http://auburn.247sports.com/Article/Phillips-blog-An-orchestrated-campaign-6011Phillip Marshall, Senior Editor
5 hours ago
That there is an orchestrated campaign to bring down Auburn football is no longer in doubt. The drip, drip, drip of information being given to national news outlets isn’t happening by accident.
It’s not like the stories of the past two weeks and the attacks on Auburn quarterback Cam Newton’s character have come from hard investigative work. They’ve come, to a large extent, from those who are willing to go public with anonymous sources and innuendo and see what sticks. More is probably coming.
If Auburn is guilty of wrongdoing, it has no one to blame but itself, but so far there hasn’t been any real evidence that Auburn has done anything wrong at all. The program is not being investigated by the NCAA. Will that change? Who knows?
I don’t claim to know who is behind all this, although it’s pretty clear that Alabama and Mississippi State boosters are involved on some level. It’s also clear Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, whose feelings were hurt when Newton went to Auburn, is enjoying this immensely. Who gains by the pain being inflicted on Auburn and the collateral damage that goes with it? Let’s look.
Alabama. This season wasn’t supposed to happen in Alabama’s grand plan. Auburn wasn’t supposed to come back so quickly. There was a belief that Auburn had been put down and would stay down for a long time, at least until Nick Saban was gone. When Gene Chizik and his staff suddenly became a recruiting force and, lo and behold, a national championship contender, it was hard to swallow.
Mississippi State. As long as the spotlight is on Auburn, it’s not on Mississippi State and the very large number of questions that should be and eventually will be raised about the school’s own recruitment of Newton.
National sports news outlets. There is no telling how many millions of page views, which translate into advertising dollars, that they have picked in the past two weeks. And they are playing it for all it’s worth with mysterious Tweets and constant updates. Even normally reasonable Kirk Herbstreit went on the radio to darkly predict more is coming.
Florida coach Urban Meyer. For much of the season, columnists were questioning how he let Newton get away. No more.
There are more losers than just Auburn and Newton in this sorry saga. Who are they?
The SEC. In the short term, Auburn is the only real hope to continue the SEC’s run of national championships. But more importantly, if commissioner Mike Slive doesn’t do something to hold things together, this threatens to blow the SEC apart. Whatever happens, does anyone think that there are not forces at Auburn who will seek revenge and who have the wherewithal to do it? The good, old days when SEC officials and coaches and even fans got along and actually liked each other are long gone.
Cecil Newton. Regardless of the outcome, he has to live with what he’s done to his son. Even if Cam Newton is ultimately cleared, his reputation has been trashed. He is a victim in every sense of the word.
College football. Like Cam Newton’s reputation, the game’s reputation has taken a big hit. Even if it turns out, as I expect it will, that no money changed hands and Cam Newton knew nothing about what was going on, millions will believe forever that this whole saga proves the game is dirty.
The state of Alabama. The atmosphere in our state is already toxic. This will make it much worse, if that’s possible. I expect next Friday to be, off the field, one of the ugliest days in the history of the rivalry.
What happens now? That’s a question I can’t answer. The first thing that should happen is that the NCAA should make a decision on Cam Newton’s eligibility. Surely, investigators know by now whether there is evidence he participated in or knew about his father’s scheme. They clearly know the urgency involved for Auburn’s football team, for the Heisman Trophy, for the national championship race and for college football in general.
It’s time to make the call.
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