Hating on the $EC - Mostly Alabama (and a little Georgia too)

[hack]

Cracker Barrel has really gone downhill. The hashbrown casserole used to be great. I still do 'preciate how they go out and get all the fixins they can find, though.

[AlabamAlum]

Bama players at the combine:

https://news.google.com/news/amp?caurl=https%3A%2F%2Falabama.247sports.com%2FArticle%2F2017-NFL-Scouting-Combine-Primer-Keep-up-with-Alabama-Crimson-Ti-51504940%2FAmp#pt0-188740

[Rocky Bleier]

"We run a clean program..." Facts not in evidence.

"...you don't." Facts not in evidence.

"...we're the program that has won clean most recently." Facts not in evidence.

The only proof needed is that Alabama is a dominant team in the SEC. That's just how y'all roll down there. Hell, even Vandy might bend a rule now and then.

[hack]

AlabamAlum is great. Wonderful and entertaining addition to the board here. Please never go away. But it is amusing how no other topic is taken so seriously.

[AlabamAlum]

The only proof needed is that Alabama is a dominant team in the SEC. That's just how y'all roll down there. Hell, even Vandy might bend a rule now and then.

That's an idiotic stance; it's not proof.

The belief that winners must be cheaters is the excuse of losers.

[Hannibal]

Will you admit the Michigan cheats? I have no proof.

You also don't have any evidence. Nothing that has to be explained away like a series of vehicle pictures being posted on Twitter that are nicer than what the kids of wealthy parents usually drive.

[Hannibal]

The car thing is the silliest thing in the world. Boosters are NOT doing gifts of cars. They haven't given cars in 20 years. Vehicle registration and titles leaves a huge paper trail that is open to a public records' search.

LMAO. You can give somebody a car by paying for it with a briefcase of cash at the dealership and there is absolutely not one shred of publicly available evidence that you have done it. The player could even claim the income on his tax return and the NCAA would never know about it, nor would they ever have the power to subpoena it. The means by which a vehicle is paid for are inaccessible, as are the means with which mama can afford a new double wide and dad gets a new job at the factory. That's why the only time that anyone ever gets caught is when the courts or a law enforcement agency do the NCAA's work for them as part of an unrelated investigation. If Reggie Bush had paid back his agent then USC would have never gotten punished. If the Fab Five had taken their money from a law abiding citizen and not a criminal underworld figure who kept records, then Michigan would have never gotten punished either. Well, Michigan probably would have, because we are stupid enough to follow the spirit of the law instead of just the letter of the law.

[AlabamAlum]

AlabamAlum is great. Wonderful and entertaining addition to the board here. Please never go away. But it is amusing how no other topic is taken so seriously.

That's not the case. I take other topics seriously. I think Talent will affirm that he and I (and a few select others) spent the better part of 20 years arguing healthcare, the second amendment, religion, politics, abortion, the Civil War, and a variety of historical events of significance.

After a while, the shiny veneer of those arguments wears thin. Starting fresh with some new combatants loses its appeal from time-to-time. Wax on, wax off.

That said, the "Bama must be cheating because they win" is fairly new. Most other semi-sentient rivals (even Auburn fans) offer at least some proof - no matter how thin.

[AlabamAlum]

LMAO. You can give somebody a car by paying for it with a briefcase of cash at the dealership and there is absolutely not one shred of publicly available evidence that you have done it. The player could even claim the income on his tax return and the NCAA would never know about it, nor would they ever have the power to subpoena it. The means by which a vehicle is paid for are inaccessible, as are the means with which mama can afford a new double wide and dad gets a new job at the factory. That's why the only time that anyone ever gets caught is when the courts or a law enforcement agency do the NCAA's work for them as part of an unrelated investigation.

The thing is, at UA, finances or vetted. You have to show how you got it. Financial wherewithal. The thing is, is the suitcase of cash possible? Sure. It's also possible that you are with ISIS or are a pedophile, or that you killed JFK. Me just assuming you did is not enough. I have to have more than a gut feeling.

[Hannibal]

The thing is, at UA, finances or vetted. You have to show how you got it. Financial wherewithal.

"My mom gave me the money". There's your "financial wherewithal". I guarantee you there is a minimum compliance, "letter of the law", engineered approach that guarantees plausible deniability by finding out nothing.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'd love to comment on this notion of "evidence" that AA is demanding as proof of Alabama's cheating. Hanni has it about right. It's the SEC"s long history of advantaging itself by playing the recruiting game loosely and in an environment where actual enforcement of questionable behavior by the many individuals outside the program playing that way is virtually impossible. In that regard, I have no doubt BT schools cheat and historically that may have been exactly why the SEC started cheating. The difference?

But fuck it ........ the whole thing is a fool's argument and I'm on a veranda in the sun on Grand Turk.

Carry on.

[AlabamAlum]

I'd love to comment on this notion of "evidence" that AA is demanding as proof of Alabama's cheating. Hanni has it about right. It's the SEC"s long history of advantaging itself by playing the recruiting game loosely and in an environment where actual enforcement of questionable behavior by the many individuals outside the program playing that way is virtually impossible. In that regard, I have no doubt BT schools cheat and historically that may have been exactly why the SEC started cheating. The difference?

But fuck it ........ the whole thing is a fool's argument and I'm on a veranda in the sun on Grand Turk.

Carry on.

It's a fool's argument, no doubt, and using the "well, years ago you (or a conference mate) did X" is irrelevant and weak. What RRod did at M has no bearing on what Harbaugh is doing. What Saban does has no relevancy to what Dubose did.

Since the 1970's, the SEC has had more NCAA enforcement scrutiny than any other conference. If you cheat, you get reported, because it's so cutthroat that other teams secretly record recruits asking for money. Ole Miss is the latest evidence of that. They were absolutely told on by a conference rival.

"Can you match what I'm getting from Ole Miss?"

"Um, could you repeat that louder and toward the COMPLETELY innocuous bouquet of flowers?"

Coaches set the standard. Even with boosters, it takes coordination from the coaches to effectively cheat.

Coach: "We want this kid, but he needs some convincing."

Booster: "Got it, coach."

Otherwise, the boosters would be dropping money in everybodies lap, and decades ago, you may get them, but with scholarship limits, you don't.

Now, to Bama football: we have had exactly two true NCAA scandals in our history: (1) 1993 Antonio Langham (not a recruitment violation, rather, he signed with an agent as a junior for $300) and (2) 1999 Albert Means.

I knew we were dirty in the late 1990's. Anyone with connections to the program knew it, too. I often said we would be "nuked from orbit and we deserve it."

I was right.

Bama, under Saban, is not cheating. I could fill these pages with some anecdotal things (like Andre Smoth, etc), and insider info to try and convince you, but it's a waste of time. Hell, I can't even convince people here that it's possible to buy a used Dodge with nice rims with your yearly Student Loan, Pell Grant, and stipend - and those dollar amounts are available to anyone with an Internet connection.

So, I will not waste my time anymore.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Good idea. The sun just set. I'm pouring a Martini.

[WM Wolverine]

These pell grants and stipends just don't add up to a $30k used vehicle. I haven't used a ton of math since high school, help anyone?

[Hannibal]

it's possible to buy a used Dodge with nice rims with your yearly Student Loan, Pell Grant, and stipend - and those dollar amounts are available to anyone with an Internet connection.

LMAO