College Football 2012

[bono_212]

I hope whatever Ohio State did was worth it.

 

[speedracer]

Damn, Max Wittek can uncork a long ball.

 

[Danny Boy]

Let's go Georgia. I can't handle a Notre Dame or 'Bama championship.

 

[trojanchick99]

Damn, Max Wittek can uncork a long ball.

Yeah, the kid has a cannon. Once he and Marqise Lee have their timing down it will be scary. Also, I miss Stanley Havili.

 

[PhilsFan]

He's been serviceable for the Eagles this year, but Andy Reid never uses the fullback so it's sort of a moot point.

 

[trojanchick99]

Hey, so apparently the NCAA is corrupt. Shocking information, I know. So the major impetus behind the very sever NCAA sanctions against USC is the fact that they believed Todd McNair knew about what was going on between Reggie Bush's family and ex-Felon Lloyd Lake. Now McNair has sued the NCAA, and the judge has ordered the NCAA to release its records in regards to the case.

Documents that the NCAA is aggressively trying to keep under seal appear to show improper involvement by NCAA staff and committee members in the landmark USC decision more than two years ago.

A judge's decision made public last week – and obtained in full by CBSSports.com -- shows that at least three persons may have improperly tried to influence the NCAA's powerful infractions committee to find former USC assistant Todd McNair complicit in the Reggie Bush case. Lawyers for McNair are trying to show the association violated its own rules and procedures in investigating their client.

Two non-voting members of the NCAA infractions committee and NCAA staffer allegedly tried to influence voting members inside the 10-person committee. The judge's decision contains excerpts of emails that he has determined show “ill will or hatred” toward McNair.

McNair is suing the NCAA for an undisclosed amount for defamation of character citing irreparable damage to his career. The information was disclosed after a motion by NCAA lawyers to dismiss the case was denied.

Information in Judge Frederick Shaller's decision reveal in detail the apparent lengths the NCAA went to cast McNair – as one NCAA staffer put it -- as “a lying morally bankrupt criminal, in my view, and a hypocrite of the highest order.”

The duties of that staffer, believed to be infractions committee liaison Shep Cooper, are basically administrative -- to assist the committee on infractions on their needs and gathering information. Cooper is a former NCAA enforcement rep.

Shaller said that evidence provided by McNair's attorneys show the NCAA had a “wreckless disregard for the truth.” Emails between Cooper and committee members Rodney Uphoff, a Missouri law professor, and Roscoe Howard, a former U.S. attorney, were circulated “covertly” in violation of NCAA rules according to the document.

Shallers' decision uses only last names “Cooper” “Uphoff” and “Howard” but the document identifies by their NCAA duties and titles relevant to the case.

The document also refers to a four-page email Howard wrote to infractions committee members trying to persuade them that McNair lied numerous times. The entire email is not included in last week's decision but is summarized by Howard saying, “I hope none of you was insulted by this rant … USC's approach to this case I have found very troubling and downright insulting.”

Shaller, a USC grad, already has concluded McNair has proven “actual malice” on the NCAA's part in the lawsuit. McNair contends that false information produced and gathered by the NCAA was central to his appeal that was denied by the association in 2011. He sued the NCAA later that year.

In finding McNair and USC guilty of rules violations, the NCAA used a phone call between the coach and would-be marketer Lloyd Lake, a convicted felon, as evidence. The NCAA concluded that Lake's description of the call was credible and rejected McNair's version. An NCAA investigator got the year of the call wrong (2005, instead of 2006) while interviewing McNair.

The NCAA admitted it had telephone records showing that Lake initiated the call, contrary to his testimony to the association. Lake told the NCAA McNair had called him in early hours of Jan. 8, 2006. That conclusion according to Shaller's decision “could reasonably cast doubt on the occurrence of the … conversation.” The NCAA “should have known” parts of the infractions report regarding that call were “demonstrably untrue.”

Largely on the basis of that call and Lake's testimony, McNair was found to guilty of unethical conduct by the NCAA. Shaller's decision says McNair's attorneys had proven the NCAA infractions report on USC “contained material false statements regarding” the phone call.

An email from infractions committee member, Eleanor Myers, admits to a “botched” interview with McNair according to Shaller's decision.

On the basis of those issues Shaller said last week he would unseal the entire McNair inquiry waiting 30 days to give the NCAA time to file an appeal. The public's access to the file could reveal the inner workings of one of the most contentious cases in NCAA history. Bush was found to taken benefits and cash from two would-be marketing agents. The school was hit with a two-year bowl ban and the loss of 30 scholarships over three seasons. That particularly penalty has two years to run.

