Al.com Stretches the Sensationalism Out of the Thamel Story

[AUChizad]

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/07/gene_chizik_pushed_the_wrong_b.html

Gene Chizik pushed the wrong button in the wrong setting with NCAA
Published: Friday, July 15, 2011, 5:30 AM     Updated: Friday, July 15, 2011, 10:07 AM
Jon Solomon -- The Birmingham News By Jon Solomon -- The Birmingham News
Follow
Share Email Print
Gene Chizik and LSU.jpgGene Chizik has been frustrated that the NCAA hasn't closed the investigation into Cam Newton.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- In the long history of New York Times stories about Auburn, the latest article ranks low on the pecking order in terms of actual news.

It's not a surprise the NCAA would tell Gene Chizik that its investigation into Cam Newton isn't over. What's striking is the detail captured in the exchange -- and that the account has now left a hotel conference room in Destin, Fla.

Why would Chizik grill NCAA Vice President for Enforcement Julie Roe Lach in front of every SEC football coach, men's basketball coach and athletics director at the SEC spring meetings?

According to the Times, Chizik complained that the open-ended nature of the inquiry had hurt Auburn's recruiting. He wanted to know why the NCAA had not publicly declared the investigation over.

That's a question you ask in front of your competitors only if you're sure of the answer. Otherwise, pull Lach to the side later and avoid what coaches told the Times was "a testy exchange" that only strains relationships.

"You'll know when we're finished," Lach told Chizik, according to the Times. "And we're not finished."

No doubt Chizik is frustrated and wants an answer. But tweaking the NCAA -- and allowing every other SEC coach to use Lach's answer on the recruiting trail -- is an odd way to try to reach the finish line unscathed. Especially when the SEC delayed the start by not getting the NCAA involved with the Cecil Newton allegations upfront.

Now Chizik has bought a round of new headlines right before SEC Media Days.

Ok. I see the point being made. I still maintain that "that's a question you ask in front of your competitors only if you're sure of the answer", sure, which is why he asked it. He wants an answer, because he knows on his end that there was no wrongdoings. He's telling them, get your shit straight, do your investigating, find no wrongdoing, which I know firsthand is the case, and get this shit over with. The fact that he asked in that setting makes me believe he's that confident of no wrongdoing. I wouldn't put it past this mommy part not knowing the answer herself, but in an attempt to put Chizik in his place, said they were still investigating. Furthermore, I wouldn't put it past Pete Thamel, who seems to come out of retirement periodically only to write negative articles about Auburn, to have sensationalized the whole thing.

These days, even basketball coaches are throwing Chizik under the bus, whether it was intentional or not. Only in the SEC would one-third of a league's hoops coaches confirm this confrontation and attach their names to the story.

"I think the format of the meeting was set up to be generally about the lay of the land going forward," Ole Miss' Andy Kennedy told the Times. "When (Chizik) got into specific questions regarding their situation, I think we were all sitting back saying, 'I didn't know that we were going here.'"

Needless to say, the SEC isn't too happy this conversation came to light.

"The comments that take place in the meetings should stay in the meetings," SEC Executive Associate Commissioner Mark Womack said Thursday. "We want an open exchange of ideas, thoughts, suggestions to improve every process. But the content of any discussion should stay within the meeting rooms."

Here we thought the SEC was one, big, happy family. Lately, there are an awful lot of people at SEC schools making not-so-subtle statements that they don't trust what Auburn accomplished last season.

Chizik should have been SEC Coach of the Year, but the football coaches chose Steve Spurrier. Newton should have been SEC Male Athlete of the Year, but the athletics directors selected a tennis player at Tennessee. The SEC believes Chizik should have been able to speak his piece without it becoming public, but some basketball coaches let it slip.

NCAA investigations can take a ridiculously long time. But the last thing the NCAA wants is to signal all-clear and then have a smoking gun surface.

The truth is, the media play as a big a role as the NCAA in when an investigation ends. Even if the NCAA told Auburn today it's no longer actively investigating Newton, that could quickly change if new information surfaced before the statute of limitations expired.

NCAA members keep saying they want the national office to do due diligence and crack down on violators -- unless the spotlight is on them, of course. It's human nature.

But unnecessary combativeness on the front end rarely helps on the back end. Chizik's gaffe won't help Auburn.

The NCAA consists of humans, too.

So again, this reiterates the conspiracy that is in place against Auburn. Leaking private conversations from these private meetings should be a punishable offense. The NCAA should ask these basketball coaches point blank if they said this shit. If they did, they should be punished. If they didn't, Thamel should be ridiculed.

[GH2001]

Gene had some balls to ask. I like it. I want a coach with fucking swagger. Fuck those homos who critique this move.

[Kaos]

Fuckhead needs to stick to writing about Bama. 

[Snaggletiger]

One thing that stands out in this in the last paragraph is stating that the NCAA is probably pissed because the SEC delayed getting them into the Newton thing up front.  I specifically recall Finebaum saying after one of Slive's comments on the matter, that it was the other way around.  And that Slive was all but saying had MSU simply come to them first, this thing would have been dealt with, swept under the rug and never seen the light of day.