Auburn fans cry foul...
It was bound to happen. Almost every AU fan I saw today cried foul over the commitment of TJ Yeldon to the University of Alabama. Drugs 'r Us couldn't fill prescriptions for paranoia fast enough to dent the belief that Yeldon had been bought by the Crimson Tide. According to most AU fans it started with Brent Calloway, then escalated with Cyrus K, and hit lift off with Yeldon. The "it" was Alabama buying football players. The AU conspricy buffs, with wild eyes and spittle flying, swear that the NCAA is allowing all this to happen because of Cam Newton. Excuse me, Cam Newton? I thought the NCAA cleared Cam due to a "rule technicality". I've learned not to interact to much with AU fans when they are on a tirade. I know better. Like some type of uncontrolled obsession I could hear my words roll off my tongue even as my brain said, "don't do it". Exactly, what does Cam Newton have to do with TJ Yeldon I asked? Are you crazy man, it is as clear as day. The NCAA knew that Newton was guilty but couldn't prove it so they were allowing Alabama to continue buying AU recruits. The only thing this line of thought lacked was a spokesman. I told them that Houston Nutt was available.
I asked them if they were admitting that Newton wasn't clean? Are you telling me that Newton was dirty and the NCAA was "getting even" by allowing Alabama to buy recruits? This line of thought puts the Tiger fans in a conundrum. Say yes, and you are no longer "all in". Say no, and you are just another crazy fan reaching for some understanding of why your University was on the receiving end of a Grecian tragedy. From the Crimson side of the fence it seems like Yeldon said yes to Auburn when he should have said he needed to think about his comitment a while longer. Who every heard of an 18 year old kid making a impulsive comitment? I'm sure that such behavior has never happened in the history of college football recruiting, or at least not at Auburn.
When I was younger being a professional golfer was high on my list. I'd had a bunch of low 60 rounds and even shot a 59 one day while playing with my buddy Ben Cook. My head was so far up in the clouds I couldn't breathe. A lack of oxygen can lead to pretty bad thinking. While I was mentally getting fitted for my first green jacket I went over to watch a practice round at Augusta National. When I saw Tom Watson hit a driver about four blocks over the net at the end of the practice range I knew the truth. I had no chance of being a pro golfer. None, Zero, Nada, and other such numbers came to mind. That was it. I would play golf for fun and return to the planet earth. I still love to play golf. I might shoot 65 one day and 85 the next. It is important to undersand the truth.
To this day I believe that Cam Newton's father got money for his son to play at Mississippi State and probably Auburn as well. The real question in my mind was the purchase sanctioned by the school or some over zealous booster acted alone. In my mind it was a kind of "who shot JFK" on a much less important basis. Both are bad. One is totally unaccpetable. The other is undestandable, but wrong. One thing I've learned as a country lawyer. The truth will come out eventually. Revenge is a dish best served cold according to the bard, and he pretty much nailed that one didn't he? The "truth" as I see it really doesn't matter. It's over. I'm not sure that the cloud of doubt isn't worse for AU than what actually happened. The larger "truth" is that when you've just won a national championship, and were just a couple of bounces away from a losing season the next year, the doubt grows even stronger. Like we said yesterday - when you can offer a recruit the world and he says no thanks you have bigger problem than the recruit flipping.
All this Yeldon stuff is bothering AU fans who see their beloved team in a state of free fall. Does your program cheat, why is Gus going to Arkansas State, why would Ted Roof jump ship and go to a glorified high school program? On top of all these questions your recruits start to jump ship. Where is all that talent that three great recruiting years supposedly led to a bumper crop of talent? These are all questons that Alabama fans don't ever ask themselves. We don't have any need to inquire. Auburn beat us at Bryant Denny and that should have been a springboard for greater things to come. But what if the foundation of your program isn't solid. What if the team you beat had the hiccups and not cancer? What if you had to climb the tallest mountain only to see your archrival on an even taller mountain you couldn't even convince your self in trying to scale? Auburn is not, I repeat not, at a crossroads in their program. They are where they always are and always will be I suspect. You can get from point A to point be driving a Chevy. It is not exactly the same as getting from point A to point B in a Lotus. When you car goes chug, chug, sputter and your opponents car goes Vrrrooommm.... you aren't going to win a lot of races. This isn't the story of the tortise and the hare. This is the story of an the Elephant and Cliff Hare. Different writer, different outcome.
