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| These girls make it a little bit better, right?? |
Well this situation has progressed rather quickly, hasn't it? Last week at this time, this story was just a rumor on Colin Cowherd's radio show. Then the story was posted and made public by Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports. Now it's practically all anyone (at least in the state of Oregon) and everyone is talking about. And every Duck fan in freaking out in one way or the other.
Let's face it. Duck fans, this isn't just going to go away, like you all wish it would. And because this is such a sore subject for you, this post features nothing but pictures of the lovely Oregon cheerleaders. Hopefully, they can brighten your day just a little bit.
Anyway, there might have been some doubt as to how big of a deal this report was when Charles Robinson first posted the story online. When stories like this come out, you always should wait until the dust settles to gather all the facts and put it all into perspective. But the first cloud of dust has settled in this case, and it seems like it may be a pretty big problem for the University of Oregon football program.
How big of a problem could it be? George Schroeder says it's going to be a real pain in the neck, at the very least.
"When the investigators arrive in Eugene, they won’t simply peruse the lists of prospects, watch the highlight video and then go away. They won’t stop after talking with Oregon’s coaches, and Seastrunk, and LaMichael James.
They’ll delve into the football program’s association with every scouting service — and by comparison, the legitimate services may only make Lyles and Complete Scouting look more suspicious.
They’ll delve into the football program’s association with every scouting service — and by comparison, the legitimate services may only make Lyles and Complete Scouting look more suspicious.
The NCAA guys will dig deep into Oregon’s recruiting methods. They’ll talk to dozens of people. Here. In Texas. And elsewhere. They’ll ask questions on a wide array of topics, cast a very wide net and see what they catch.
And understand, if you examine any big-time program closely enough, there’s a chance you’ll find something."
Canzano's article is even more blunt. It turns out this dude, Will Lyles dating Lache Seastrunk's mom somewhere along the way. That's one way to become a kid's "mentor". Must have been a little awkward too, no?
And you know that ultra-super-uber-deluxe recruiting package, called the "2011 National Package", that Lyles is saying was the goods delivered to Oregon for the $25,000? On the day this report came out, you couldn't get that package from Lyles. Wasn't anywhere to be found. On his website, Lyles offered every other kind of package you could imagine. But not one that cost anything close to $25,000.
Conveniently enough, on Friday, Rob Moseley of the Register-Guard noticed a video package listed at $25,000 suddenly appeared on Lyles' website.
From Canzano:
"Lyles slapped up a "2011 national package" on his website with a convenient $25,000 price tag on Friday. It didn't exist on the website 24 hours earlier. Athletic director Rob Mullens issued a statement, too, reiterating that Oregon believes it didn't break NCAA rules and would cooperate with investigators. And Kelly told at least one person that the program needed to get away from Lyles -- fast......Yo, want to make a quick $25,000?
Hang around high school kiddies who run fast. Date their mothers. Put up a website.
Then leave it to someone else to answer the questions that follow you.
Before UO issued that check to Lyles, Oregon should have asked for help from the NCAA on what constituted a scouting service. If Lyles is a scouting service, so are you. So am I. So is anyone who has a cell phone and access to a prized recruit."
Maybe the worst part of all of this, is that suddenly many Duck fans are starting to lose their grasp on reality. Some of them are sounding a lot like ol' Charlie Sheen in their choice to live completely in oblivion of all of this mess.
Here are a couple comments from Duck fans in response to this SportsByBrooks story today:
Brandon, who apparently feels the need to bring up the Auburn Cam Newtons, even though the story has nothing to do with them, writes, "Auburn has to be mixed in this ordeal somehow. Everyone knows Auburn is involved in paying every player that steps into Lee County, they just do a good job of hiding it. I guess you become pretty good at hiding money when your university has done so for so long."Uhhhh, ok. Yeah man, you're right...it's somehow Auburn University's fault that Oregon is getting busted for recruiting violations. Yeah, keep running with that one...
And SRoss, who sounds like a buddy of Brandon's, says, "Did Mack Brown also say that he is the one who notified everyone that Oregon was stealing players out of his state and that his team went 5-7? All this sounds like is sour grapes from a coach who has lost his grip on his home state. This is how recruiting is done all over the country, this is a slap on the wrist if anything! Shame on Brooks and Yahoo! Sports, who continue to let Coaches and universities use them like pawns to get their suspicions out so NCAA investigators will have to take notice. The SEC commits more recruiting violations before 6am than most conferences do all year! TRUE STORY!"
You're right SRoss, it is a TRUE STORY! But what does it have to do with the Oregon Ducks? At least he one-upped Brandon with an out-of-the-blue Mack Brown reference. Not only Auburn (and the entire SEC apparently), but it's somehow Mack Brown's fault that Oregon allegedly committed recruiting violations and got caught.
Oregon fans, you don't have to be like this. You can be pissed, but don't be pissed just because you got caught. C'mon, let's all be reasonable here.
