Friday Wrap Up: Rich Cho Aftermath, NBA Finals Are Set, And Ohio State is Dirtier Than We Thought

Happy Friday, folks.  My last post was a review of Maxim's 2011 Hot 100 list that I took way too seriously.  But hey it was fun, okay?  The lovely Sarah Shahi came in at #24 on the list.  I didn't mention her in my overrated/underrated post because I thought 24th was a good place for Shahi to be at on the list.

The Aftermath: So we've had a few days to recover from the madness that we call "Paul Allen's management style".  Rich Cho is long gone, and Allen stated that it was a "chemistry" issue that sent Cho packing.  I still think it's nonsense.  I mean, if Paul Allen wants to have chemistry with someone, he needs to go out and join eHarmony.  Paul Allen is kind of a weird guy, and can be socially awkward.  Guess what?  Rich Cho is the same guy, who is quiet and keeps to himself.  So when Allen and Cho aren't BFFs right away, it shouldn't surprise anyone.  Allen obviously has a different opinion.

Since Cho was fired, all Blazers fans have been getting is a steady dose of "hey, it's Paul Allen's team and he can do what he wants with it, so shut the hell up".  I'm still of the opinion that this change of direction at the top for Portland is troubling and shows a clear lack of direction.  Some Blazer fans have sort of bought into the change, convincing themselves that it was a positive move.  But I'm not so sure about that.  Regardless of all the craziness, Joel Freeman says that the Portland GM position is still an attractive job. 

I guess we'll see in the next few weeks.  I think Paul Allen should just go ahead and hire himself as the GM and save himself the trouble of firing about 3 or 4 more GMs in the coming years.  It would probably save him some time as well, and definitely save him some cash.  Whoever the Blazers hire as the next GM is going to be even more of a puppet than Rich Cho was anyway.

It's Bothering Me That Everyone Has Been Killing Manny Ramirez For Taking Steroids

Manny Ramirez retired from baseball last Friday, April 8th.  It's taken me until this morning to find anything that anyone has said (in print or otherwise) that doesn't pretty much say this:  "Manny Ramirez is a cheater.  He always has been and he should never, ever have a chance of sniffing the Hall of Fame."

Now that is not an actual quote from anyone, but it seems to be the prevailing school of thought among experts and sportswriters everywhere.  Colin Cowherd, Freddie Coleman (when subbing in for Cowherd), Dan Patrick, Doug Gottlieb, Jayson Stark, and Buster Olney are a few that have said that there is "no way" Manny should be considered for the Hall of Fame.  Yahoo's Jeff Passan, ESPN's Tim Kurkjian and SI's duo of Jon Heyman and Tom Verducci all seem to agree, though their stances aren't as strong against Manny and the Hall.

If you're curious, here are the only semi-positive things I've seen written about Manny Ramirez.

ESPN's Buster Olney even said the other day that he would vote for Mark McGwire, but wouldn't not be voting for Manny Ramirez.  Hey, I'm no ESPN baseball expert, but that sounds a tad bit double-standard-ish, if you ask me.

Only 3 Games Into The Season And The Yankees Are Already Cheating

That is probably some sort of record, right?  I actually happen to think that this story is not a big deal at all, but I have to start the Yankee-hating posts at some point right?

From the Deadspin article:

For this, we have to thank dogged investigative journalist Keith Olbermann, or at least his Tweeted photo of a Yankees employee behind home plate flashing hand signals to hitters in the on-deck circle. It made news, and MLB was forced to give Brian Cashman a call to gently remind them that that's a no-no.

"Communicating pitch types, pitch speed, through hand signals, is prohibited," the spokesman said after looking at the photo. "We're going to call them to remind them what the rule says. It could all be perfectly innocent - some clubs don't trust what's on the scoreboard."

Gregg Doyel: 'Oregon Cheated Without Breaking a Rule'

"I'm tellin ya, we didn't do anything wrong!"

National columnist Gregg Doyel, who writes for CBSSports.com, had a blog post today that made some valid points about this whole Oregon Duck recruiting violation mess.

"Don't look at me like that, Oregon fans. I'm not saying your football program should be punished for putting almost $25,000 into the hands of a man with influence on recruits who chose -- gasp! -- Oregon. The school found a legal way to pay off a guy connected to All-American running back LaMichael James and his eventual replacement, Lache Seastrunk."

"They (college football coaches) find a way to exploit an unwritten rule, or even a written rule in the NCAA's massive rulebook, and they use what they've discovered to gain an unethical advantage on other schools."

"For instance, by giving $25,000 to a man connected to All-American running back LaMichael James and his eventual replacement, Lache Seastrunk."

Yahoo! Sports: Oregon Ducks May Get Busted By The NCAA For Payments Made To Two "Street Agents"

Highly touted recruit Lache Seastrunk

No matter how crappy of a week you may have had, the Oregon Ducks football team had a crappier week than you.  Yesterday, Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports posted a story claiming that, according to public records, the University of Oregon made payments of almost $30,000 dollars to two guys with have known ties to multiple Oregon Duck recruits.

By all accounts, this news seems to be the "major program" getting busted for "major recruiting violations" that Colin Cowherd was referring to on his radio show earlier this week.