I read Yeldon's statement of why. It was well thought out. It was sensible, it was kind to AU, and it was maturely written. He didn't say he was going to Alabama because the Univerisity is better than Auburn. He said he was going to Alabama because it was better for him as an individual. It is the AU fans who believe Alabama is better. Alabama fans believe their school is better. Why would any fan base think differently unless you know the truth?
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I asked them if they were admitting that Newton wasn't clean? Are you telling me that Newton was dirty and the NCAA was "getting even" by allowing Alabama to buy recruits? This line of thought puts the Tiger fans in a conundrum. Say yes, and you are no longer "all in". Say no, and you are just another crazy fan reaching for some understanding of why your University was on the receiving end of a Grecian tragedy. From the Crimson side of the fence it seems like Yeldon said yes to Auburn when he should have said he needed to think about his comitment a while longer. Who every heard of an 18 year old kid making a impulsive comitment? I'm sure that such behavior has never happened in the history of college football recruiting, or at least not at Auburn.
When I was younger being a professional golfer was high on my list. I'd had a bunch of low 60 rounds and even shot a 59 one day while playing with my buddy Ben Cook. My head was so far up in the clouds I couldn't breathe. A lack of oxygen can lead to pretty bad thinking. While I was mentally getting fitted for my first green jacket I went over to watch a practice round at Augusta National. When I saw Tom Watson hit a driver about four blocks over the net at the end of the practice range I knew the truth. I had no chance of being a pro golfer. None, Zero, Nada, and other such numbers came to mind. That was it. I would play golf for fun and return to the planet earth. I still love to play golf. I might shoot 65 one day and 85 the next. It is important to undersand the truth.
To this day I believe that Cam Newton's father got money for his son to play at Mississippi State and probably Auburn as well. The real question in my mind was the purchase sanctioned by the school or some over zealous booster acted alone. In my mind it was a kind of "who shot JFK" on a much less important basis. Both are bad. One is totally unaccpetable. The other is undestandable, but wrong. One thing I've learned as a country lawyer. The truth will come out eventually. Revenge is a dish best served cold according to the bard, and he pretty much nailed that one didn't he? The "truth" as I see it really doesn't matter. It's over. I'm not sure that the cloud of doubt isn't worse for AU than what actually happened. The larger "truth" is that when you've just won a national championship, and were just a couple of bounces away from a losing season the next year, the doubt grows even stronger. Like we said yesterday - when you can offer a recruit the world and he says no thanks you have bigger problem than the recruit flipping.
All this Yeldon stuff is bothering AU fans who see their beloved team in a state of free fall. Does your program cheat, why is Gus going to Arkansas State, why would Ted Roof jump ship and go to a glorified high school program? On top of all these questions your recruits start to jump ship. Where is all that talent that three great recruiting years supposedly led to a bumper crop of talent? These are all questons that Alabama fans don't ever ask themselves. We don't have any need to inquire. Auburn beat us at Bryant Denny and that should have been a springboard for greater things to come. But what if the foundation of your program isn't solid. What if the team you beat had the hiccups and not cancer? What if you had to climb the tallest mountain only to see your archrival on an even taller mountain you couldn't even convince your self in trying to scale? Auburn is not, I repeat not, at a crossroads in their program. They are where they always are and always will be I suspect. You can get from point A to point be driving a Chevy. It is not exactly the same as getting from point A to point B in a Lotus. When you car goes chug, chug, sputter and your opponents car goes Vrrrooommm.... you aren't going to win a lot of races. This isn't the story of the tortise and the hare. This is the story of an the Elephant and Cliff Hare. Different writer, different outcome.
I read Yeldon's statement of why. It was well thought out. It was sensible, it was kind to AU, and it was maturely written. He didn't say he was going to Alabama because the Univerisity is better than Auburn. He said he was going to Alabama because it was better for him as an individual. It is the AU fans who believe Alabama is better. Alabama fans believe their school is better. Why would any fan base think differently unless you know the truth?
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