NCAA investigating Cam Newton

If the money was put on the collection plate really not a lot of difference from when Bear Bryant dropped a bag of money from airplane onto John David Crow's farm.

Does not make it right but it always happens.

 

But unless Newton posted it on Facebook or wrote it in his diary it would be impossible to prove that he knew. All the dad has to say is he never told his son.

 

If that was a reasonable defense, every star's mom would have a condo in South Beach, every dad would have a new Mercedes, and every high school coach would have a new scoreboard.

If anyone received benefits for a player's services, it's an infraction.

 

Given how there are reports to compliance with how Newton and his dad -- in separate conversations -- said it came down to money, I doubt it.

 

I think it's interesting, not that I disagree, that public sentiment seems to be hugely on Newton's side.

 

Entertainment value trumps all . . . the American way.

 

Best part of this: If someone at Florida (or Alabama) was smart enough to have a booster donate $200,000 or so to Newton's dad's church, they'd probably have been able to get Newton made ineligible.

 

I'm enjoying every second of this. I just think it's funny that people are madder at MSU and Mullen and UF and Meyer than they are at Auburn and Chizik and Newton.

 

Several years ago I had dinner in a group with a couple writers who are at ESPN now and we were talking about what the dirtiest program in the country was.

The two guys, who were national college football writers at the time, just looked at each other and said, "Oh, it's Florida by a mile. Everybody cheats, but Florida just cheats better than anyone else." This was right around the Bama scandal (Albert Means) had broken and I was pretty stunned not only by their answer, but how obvious they thought it was.

 

Certainly not saying they're clean, but...

When it comes to recruiting I would find it hard to believe Florida has to cheat more than other schools to get kids.

1. There's a shitload of talent in that state.
2.UF isn't exactly Harvard when it comes to admissions.
3. Great facilities.
4. Coeds.

Now, cheating to keep them in school is an entirely different thing. But again, it's a four-year junior college academically.

 

Florida's one of those schools where the dissonance of big-time athletics really stands out. UofF is one only two SEC schools in the Association of American Universities (Vanderbilt is the other). There are only 61 such institutions in the U.S. Yet the popular image of Florida is decidedly NOT in tune with that membership.

 

That probably has as much to do with its rep as a party school as it does with athletics.

Wisconsin is another example of this.