Truth of the matter: Newton cleared of wrongdoing

[Saniflush]

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/feed/2010-11/cam-newton-probe/story/truth-of-the-matter-newton-cleared-of-wrongdoing


You should all be embarrassed. You know who you are, the great unwashed of the gotta-get-it, gotta-have-it, hyperbole-fueled world.

The same suckers that listened with bated breath while LeBron James explained where he’d “take my talents” next season, are also the gullible lemmings who jumped on the "let’s ride Cameron Newton out of college football" train because perception supersedes reality.

Have LeBron and his “talents” won anything since he stepped on the court in the NBA? Of course they haven’t.

Did Newton take money from Auburn or Mississippi State or anyone associated with those universities? No, the NCAA says, he didn’t.

In the everlasting struggle of perception vs. reality, perception goes down like a tall, cold glass of sweet tea. Reality, meanwhile, gets upchucked at every turn.

I’ll refer to the great sage of the 21st century, Josh Bynes, when reflecting on the three weeks of Newton Nonsense.

“Even if you guys were told the truth, you wouldn’t believe it,” said Bynes, Auburn’s star linebacker. “The truth doesn’t sell.”

Sadly, I’m beginning to believe him.

Reaction has replaced reflection in our ever-expanding need for knowledge – truth, lies, rumor, innuendo -- in this Twitter-feed world. Last month, when allegations that Cecil Newton shopped his son, Cameron, in a pay-for-play scheme first arose, I wrote that they better be true. And it better lead to Auburn and Newton having accepted money, because if it didn’t, then what?

Now here we are. Cecil and (surprise!) an unscrupulous, would-be “marketer” (see: agent) shopped Cameron, without his knowledge, to Mississippi State. The inference was that if Mississippi State asked for money, you better believe Auburn did, too.

And because Newton was playing for Auburn, because he was the game’s best player and was leading the Tigers on an unthinkable journey to the national title game, well, that must mean he knew of the deal, took the money and would leave Auburn in shambles after the NCAA found out months or years later.

Opinions formed along blurred lines, the gap between truth and innuendo filled with whatever was easiest to run with.

There’s only one problem with this tale: It didn’t exactly play out the way television pundits and talk radio gabmasters, and message board mongers and truth-seeking journalists thought it would. It’s now complete, and whaddya know, Cam Newton is eligible to play.

Save the sanctimonious pleas that the NCAA should have penalized Newton for his father’s actions. Shove them in the same barf bag as the holier-than-thou grandstanding of Heisman Trophy voters proclaiming Newton hasn’t won with “integrity.”

He has, however, won after his team gave up a 24-spot on the road in the toughest place to play in college football. But instead of celebrating all that Newton has accomplished on the field, the truth-seekers are caught up in a swirling drainpipe of what-ifs and could-bes and you-never-knows -- and there’s nowhere to go but right down the sewer.

Even a stand-up guy like Pat Haden has been caught up in the mess. Haden, Southern Cal’s athletic director, said Wednesday he was surprised by the NCAA’s ruling on Newton -- specifically, that the NCAA didn’t hold Newton accountable for his parent’s actions like it did with Reggie Bush and his stepfather.

His stepfather? Pat, please, let me refresh your memory:

When the NCAA finds that assistant coach Todd McNair had or should have had knowledge of violations involving Bush and his parents; that McNair had communication about a prospective business arrangement with a “marketer” involved with Bush; that McNair provided false information during the investigation, it most certainly calls for 30 lost scholarships and a two-year postseason ban.

What did Josh Bynes say again? Even if you were told the truth, you wouldn’t believe it.

So now the truth is staring us directly in the face. Newton is innocent, and the Heisman Trophy vote is upon us.

Newton should be the biggest winner in the history of the award no matter what happens Saturday in the SEC Championship game. With Newton, Auburn is the best team in the nation. Without him, the Tigers struggle to win seven games.

That’s not perception, that’s reality.

[djsimp]

This is about to become my sig. I love it and its so true.

“Even if you guys were told the truth, you wouldn’t believe it,” said Bynes, Auburn’s star linebacker. “The truth doesn’t sell.”