Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Happy Opening Weekend for all you baseball freaks out there. Personally, I love when baseball rolls around each year. Because every year when the baseball season starts, no matter what, the Braves have a chance to win it all. Even though they probably won't be winning it all, optimism is always at it's peak level this time of year.So today, there are few things that are bugging me, so the wrap up today is going to be a little longer than usual. So bear with me.
1. Cam Newton: Well what do ya know, Cam Newton is in the news again this week. In case you somehow missed it, a scouting report written by Pro Football Weekly's Nolan Nawrocki had some pretty negative things to say about Newton's prospects as an NFL professional. Here's a taste of what he said:
Very disingenuous — has a fake smile, comes off as very scripted and has a selfish, me-first makeup. Always knows where the cameras are and plays to them. Has an enormous ego with a sense of entitlement that continually invites trouble and makes him believe he is above the law — does not command respect from teammates and always will struggle to win a locker room.
So after this report was made public, everyone absolutely freaked out. Gasp! How could you call Cam Newton a bad guy if he's such a great quarterback?!? It can't be true! Oh the travesty! And then Warren Moon sat down with Mike Freeman, of CBSSports.com, and played the race card.
Hall of Fame QB Warren Moon had this to say: "A lot of the criticism he's receiving is unfortunate and racially based," Moon said. "I thought we were all past this. I don't see other quarterbacks in the draft being criticized by the media or fans about their smile or called a phony. He's being held to different standards from white quarterbacks. I thought we were past all this stuff about African-American quarterbacks, but I guess we're not...Some of these questions about Cam are more about his intellect. It's blatant racism, some of it."
I think calling this "blatant racism" is a tad bit overboard. First of all, Warren Moon is Cam Newton's advisor, so he's invested in the kid and likes the kid. Cam Newton is his guy. He's not an NFL scout. He's not paid to study every aspect of Newton's skills and character to make sure his bosses make the correct draft pick, and avoid wasting millions and millions of dollars. That's what an NFL scout's job is.
By his own account, this Nolan Nawrocki guy talked to several scouts, general mangers, coaches and personnel guys around the NFL before writing his scouting report. It's not like these are his own personal views of whether or not he likes Cam Newton as a person or not.
In fact, if you read Nawrocki's scouting report on former Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett, you will find some of the same negative characteristics (about leadership and personality) and Mallett is a white dude.
2. Willie Lyles, Patrick Peterson and Oregon: Willie Lyles is sure making his presence known around the college football world pretty quickly as of late. Back on March 3, Yahoo's Charles Robinson broke the story that the University of Oregon had paid $25,000 to Willie Lyles for what was called a "national scouting package" that was made up of video and contact information for recruits across the country.Yesterday, ESPN published allegations made by a former Texas A&M assistant coach Van Malone about ol' Willie Lyles. Malone claims that after star recruit Patrick Peterson visited the Texas A&M campus, he received a phone call from Lyles, stating that if Texas A&M wanted Peterson to sign with A&M, they would have to beat another school's offer of about $80,000 bucks.
This news can't be good for the Oregon Ducks. From the looks of it, Willie Lyles is a total dirtbag. It's hard to believe that on the one hand, Willie Lyles received $25,000 dollars for providing legitimate recruiting services to the Oregon football program, and then on the other hand, he's conducting a black market bidding war for the athletic services of one of the top recruits in the nation (and who knows how many other recruits he has shopped). I'm sorry, but I just can't accept that as an explanation.
I still think that eventually, the Ducks are going to have some explaining to do.
3. Auburn football: This past week, HBO aired a piece where four former Auburn players claimed that while they were being recruited and during their time playing at Auburn, they received cash from boosters, among other various benefits.
You can read the full story on that part of the story from SportsByBrooks here.
On the Dan Patrick Show this past Friday, former Auburn fullback Heath Evans joined Dan to talk a little bit about the allegations against his alma mater.
