to have a real disdain for the inner workings of college athletics in general and Auburn in particular. But, really, that doesn’t matter. What matters is what she wrote.

In a very, very long piece, she wrote about the Auburn players who were charged in 2011 with armed robbery and specifically about Mike McNeil, who is scheduled to go on trial Thursday. Her piece was extremely sympathetic to McNeil and his family, and that’s not hard to understand. Clifton McNeil, Mike's grandfather, is one of the nicer men I’ve met. Mike was highly respected by his teammates.

Anyway, Ms. Roberts went from there to writing about Auburn players supposedly claiming to have been given money and about accusations that former coach Gene Chizik treated African-American players differently, didn’t like players with dreadlocks or tattoos and even tried to hurt players’ standings in the NFL draft.

Most of those players to whom she attributed those statements have already said, either via Twitter or in interviews, that were misquoted or were taken out of context or both.

Neiko Thorpe was particularly strong in his Tweet:

“While I spoke to Selena Roberts about Mike I have just read her article & not only am I misquoted but my words are very out of context. We didn't talk about NCAA violations or recruiting. I'm proud 2 have played at Auburn & the opportunities it gave me.”

I’m not going to accuse anyone of lying on either side, but I do have some thoughts:

* What in the world do dreadlocks or tattoos or drug tests or even alleged cash payments have to do with whether McNeil is guilty of armed robbery? I’m not sure I get that. Either he did it or he didn’t. I hope he didn’t, and if he didn’t, I pray he is acquitted.

* If Mike Blanc, Antoine Carter and Neiko Thorpe were unhappy in their time at Auburn, they did one heck of a job of disguising it. It’s hard to see why Darvin Adams, who had been essentially discarded by the previous staff, would have any hard feelings toward Chizik and his staff. They made him a star.

* To supposedly have a problem with dreadlocks and tattoos, Chizik sure did have a lot of players with dreadlocks and tattoos. He even had an assistant coach who filed a lawsuit against the Auburn City Schools because a coach told his son he couldn’t have dreadlocks.

* College football coaches love to tell recruits about players they’ve sent to the NFL. Why would they try to stop players from being drafted?

It’s remarkable, really, what Auburn athletics has been through since November 2010. It has emerged unscathed every time, but its reputation has taken a hit and takes a hit every time there’s another accusation. Why Auburn? I truly don’t know.

So where will this episode go for Auburn? No one can say for sure, but at this point it doesn’t look all that ominous or threatening to me.

NOTE: this story that's circulating around the news about more AU cheating allegations is authored by the same woman that got fired for her hit piece on the Duke Lacrosse scandal. All the players quoted in the story besides McNeil have refuted the story as well as their quoted context.

If I had a nickle for every time Auburn was accussed of something in national news and came out clean, I'd never have to work again!

[sergechronos]

INB4OMGAUBURNCHEATINGAGAINLOL

#PMARSHONAU: For Auburn, the hits keep on coming



NOTE: this story that's circulating around the news about more AU cheating allegations is authored by the same woman that got fired for her hit piece on the Duke Lacrosse scandal. All the players quoted in the story besides McNeil have refuted the story as well as their quoted context.

If I had a nickle for every time Auburn was accussed of something in national news and came out clean, I'd never have to work again!

Benefits of being a reporter in the modern age: You only have to be right once, the burden of proof rests on the accused these days.

Even if these allegations are true, which they may be either in whole or in part, I don't think it's really any different at any other major football factory. Winning is all that matters at the end of the day. These are effectively big businesses masquerading as school athletics.

[AdamVR4]

After playing more freshman than any team in the country the last 2 seasons, Texas returns 19 starters and leads the country in returning 'starts' ... Gotta be B12 favorites on paper.

[BigTyla]

After playing more freshman than any team in the country the last 2 seasons, Texas returns 19 starters and leads the country in returning 'starts' ... Gotta be B12 favorites on paper.

If that's the case then AU is the SEC favorite, right?

Even starting so many freshman, you're still bottom-heavy. Sophomores still don't quite have the leadership skills and experience that upper-classmen have. It really does make a big difference.

[BigTyla]

OMG this woman is completely idiotic. Just listen to her try to defend this filth.

790 The Zone Unfiltered Sports Talk Radio

Under the Selena Roberts section. She refuses to go public with her recordings of her interviews. Shows just how much crap this whole thing is. I am ashamed that my university let someone as low as this dumb broad graduate.

The radio show hosts are literally laughing at her inane responses at the end of the interview.

[VR4Rob]

My reaction to the whole thing, again.

[Mikes2nd]

she's def working it... I am sure she has the recordings. Something sounds a little fishy also in her story.

This sounds just like all the people jumping on OSU when Maurice Clarrett was trying to hurt the program... I know you guys certainly didn't believe him

He was trying to sell his book, so he had to run up some stink. She is probably writing a book also...

[BigTyla]

It's slow in here, so I present a good read on recent events at AU:

Like A Woman Scorned | Never to Yield Foundation