By now, there have been hundreds of articles and columns written about this story.  I've only had a chance to read through about 8 or so of them.  The basics facts are this: Oregon paid $25,000 to a guy named Will Lyles and $3,745 to a guy named Baron Flenory.  These two men operate recruiting services and have relationships with Oregon recruits DeAnthony Thomas, Lache Seastrunk, Cliff Harris, Dior Mathis, and Tacoi Sumler.  Both Flenory and Lyles are rumored to be "street agents", by the way.  But having relationships with recruits, at first glance, isn't against the rules.

Well here is the problem, as Charles Robinson says, "If Lyles and Flenory aided in or were involved in any way in the recruitment of student athletes to Oregon, they would be classified as boosters by the NCAA, and any payment to them from the school would be considered a violation of Bylaw 13. Bylaw 13 prohibits boosters from directing a recruit to a school."

More On How And Why Cam Newton's Dad Ended Up At The BCS Title Game

Yesterday, Christine Brennan, who writes for USA Today, was on Paul Finebaum's radio show, which is based out of Montgomery, Alabama.

I didn't hear the actual interview, but Finebaum tweeted a few quotes from what Brennan said on the air.  One of the tweets is pictured, obviously, and makes a great point.  Brennan also writes in her article:

Minutes after the game ended Monday night, Cecil, the man who engineered one of the more sordid episodes in recent NCAA cheating history, was photographed by the Opelika-Auburn News in a bear hug with his son, who had climbed a few rows into the stands to celebrate with his father/agent.

The scene was surprising to many people, not the least of whom must have been Jay Jacobs, Auburn's athletics director, who had said confidently before the game that Cecil Newton was not going to be in attendance. That decision, Jacobs told the Associated Press, "was mutually agreed upon. Out of the highest respect that Cecil has for Cameron, he won't be here today."

At the end of the regular season, the NCAA presented a kind of status report on what it knew about the case at the time, exonerating Cam but coming down hard on Cecil. It announced that Auburn had "limited the access Newton's father has to the athletics program." No one knew what that meant, exactly, although not showing up at games was certainly a logical guess.

Now we know what it means, exactly: No hugging within sight of photographers until at least two minutes after the BCS game has ended.

This whole Newton Family saga still really bugs me.  It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, as a college football fan.  Cecil Newton was only given a slap on the wrist by the NCAA and the SEC, and he still didn't stay away from the football team, as he was instructed to do. 

These pictures were taken of Cecil Newton before the title game, outside the stadium.  As Brooks, over at SportsByBrooks notes, there is no way Cecil Newton was only the stadium for the post-game celebration, as the Newton's lawyer claims.

"Having attended a BCS Championship Game myself, in 2006 at the Rose Bowl, I can tell you that there was more security before, during and after that game than any event I’ve ever intended - including the Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four. It took over an hour just to get out of the stadium. I can’t fathom being able to go in the stadium at that time.

So how did Cecil Newton get past what was undoubtedly extremely tight security at University of Phoenix Stadium to reach his son after the game?

Hard to believe he could without some manner of formal and/or dubious escort.

And, knowing Auburn’s stance on the matter, why would Cecil do that in the first place - especially if he wasn’t already in the stadium?"

Even though Cam Newton is up and gone to the NFL, this investigation is still ongoing.  I'm telling you, they're going to find out that either Cam knew all along about what his dad was doing, or he ended up getting money from Auburn, or both and it's going to be real bad for the Auburn Tigers.

[ USA Today ]

Cam Newton's Dad Laughs At The NCAA's Fake Rules About His 'Limited Access'

Cam Newton and his dad hugging after the game

So it looks like Cecil Newton has a problem with following rules huh? 

Yes, apparently that is the case.  See, there is a rule in college athletics that says that you can't sell a college athlete's services for cash.  Cecil Newton broke that rule.  Then, Auburn University flexed their institutional muscles with a very hefty slap on the wrist, and told Cecil Newton to just stay away for a little while.  Cecil Newton decided he didn't want to follow that rule either, showing up at the National Championship game last night to partake in the festivities.

What a slimeball, though.  It's not like the NCAA can do anything to him or Cam in terms of discipline.  The NCAA can't really touch either of them now that football season is over.  You can be sure that Cam Newton is leaving town as fast as he can (I'm actually surprised that he hasn't officially declared as of this writing today).  The Newtons have undoubtedly turned their eyes towards the NFL draft and a bigger and better pay scale, than the one he had in place at Auburn (cough*allegedly).

So Cam Newton Earns A Contract Bonus For Winning The National Title, Right?

Doesn't Cam Newton get an incentive-based contract bonus if Auburn won the national title?  Hmmmm...I swear I heard or read that somewhere.  In addition to the $180,000 (or more) that he already got, I think he gets around $50,000 extra for taking the Tigers all the way to the national title.  I think I have my facts straight, no?

Maybe his dad can add a new wing to his church?  Awww, that sure was nice of Cam to do that for his dear ol' pop.

I'm too tired to get all into it now, and it's going to sound like sour grapes, but Cam Newton shouldn't have been eligible for this game, plain and simple.  This national title is going to be wiped out in a few years by the NCAA ala Reggie Bush and USC.  We'll see then.

This paragraph from The Big Lead sums it up pretty well:

"Not quite as high-scoring as most expected.  Auburn kicked a last-second field goal for the 22-19 win.  Enjoy the game now, before the NCAA wipes it from our collective memory."

Yeah, no kidding.