Thanks to the folks over at SportsGrid.com, here are a couple quotes from the interview with Evans.
This morning, former Auburn player Heath Evans went on the Dan Patrick Show and gave a passionate defense of his alma mater. He also ripped the men who spoke out on Real Sports, continually calling them liars.
“Everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame,” Evans said. “Obviously their football fame has passed them up, probably because of their play, hence the fact that they probably didn’t get paid to play because they weren’t good enough to get paid to play. At the end of the day, it’s ridiculous as best.”
Evans, when asked if he ever received any money, had this to say:
“No, not at all. People can say that was because you were white, blue collar from Palm Beach, Florida, you didn’t need money. But that doesn’t hold water. The same guys that recruited them recruited me. This isn’t Blue Chips, the movie with Shaquille O’Neal.”
SportsGrid.com also has about 2.5 more minutes of this interview up on their site, so if you want to take a listen, you can find it here.
Evans also said this about recruiting in the SEC:
"If there is stuff done, which I truly believe there probably is stuff done this day in age, still, yes probably in the SEC. It's a football rich conference, um, but not done in this form and fashion...and such a childish form and fashion."
I don't get what Evans is trying to say here. Is he saying that boosters don't pay recruits because it's childish? Is he saying that boosters pay recruits all day long, but they just do it in a more "mature" form and fashion? I can't tell.
During the rest of the interview, the impression I got from what Evans was saying was that yes, recruits get paid in college football, and it probably happens more in the SEC. But it doesn't happen at Auburn. Never has and never will. Basically, he was sticking up for his school and his school alone.
So I guess we're supposed to believe that it's just pure coincidence that two of the most recent scandals in college football both are focusing on Auburn University? Am I getting that right?
I'll be honest. Right now, I don't believe anyone in college football when they say they're not cheating. They're all dirty, until proven otherwise.
You can read the full story on that part of the story from SportsByBrooks here.
On the Dan Patrick Show this past Friday, former Auburn fullback Heath Evans joined Dan to talk a little bit about the allegations against his alma mater.
Thanks to the folks over at SportsGrid.com, here are a couple quotes from the interview with Evans.
This morning, former Auburn player Heath Evans went on the Dan Patrick Show and gave a passionate defense of his alma mater. He also ripped the men who spoke out on Real Sports, continually calling them liars.
“Everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame,” Evans said. “Obviously their football fame has passed them up, probably because of their play, hence the fact that they probably didn’t get paid to play because they weren’t good enough to get paid to play. At the end of the day, it’s ridiculous as best.”
Evans, when asked if he ever received any money, had this to say:
“No, not at all. People can say that was because you were white, blue collar from Palm Beach, Florida, you didn’t need money. But that doesn’t hold water. The same guys that recruited them recruited me. This isn’t Blue Chips, the movie with Shaquille O’Neal.”
SportsGrid.com also has about 2.5 more minutes of this interview up on their site, so if you want to take a listen, you can find it here.
Evans also said this about recruiting in the SEC:
"If there is stuff done, which I truly believe there probably is stuff done this day in age, still, yes probably in the SEC. It's a football rich conference, um, but not done in this form and fashion...and such a childish form and fashion."
I don't get what Evans is trying to say here. Is he saying that boosters don't pay recruits because it's childish? Is he saying that boosters pay recruits all day long, but they just do it in a more "mature" form and fashion? I can't tell.
During the rest of the interview, the impression I got from what Evans was saying was that yes, recruits get paid in college football, and it probably happens more in the SEC. But it doesn't happen at Auburn. Never has and never will. Basically, he was sticking up for his school and his school alone.
So I guess we're supposed to believe that it's just pure coincidence that two of the most recent scandals in college football both are focusing on Auburn University? Am I getting that right?
I'll be honest. Right now, I don't believe anyone in college football when they say they're not cheating. They're all dirty, until proven otherwise.