McNair was given a one-year show cause order by the NCAA which his lawsuit contends damaged his reputation such that he hasn't been able to find work in his chosen field. McNair, a former NFL player, was a Trojans' assistant from 2004-2009.

The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles. The fact that Shaller's undergrad degree is from USC is not necessarily considered a conflict in legal circles. Shaller would have to have a personal interest in the outcome of the case.

The NCAA infractions committee hears testimony from enforcement officials and the accused before assigning penalties in infractions cases.

Documents appear to show improper NCAA involvement in USC case - CBSSports.com

 

[PhilsFan]

Fuck the NCAA.

 

[DRay9911]

Yeah, the kid has a cannon. Once he and Marqise Lee have their timing down it will be scary. Also, I miss Stanley Havili.

Lee isn't already a senior or leaving early

Damn

 

[trojanchick99]

Lee isn't already a senior or leaving early

Damn

True Sophomore. Woods is a Junior and might leave early though, so there's that.

 

[deep]

I'd like to see Alabama beat Georgia
and then Notre Dame

I know I am not the only one.

 

[LemonMelon]

I am no SEC fan, but that was one of the best games of the season.

 

[deep]

I agree
and I do believe tide will roll over ND.

 

[LemonMelon]

If Alabama can run like that again, it will be ugly, no question, but Notre Dame is 5th against the run. They match up well with Alabama. Regardless, the Tide know how to perform in games like this and there is no question that they are the best team ND has played this year. I'm calling a pretty low scoring game, maybe no more than 30-35 points between them. Let's say Alabama 17-13.

 

[mikal]

I can't believe the Badgers are going to the Rose Bowl this year.

 

[Danny Boy]

I'm considering going to a movie the night of the BCS game. Isn't there some way they could both lose?

 

[LemonMelon]

Hahaha 539 yards rushing

 

[Danny Boy]

Bo Pelini is a defensive genius.

 

[bono_212]

I couldn't be more happy with who TCU is playing in the BWW bowl. MSU was my favorite team growing up.

 

[No spoken words]

I couldn't be more happy with who TCU is playing in the BWW bowl. MSU was my favorite team growing up.

Enjoy the game!

 

[LemonMelon]

If NIU beats FSU, it might take until next season for me to stop laughing.

 

[trojanchick99]

The Sun bowl. Against Georgia Tech.

I went to the Sun Bowl in 1998. It sucked.

 

[LemonMelon]

I didn't even know it was possible to go to a bowl with a 6-7 record.

 

[trojanchick99]

UCLA did it last year. You have to petition the NCAA and it's usually only granted if the 13th game is a Conference Championship Game. I'd rather have faced LA Tech.

 

[PhilsFan]

Senior year was the year I planned on making a trip to my first bowl game.

 

[U2DMfan]

If you guys are looking for a pick - I don't know what the early line is but...

If Gundy doesn't take the Tennessee job (and I doubt he does) Oklahoma State might score 80 on Purdue.

 

[Danny Boy]

Gundy would be crazy to take the Tennessee job. He's got a good thing going at his alma mater. Learn from Rich Rod's mistakes.

 

[U2DMfan]

I still don't think he'll go but there are members of the local media that had always swore up and down that he would never leave - and they are starting to doubt it.

There is lot of bickering between him, Boone Pickens and the AD.
It's a mess. It started with his contract negotiation last year.
Besides this, Boone Pickens allegedly was bitching Gundy out after the Bedlam loss.
That's just a rumor at this point, so you know how that goes.

Boone Pickens, billionaire and mega booster, is like the Jerry Jones of Oklahoma State athletics. And Mike Holder (the AD) is his puppet.

But when he took the job he called it his "NY Yankees" job. And I saw him play QB there when I was growing up. Handing the ball off to Barry Sanders.

He is Oklahoma State football personified. It all depends on the battle of the ego at this point. But you are right, and RichRod is an excellent example. Hell, he might be the only example. Can you think of anyone else that left their alma mater to go somewhere else (in CFB, that is)? I can't.

 

[No spoken words]

Do you mean recently, or all-time? There have to be coaches from smaller schools that started coaching at their alma maters, or coached there early in their careers, only to move on to bigger schools. Bo Schembechler leaps to mind......

 

[U2DMfan]

Yeah, I was thinking D1/FBS. Modern era, maybe post WW2.

Good call on Schembechler.

And speaking of Miami OH, Ara Parseghian is another.

ETA-
although I have no idea if that should count as a parallel. I was just wondering out loud. I would guess that Miami, OH was D1 at that time? I know it's the cradle of coaches or whatever the fuck.

 

[No spoken words]

It's Mesopotamia as far as you're concerned.